Have you ever had a prank backfire on you?
Local influencer and mum-of-three, Vanny (@Vannytelly), recently shared on TikTok a prank she played on her seven-year-old daughter, Hope.
She and her family of five spent the day at Orchard Central’s indoor playground, X-scap8.
Vanny’s plan was to prank the birthday girl Hope with a 50-cent-sized ‘micro cake’, and then later surprise her with the real cake, a larger rabbit-shaped one.
Hope first smiled when she saw the micro cake and was told by her older sister — who was in on the prank — that the reason for its size was “because [Hope] needed to lose weight”.
Things went downhill after that as Hope looked like she was trying to hold her tears back.
“Don’t want to take video,” she said. That was when Vanny decided to call cut.
Vanny later included a clip of the birthday girl sobbing in her dad’s arms, along with the caption: “Oh no we made her cry!”
Thankfully, Hope cheered up when she got her actual birthday cake, which had the message “We are just joking because you are perfect”.
Vanny later shared the same clip on Instagram, where she gave more context on the situation.
She revealed that Hope was a premature baby, so she did all she could to “fatten her up”.
“She grew into a cute chubby baby and we loved it!” Vanny wrote.
While Hope lost weight as she grew older, she “ballooned up in just a mere two months” after entering primary school.
Vanny said she herself had struggled with an eating disorder and body image issues in the past, and so she tries to get her girls to “eat healthier and balanced [meals]” so they would not have the same experience as her.
She also said they would tease each other about their weight at home and so she did not expect Hope to react that way, as they would normally just laugh it off.
Vanny later realised that Hope cried because she was affected by the message — “bcuz’ you need to lose weight” — written on the cake.
Vanny has since been criticised for playing such a prank. Netizens chided her for hurting Hope’s feelings, adding that it may cause her “trauma” that she “will remember for the rest of her life”.
Vanny also admitted that she made a mistake and said that she feels “utterly bad about it”. She said she has since had a talk with Hope and has also apologised for her actions.
“Mum guilt at its worse and I’ve learnt a mistake from this. Sorry baby girl. Mummy is happy seeing you smile again,” wrote Vanny.