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Myleene Klass exposes 'gift inflation' at daughter's school

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The TV and radio presenter took to Twitter last night to ridicule mothers of classmates of her 7-year-old daughter Ava, after she received an email suggesting parents club together to buy a Kindle for one child's birthday present.

Klass, who lives in North London and also has a 3-year-old daughter Hero, tweeted extracts of a group email (with the names changed):

Myleene Klass Twitter

Myleene Klass Twitter

She followed this up with a biting reply, which is just perfect: 

Myleene Klass Twitter 2

Myleene Klass Twitter 2

This comes a couple of weeks after the parents of a 5-year-old from Cornwall was invoiced for not showing up at his classmate's birthday party.

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So-called "gift inflation" applies to teachers' gifts too, with reports of parents with kids at top private schools spending huge amounts on teachers to keep them sweet. Last year Tatler magazine reported that presents as extravagant as £1,000 handbags, diamond necklaces and cases of vintage wine were being received. Apparently some teachers were even offered the opportunity to use families' private jets.

As a result many schools have enforced rules capping the value of gifts teachers can accept. Tatler magazine wrote to every school in its "Tatler Schools Guide" requesting a copy of their gifting policies and published the responses online. For example, James Allen's Girls' School in South London states that "any gifts over £20 have to be registered and […] any significantly larger gifts are politely returned."

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Is it only a matter of time before schools issue similar guidelines for children's birthday gifts? Perhaps something along the lines of: Be grateful for what you receive and don't underestimate the effect demanding parents can have on kids' friendships in the playground? Would you really want a child to be excluded simply because her mum didn't contribute to an expensive present?

More on kids' birthdays

Party pooper prevention: How to act when pint-sized partygoers act up
The 10 commandments of children's birthday parties
Half-birthdays are the newest trend in spoiling your kids


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