Mum to ‘sleep with one eye open’ after daughter’s gift is ornament meant to ‘mark death’

A young mum has said she will sleep with one eye open after one of them bought her a birthday present with a death message on it accidentally.

Hayleigh Austin, a young mother, was looking through carefully wrapped birthday gifts from her children Tuesday September 14 when she experienced a surprise.

A bottle of gin and an ornamental animal had been given to Hayleigh Austin, 33, by Kaytlyn and Sophea of her daughters.

The third, from Jesyka, her 10-year old daughter, was her last gift. She tore through the paper to discover a candle in vanilla, her favorite scent.

She read a message intended to be a tribute to a loved one, and realized the candle was a memorial ornament.



Jesyka, 10, chose the haunting gift for her mum
Jesyka, 10, chose the haunting gift for her mum

She laughed at the message but has admitted that she has the candle’s text facing the wall and is slightly sheepish about lighting it.

The mum, from Great Bardfield, Essex, joked: “I guess I’ll be sleeping with one eye open [from now on].

“I think there was an ulterior motive – they were going to get me drunk, hit me over the head with the elephant, bury me and light the candle in memory.

“The candle is currently sitting on my bedroom side with the words facing the wall. Jesyka did say I could turn the bow round and not look at the words.

“It is safe enough to light at some point. I am not superstitious.”

The mum shared the hilarious mishap on social media where it quickly went viral, racking up more than 4,000 likes, shares and comments.

Her post reads: “Today is my birthday. My husband, who is a wonderful man, took me out with him to let my children choose their gift.

“Three-year-old chose an elephant ornament as she said it matched my bedroom.

“Six-year-old chose gin coz in her words ‘you’re always drinking gin’.

“And 10-year-old bought me my favourite scent of candle which I thought smelt amazing until I read the words on the front.

“Guess I’ll be sleeping with one eye open tonight and the husband learnt the valuable lesson of always checking the kids’ choice of presents.”

Hayleigh stated that Ricky Austin (a 34-year-old electrician) took her girls shopping for gifts.

“Ricky had no idea until it came to wrapping it up the night before my birthday. He’s last-minute so by the time he did notice it, it was too late then,” She wrote.

“Jesyka was so determined to give me the candle because she knows that I love vanilla, so he wrapped it up.

“She wrote that our family is a very light-hearted and jokey one. He knew I would see the humorous side of things.

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