Picture the scene: your child invites a friend over to play and you get an invoice through the letter box a few days later. Why? Because said friend goes home with a pen mark on her fancy new shoes, and the mum figures you should fork out for a new pair.
I don't know about you, but let's just say I would be in no hurry to cough up in that scenario. Yet that's exactly what happened to one mum, who found herself slapped with an invoice when a child she invited over for a playdate went home with pen marks on her shoes.
You've probably seen the story doing the rounds in the papers and on social media. And while it's laughable – I don't think I know a single parent in real life who would dream of invoicing another parent for damage sustained to clothing during a playdate – I think it also raises an interesting point.
Who is responsible for 'damage' in situations like this, and where are the boundaries when it comes to expecting another parent to rectify something that goes wrong when they're caring for your child?
I'm sure we've all got anecdotes about *that* time our child was in the care of a friend or a relative and something happened that we weren't exactly thrilled about. I've got friends whose kids have come home from a sleepover at Granny's with unexpected (and unwanted) haircuts, and another friend who once hosted a birthday party for her daughter that turned into a water fight which turned into a mud bath, to the extent that she fears that several of the kids must have ended up having to bin the clothes they'd worn. Awkward.
But few of us would ever utter a word of complaint in such circumstances, never mind seek any sort of financial recompense. Would we?
We'd love to hear your views on this story. Is it appropriate to expect the other parent to pay for damage done to your child's possessions whilst at their house on a playdate?
Leave us a comment here or come and join the conversation over on our Facebook page.
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