Maxi selected a visit to ‘the farm‘ as one of his ‘Happy Ticket’ good behaviour rewards.* We love the farm, had a great day out and his little friend Pickle** got to come along as part of the reward.
Despite appearances, this is not a post about the farm.
This is a post about the fact that I told Pickle’s mum that I’d pack a picnic for all of us but when I went to pick Pickle*** up, his mum handed over a shopping bag full to the brim with ‘snacks’. A 20 pack of those assorted chips you can get, a 10 pack of Tiny Teddies, a 6 pack of apple and blackcurrant juice and a 20 pack of Freddos.
Seriously. There was me, Cappers, Maxi and Pickle. And 56 individually wrapped snack foods.
I explained that I had packed plenty of food for the day and tried to give the bag back, but she wasn’t having a bar of it.**** She said it was a ‘thank you gift’ for taking Pickle. What could I say to that? So, off we trotted***** to the farm with enough food for a party of 20 and absolutely no idea what just happened there.
I now have 52 individually wrapped snack foods (we caved and each ate a Freddo) in my pantry that we absolutely don’t need. But what do you do with them?
* I’ll do a post on our lovely little reward system shortly.
** Not his real name. Hopefully that was obvious.
*** Pick pickle – now I wish I’d chosen a different name for him.
**** No pun intended.
***** See above.
Christina Lowry says
I had a friend at school whose father worked for Allens. So whenever we went home from her house, we went laden with treats. Perhaps Pickle’s Dadddy works for a 7/11? 🙂
m.e (Cathie) says
that is so funny!! poor pickles, does he have any teeth left.
I would not be giving that to other peoples kids..(yet alone my own), without asking first.
oh well, use them in lolly bags next party.
♥
Sammie says
Nice gesture… Overboard? YES!
How about a nice bottle of wine for you! Now that’s a gift to accept! (And certinally NOT question!)
•´.¸¸.•¨¯`♥.Trish.♥´¯¨•.¸¸.´• says
I think she was a tad generous or does she think your kids are to skinny ?
You could donate them to a local youth or women’s refuge if you really won’t use them .
Birthday parties coming up ?
How cool is that farm and what a lovely choice he made.
Anonymous says
I’m thinking maybe she wanted to give you something to thank you for taking Pickles but she didnt have any cash on hand to get something more suitable or she didnt have the time/ability to get to the shops to get something more suitable so she grabbed whatever she had in the cupboard and handed it over to express her gratitude. Sure I probably would have just handed over the Freddos but she might have been REALLY grateful and just had no other way to show it. Maybe that was her families junk food stash for the next month? We have no way of knowing so really we shouldn’t judge. It’s the thought that counts.
Jane @ Shady Baker says
This is strange but also funny and very entertaining…I would not give junk food to another family and only to my own in limited doses. She was obviously grateful 🙂
MummyateMe says
It’s nice that she wanted to contribute but surely some biscuits she had made, or perhaps some nice fruit would have been better. It seems like very unhealthy overkill to me!
Kim H says
Hmmm, tricky one. So much junk food in one shopping bag. But such a generous offer. Do they normally eat like that or was she thinking it would be a special treat for you all. How could you carry all that around the farm anyway? Very tricky. Obviously different kind of parentingy stuff there, perhaps???
Life In A Pink Fibro says
Give the lady a break. She LOVES you and was clearly VERY happy to get Pickle off her hands for the day. For all she knew, you were taking 20 other children as well – a kind of Kid Wrangling Good Samaritan. Either that or Pickle just runs purely on sugar. Either way, we do love a Freddo here at the Fibro. You can send us a care package if you REALLY can’t think what to do with it all. I’ll give it to the next person who takes on Mr5 for the day.
Brenda @ Mira Narnie says
i love your sisters response!!! clearly a mis-guided thank you, but a thank you none the less….just do what i do, when kids get a lolly bag, i let them have one and chuck the rest! yes, mean mother that i am xx
Max says
aww, i know lots of mums who don’t have much money/much knowledge of nutrition who would think that was an idal and generous thank you treat, (to only give you one each would look tight?) including my own mum. ‘
but no way would i be feeding it to the kids! i would however, and prob. not so slowly work my own way thru them tho!!!
alison@thisbloominglife says
Sometimes the gift giving is a cultural thing, we’ve embarrassingly experienced this. Just enjoy I say, you not the kids I mean!
alison@thisbloominglife says
Sometimes the gift giving is a cultural thing, we’ve embarrassingly experienced this. Just enjoy I say, you not the kids I mean!
alison@thisbloominglife says
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
jodi says
I say accept with gratitude and then “pass it on” 😉 x
Lipgloss Mumma says
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Lipgloss Mumma says
I think it was possibly a bit overboard but that is how some people show their gratitude I guess.
I also agree with Alison@thisbloominglife. Gift giving can be a cultural thing. We once invited a Croatian family to lunch and they came armed with 3 bottles of alcohol and 5 boxes of chocolates! True story! Mmmmm (thinks to self), must invite them around again soon….
Sarah says
Personally I wouldn’t give that much junk food. I’d say she just thought she was being helpful.
Recently my sister-in-law gave us a 20 pack of chips as repayment for a favour. I tried to decline, but she wouldn’t have it so I thanked her and will ration them out at some point. There’s only three of us in the house and we don’t eat chips. If it were chocolate, however, it would be gone!
Bean's Mummy says
Nuts! As in, that is bizarre! I am coming to realise that what is ‘normal’ to some is really whacky to others. And vice versa. If you have time…what would you do in this situation. A women I met the other day IN THE STREET, who had a nice dog that Bean was saying hello to, decided perhaps Bean would like a ride of her dog and just picked her up & plonked her on puppy’s back. Is that normal??? I was so shocked I just let it happen & subsequently felt bad later for allowing a random to do this…but for this lady, this was normal. Sorry, off the path a bit hey. But you know what I mean? Same for this handing over of crazy amounts of chocolate! Bizarre. Kind. But bizarre.
Elisa {with grace and eve} says
Overkill with the non-healthy snacks, but guessing it was prob the norm for pickle’s mum and she meant well! But wow death by junk food! Oh and I love that you chose pickle as the name… haha gave me a laugh! 🙂
ClaireyHewitt says
Perhaps, she is a really crap cook. Perhaps she was so delighted that someone was taking Pickle out for the day that she wanted to show her thanks and as her cooking is so poor she couldn’t whip up a sticky date pudding in a ramekin for each of you so instead she over compensated with shit.
Perhaps she was worried that Pickle wouldn’t like your picnic.
God knows what makes someone provide that much junk but I am guessing she was feeling nervous about something.
Reannon Hope says
I think she was just being nice. I guess if your healthy eaters it might seem like a lot of junk ( are you all really healthy eaters?) but I doubt she thought you’d eat the lot on the picnic! It won’t go off so leave it in the pantry for later
I always bake something for the mums who help me out during the year with the kids. Last year they got gingerbread, peanut butter cookies & chocolates that I made. Overkill? No way! I knew they’d get through them all over the Christmas period & they all loved it. I think it’s nice to show your appreciation in whatever way you can…
Mama of 2 boys says
That is very funny. Or maybe it’s the way you tell the story more than what actually happened. What actually happened sounds a little on the weird side. I have never encountered anything like this personally. But some people just like to go overboard. Whenever other people have tried to give my children junk food to take home with them, I’ve politely slid it into my bag and either rationed a small amount out or not given it to them at all. Though I would imagine it’s a little more difficult to ‘hide’ snacks from older children.
Robyn says
i think she should have just got you a scented candle…!!!
Deb @ Bright and Precious says
I think she was just trying to be generous in her own way. But I can see the funny side from your perspective too. 🙂
Lisa H says
This reminds me of when I was a kid… The only time my mum EVER bought packaged chips, drinks and treats was when we went on family outings. She packed them, along with the chicken sandwiches!
Miss Mandy says
People often send their kids to us with stuff and then I feel obliged back. but one thing is surely enough.
I much prefer to supply the goods if the kids are coming to us and vice versa. otherwise sending my kids places becomes a lot of work.
Super Ordinary Mum says
Hmm… I would just smile and accept. Personally I would go the bottle of wine option for mum and just make sure “pickles” had his water bottle with him. Whatever – in the end I am sure everyone had a good day. Sooz.
Polly says
I agree with many of the comments, I think it was a gesture of appreciation and kindness, while it may not be the kind of food you guys indulge in, in many homes it is the absolute norm, perhaps you can keep the stash and when your little guy next goes to pickles house, you can send some of it back!
Anonymous says
Be grateful for people who are grateful!
Reannon Hope says
Absolutely agree!
Notchka says
Keep it for the party bags! I can’t say that’s happened to me, but I’m thoroughly amused 🙂
Lizeylou says
The scented candle comment made me laugh.
I must say I often give some fruit, sandwiches and then a bag of treats (which may or may not be little chocolats or chips)
As for giving you SO many treats – maybe she just didn’t want them in her house in case she ate them all – and figured your kids would love them.
Funny!
the textured leaf says
Right now im thinking a MaxaFreddo Giveaway would pretty much make my day.
Im the time poor one who always takes Timtams to a party, and sometimes the overboard three different flavours. I do however, never forget the champagne, but hey you were driving her kid around.
x
ps. You could organise a surprise treasure hunt right before bedtime so they sleep off the sugar?
Rhonda says
I personally don’t ever give junk food unless it’s specifically asked for when bringing something for someone else. We don’t keep junk food in our house and I’m never sure what others dietary habits are.
boomerang jane says
My goodness. It was four things! Tiny Teddies, juice, chips & Freddos. Hardly a criminal offense. And not things that the majority of us haven’t given to our kids at some stage in their lives. I’m sure she meant for you to offer one of something to them & keep the rest in your pantry. I think some people are a little smug and judgemental with their so called healthy eating and have overlooked this ladies good manners & generosity. I think she just selected what she thought might be universally fun snacks (& probably assumed you’d taken care of all the fruit, water & sandwiches). Any offering she made had a chance to not be in unison with your normal diet/lifestyle. To offer a bottle of wine without knowing someones personal or family history with drinking is in my opinion far more dangerous.
I think the most gracious thing here would have been to Just say thank you, use what you wanted & either threw out or donated the rest. I guess we should all ask ourselves…would we like every gift we offer to be critiqued on the internet? I hope she doesn’t read your blog, because she would probably feel very embarrassed that her good deed has warranted a blog post & some quite judgemental comment feedback. Maybe I’m just being a tad sensitive today, but I know I would be very embarrassed if it were me. I just think we need to be kinder to each other & more grateful for the sentiment.