A mother has been left reeling by a bizarre request from another parent to not to pack fresh berries in her daughter’s school lunchbox.
Sydney mum-of-four Steph took to TikTok seeking advice after she received a message from the mother of her daughter’s friend asking her not to give her eight-year-old daughter the healthy treats because her own child wanted them as well.
The parent explained to Steph that she couldn’t afford to give her daughter fresh berries for lunch and didn’t want to make her ‘upset’.
Steph took to social media to air her grievances, sparking an online debate.
‘A part of me feels bad …they play together and she can’t afford the strawberries and the blueberries, like I get it,’ she told her followers on TikTok.
‘But then why should my daughter miss out?’
Steph asked viewers for advice on how to handle the situation.
‘I don’t want conflict, but, I don’t know,’ she said.
Sydney mother, Steph (pictured), has been left shocked after the mother of her daughter’s friend asked her to stop packing fresh berries for her kid’s lunch
Viewers who weighed into the lunchbox saga were divided.
Some offered Steph helpful advice while others believed the other mum was out of line.
‘Send extra and tell your kid it’s for them and their friend,’ one parent suggested.
Another added they would ‘would send extra blueberries and strawberries’.
Steph however said in a comment that students ‘can’t share’ food at school due to strict rules, adding her daughter ‘always offers and then gets in trouble’.
Some viewers suggest Steph go out of her way to buy the groceries or seeded soil for the other mum.
‘You buy the berries and take them over to her house so her mum can pack them into her girl’s lunch box,’ one wrote.
Steph sarcastically replied: ‘Yes, cause I’m going to drive over to her house (15mins each way) drop her off shopping every week so her daughter can have the same as mine, despite me having my own four children to look after.’
The mother said she couldn’t afford fresh berries for her daughter and asked Steph to stop because it made her kid jealous (stock image)
Steph said that the issue ‘shouldn’t even be something’ she should be worrying about during a cost of living crisis.
‘Initially I felt uncomfortable like I was doing something wrong, like I was the minority of mum sending these types of fruit … but then quickly realised I was just doing what my daughter liked for her fruit break,’ she told Yahoo.
‘I won’t be changing what I pack (for my daughter).’
‘Like always, it’s her choice for fruit break and I’ll continue to pack what she likes.’
Other viewers backed Steph’s stance on the issue, saying it was a perfect ‘teaching opportunity for the other Parent around you can’t always get what you want’.
‘As hard as it is, this isn’t a you problem, you have every right to send berries for your daughter,’ one wrote.
Another added: ‘You keep doing what you’re doing, her situation is not your responsibility. Period,’ another said.
A cash-strapped parent who revealed that she was in a similar situation to the other mum and can’t afford the same groceries other parents can offered some surprising advice.
‘Sometimes my son asks for them and I can’t afford them and I just tell him ‘not this time mate, they are too expensive’,’ she wrote.
‘It’s not your issue, keep giving them to (your daughter).’
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