If your child accidentally harms themselves whilst under the care of the family of their friend, you'd like to think you could trust the parents enough to deal with the situation appropriately. This wasn't the case for one woman's daughter, however, as she was left shocked as her daughter claimed she had to repeatedly ask for appropriate plasters after she cut her knees whilst at her friend's house.
The mum headed to Mumsnet to exclaim she was 'p***** off' with the mum for not handling the incident correctly, acknowledging that ' accidents happen' but the woman could've dealt with it in a more appropriate way.
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She wrote: "My teenage daughter went to her friend's house yesterday and stayed over. She came back today and said she had a fall. Both her knees were really cut up and one of her hands. Anyway accidents happen but I am cross at how her friend's mum handled it.
"My daughter said both her knees were bleeding quite bad and she went to the bathroom to clean up her knees. The mum asked if she was ok and walked off when my daughter asked if she had a first aid kit. My daughter had to ask for antiseptic wipes and if she could have plasters. It took them ages to find anything.
"She was handed one small antiseptic wipe and told that she couldn't have the plasters that were big enough to cover her cuts when my daughter asked but given lots of little plasters. These plasters weren't great and both knees on her tracksuit bottoms had blood on them due to this.
"Am I being unreasonable that I'm cross that they were obviously too mean to give her two large plasters to put on and she had to ask for all of this? She went to the nearest town with her friend today and went to the chemist herself to buy two large plasters for her knees. When she came home her knees were oozing and had lots of fluff stuck on them from the inside of her tracksuit bottoms.
"I am not going to say anything but I am quite cross about it. I know if this happened in my house that I would have made sure her daughter would have been cared for.
"I know my daughter is a teenager and I don't expect her to be babied but certainly provide suitable plasters and something to disinfect them to avoid infection. She said she kept having to ask and had to use kitchen towel in the beginning as that was all that was handed to her.
"Her friend's mum is a dentist and I would have thought she would surely know the importance of disinfecting and covering deep cuts."
Other parents were also baffled by the behaviour, wondering why the mum refused to give her the appropriate plasters.
One wrote: "I actually think I would say something in this case. I would ask what had happened and see what she says about how she handled it. I’d certainly not be letting her stay again, I doubt she wants to though that’s really awful."
Another said: "That is really off from the mum. Weird she couldn't give her the big plasters. The fact she had to keep asking makes me a bit sad for her. When I was a teenager I would have been too shy to say anything.
"I have a toddler and a baby so slightly different but I always keep a first aid kit on me and have stuff at home."
Someone suggested saying something, but warned it could impact the relationship between the friends, writing: "You are right that the other mother could have done better. But if your daughters are friends, saying something will have consequences that your daughter might not appreciate."
Others didn't agree that a cut needed antiseptic wipes, commenting: "I don't think it's necessary to put disinfectant on a cut or graze, a good rinse under the tap and remove any debris is fine. It seems a bit mean not to give her a plaster though."
What would you do in this situation? Let us know in the comments.
