Myleene Klass has admitted there might be a "few hard feelings" between her and other parents at her daughter's school, after she shared an email exchange about birthday gifts. Last week, Myleene posted messages from two mothers requesting birthday donations of £10 in cash to put towards a Kindle for one little girl, and a writing desk for the other. The former singer branded the emails "bonkers" and produced her own tongue-in-cheek reply saying she was collecting money to buy a "unicorn" for her daughter, and a "Ferrari and Leonardo DiCaprio" for herself.
Myleene Klass said she wanted to 'remind parents what birthdays should be about'
Writing in the Telegraph at the weekend, Myleene addressed the furore surrounding her decision, saying she was unsure whether it made her "courageous or an idiot". "My intention was to stop all these serious money-focused exchanges and remind parents, all of us under pressure to do the very best for our children, of what birthdays should be about," she explained. The star, 36, said she had not intended to "embarrass the parents involved" by publishing the emails, which were sent a year ago, but said she knew that "not everybody has been happy".
Myleene Klass shared the original emails on social media last week
"I'm not trying to point fingers here," she said. "While there may, sadly, be a few hard feelings in the playground, I love these mums." Myleene also spoke of the pressure some parents feel at the expectation to contribute £10 each time their child's classmate has a birthday, admitting she is in a "privileged position" compared to many. "Paying £10 a go for your children's friends' presents is great, if you can afford it: but the problem is, a lot of people can't," she said. "It takes one person to draw a line under it and say: let's go back to basics. Let's go back to celebrating what this is all actually about: the birth of a loved one." It has since been reported that Myleene received a public dressing down from the headmistress at her daughter's school. The head is said to have made reference to the incident in her weekly newsletter to parents, writing, "As my granny would've said, if you can't tweet anything nice, don't tweet anything at all".
She then posted her own tongue-in-cheek reply
She told parents: "It was not my intention to use [my newsletter] this week as a soap box, but here it comes … how I wish I could focus on your daughters' education and not on responding to media trivia. "How many times this week have I been asked to comment/act/intervene/reprimand/ … do something! Mutual respect and tolerance. FBV (fundamental British values). We actively promote them – do you? "I needed to get that off my chest. Now, on with the week's round up of (school) news. No more parking on zig zags. No more blocking in the neighbours. No more unicorns. And as my granny would've said, if you can't tweet anything nice, don't tweet anything at all."