'I looked after friend's child – but was left stunned by text she sent me after'

The woman made the shocking discovery when borrowing her hubby's mobile phone

Allowing a child an extra treat as a one-off isn't a big deal, but one woman was left mortified at a text she received from her friend after she allowed her child a snack.

The mum explained that she was looking after her friend's seven-year-old child when she was going somewhere, and the girl was given "a packed lunch" to eat. She thought that the girl might be a "fussy eater" so she thought nothing more of it, and she ate her lunch alongside the girl.

"She had finished what she had and asked if she could try what I was eating. I said no problem, of course. And gave her a plate. I said eat what you like and don't worry about leaving what you don't", the mum explained on Mumsnet.

The woman said that the child "ate it all", and everyone had some "red velvet cake" afterwards. " It was a red velvet cake from Costco. "It is really yummy and a nice treat", she explained, saying that the girl "had a slice and then another slice because she enjoyed it. She left a bit of the additional slice. Again, a non-issue".

However, her pal was left fuming with her about the food she'd given her, and wrote her a "harshly worded text". The cruel text read: "Hi, Y said you gave her additional food after her lunch [was] provided. In addition to this, she had gorged on a lot of cake too? Please in future can you stick to what I provide".

In the same thread, the mum added: "Sorry just wanted to add that I don't see how I can tell a guest, child or not, that they can't have more food. Seems rude and mean-spirited."

In the comments, others were horrified that the woman had done her pal a favour, and she'd been nothing but ignorant. One wrote: "I'd probably reply that no further instructions will be necessary, since you won't be providing childcare again. Rude, ungrateful cow!"

Another fumed: "Jeez, that's harsh! I don't see any problem with what you did. Clearly she was hungry. Unless she is on a special diet then I think her mum is being unreasonable. Be cruel to have a treat and not allow her any!"

Others defended the other woman, however, with one penning: "Gosh that's quite a lot of food in the space of an afternoon especially the fact she had two slices of cake on top of two meals. I'm sure her mum was happy you could have her but I can see why she was a bit annoyed about the quantity of food she ate in just a few hours. Also of course you can tell her she can't have any more surely you do that to your child too?"

The original poster replied, saying: "My little girl eats a lot less but if someone had said she had eaten all that whilst looking after her for me, I wouldn't have given it a second thought. I genuinely would've at most wondered how they'd got her eating a lot and not think about it again."

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