36-year-old Vanny — an influencer in Singapore who goes by @vannytelly on TikTok — recently shared how a birthday cake prank went wrong for her daughter, Hope.
While the 7-year-old seemed unbothered by the tiny cake initially, she later broke into tears and needed comforting.
Realising her mistake in carrying out the prank, Vanny apologised to her daughter for the incident.
The prank video starts with Vanny — who is self-employed — showing off the cake, which was about the size of a S$0.50 coin.
Source: @vannytelly on TikTok
The cake also had the message, “Because you need to lose weight,” written below it, with the actual one being much bigger and in the shape of a rabbit.
When Hope received the cake at the table, she appeared confused, after which one of her sisters said: “Because you need to lose weight.”
Source: @vannytelly on TikTok
Vanny then asked if she liked the tiny cake.
While Hope didn’t seem bothered a first, she started looking upset moments later — she requested not to be filmed and was seen crying in her father’s arms.
Source: @vannytelly on TikTok
Some netizens criticised Vanny for the prank, pointing out that it might be “ingrained in her memory”.
Source: TikTok
In a follow-up video, Vanny shared that she and other members of the family quickly brought out the actual cake for Hope.
Source: @vannytelly on TikTok
Upon seeing the actual cake, Hope let out a huge smile. Vanny also brought her attention to the message on the box, which read “We are just joking because you are perfect”.
Vanny then placed the smaller cake with the lit candle in front of the larger one before instructing Hope to blow out the candle through the rabbit cake.
The video ended with Hope smiling brightly, seemingly with the earlier distress forgotten.
Source: @vannytelly on TikTok
Reposting the video to Instagram, Vanny explained the reasons behind the message on the cakes.
She explained that after entering primary school, Hope had gained weight within a short period. As a concerned mother, she tried to help her children achieve a healthy and balanced diet.
“At home we would sometimes tease around and we would all laugh about [Hope being chubby],” she said. “I assumed she would take the prank [and] message well and laugh it off like how we normally do at home.”
“Turns out she cried [because] she was affected by the message I wrote: [Because] you need to lose weight.”
Speaking to MS News, Vanny shared that her family is a “very lively” one that joked around at home occasionally.
“We often prank or surprise one another,” she said. “Even if it doesn’t turn out as expected we would laugh about it or learn from it.”
Vanny added that she felt “deeply saddened” that she hurt Hope on her birthday.
However, Vanny shared that she later spoke to her daughter about the incident.
“Acknowledging my mistake for the message, I apologized and let her know my true intentions,” Vanny said. “[It] was to surprise her with the most special cake she’s had and that I loved her.”
“Such videos have been a part of our family and our memories since the beginning, sharing the videos were only a part of sharing our lives.”
Vanny also noted that she hoped it would serve as a reminder for other parents about such mistakes.
“We parents are also human, we too make mistakes. And during different stages of their growing up, we are all learning new things together,” she said.
Vanny added that despite the “rather harsh” comments, she chose to remain positive and accept them with an “open heart”.
“Many of them do not know us, the dynamics of our family and the celebration, hence I do not blame them for perceiving me as a bad mother,” she added.
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Featured image adapted from @vannytelly on TikTok.
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