About the Ant Farm...

Dear mommy-friend,

I’m concerned that you don’t want to be friends anymore. Because that’s the only reason I can think of that you would give my child an ant farm. Unless, tell the truth: did someone give your kid an ant farm and this is just an extremely unfortunate-for-us regift?

Listen: Ants are not pets. We spend lots of money every summer paying a man to spray poison in our house to kill ants. Why would we want to offer up to ants a huge supply of super-yummy red gel to snack on and invite them into our home?  

Don’t take this the wrong way, but this is the last time we’ll let our kid open a package with your return address. Because what will it be next year; a stuffed fluffy horsie infected with foot-and-mouth disease?

Seriously though Fellow Mother, please don’t ever give anyone else an ant farm. Thank goodness our child can’t read because we pretended it was a gift for “the wrong kid, we’ll get to the bottom of this” and quickly hid it on a high shelf.

I really like you, I'd like to stay friends, I will forgive you, but not right away.
yours truly,
Anonomommy.

Has another mom ever gotten you a gift so awful that you suspected it was a gift of revenge? Let’s hear about it don’t hold back: click on Comments below.                  

image: spectrum pest

Comments

[JP]

Wow, that is an amazingly ignorant response.

Any properly constructed ant farm has zero chance of letting the ants out, and they are VERY educational. It is NOT about having a pet, but about learning about life, biology, patterns, behaviors, etc.

This parent obviously didn't even bother to think, or check, or anything, but just made an instant emotional response, and then follows up with the assumption that this was some sort of "revenge gift", assuming the worst of the giver. Perhaps there is a reason to expect revenge, but then what did they do to deserve revenge?

If after actually bothering to think about it, there is still a reason to not keep the gift in the house, this is still a poor way to handle it. How about seeing if the science teacher at school might be able to put it up in the classroom, or at least letting the kid choose another educational gift from the friend?

I feel sorry for their poor kid, who is clearly being taught to respond to the world emotionally instead of thoughtfully, and is missing out on educational opportunities.