12 hours ago
Mum sparks debate with 'offensive' gift she brought to a birthday party
An Aussie mum has sparked fierce debate after revealing her 'secret present' for a children's birthday party was a bag of cleaning supplies.
Amanda Sainsbury-Salis explained she didn't want to bring any gifts to a family birthday party on Sunday that would 'end up in landfill'.
'So this is my secret present that I like to do at kids' birthday parties,' she said in a TikTok video that has since gone viral.
'I like to bring a bag of rags.'
She reasoned 'sticky' messes were a common feature at children's birthday parties, adding she also brought cling wrap incase the hosts had run out.
'You know when you're at a kid's birthday party and everyone wants to help, but nobody knows how to help because they don't know where any where any of the cleaning stuff is?' she continued.
'I like to bring dishwashing detergent because you can bet your boots that the parents may have run out of dishwashing liquid. I bring a cleaning product because who knows how to find the cleaning products in someone else's house.
'And the other thing I bring is a lot, a lot of tea towels because these are really, really handy and nobody knows where to find the tea towels in somebody else's house.'
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Here's my favourite present to bring to a kids birthday party. To be honest, I think the last thing any parent wants for their kid's birthday is a whole bunch of extra plastic in their house that's going to require work to house and keep tidy and keep clean. #mumsoftiktok #australia #wewanttohelpturanspideytohelphimselfclub #autism #coercivecontrol #family #substanceusedisorder #friend #friends #friendship #alcoholusedirsorder #bagofrags #reducereuserecycle
♬ original sound - Turan Spidey's Mum
But not everyone agreed.
'That's actually embarrassing and offensive to the parents of this child,' one said.
'[The] kid will be so excited to be getting this gift,' another wrote sarcastically.
'You could've just gifted an experience for the child, like a zoo voucher,' a third wrote.
'That's actually really sad, it's the "kids" birthday you should spoil the kid, if you want to know where a tea towel is, ask the host, it's not that hard!' another said.
'Now you would find all those items in the kitchen, and no one else brings those items to a kids (birthday) party,' another viewer said said.
Another commenter argued the cling wrap and wipes may also 'end up in landfill'.
However, other viewers leapt to the woman's defence.
'Wow, what a lot of hateful comments,' one wrote.
'It goes to show people choose money and gifts instead of help, time and love.'
'I'd never have guessed and I love it and you'd be invited to everything. It's unique and original... that's my (kind of) cool,' another wrote.
'For education purposes, the four-year-old doesn't care what she's bringing or even know she's there... it's about the parents,' a third added.
