Knock at the door this morning and there’s my mother-in-law with a car full of Christmas presents for DH and me, kids, extended family on my side, with the words “You might as well have these now, I want to get organised” and before I could fully articulate an argument against this, they were in and she was gone. So now I have a dining room full of wrapped gifts, three kids desperate to get in there and look and nowhere else to put them. I don’t even buy my own presents til December due to little prying eyes and space limitations. I can’t possibly pass the presents on to my family now, not this far before Christmas, as they have nowhere to put them either.
M-i-L lives alone in huge 4 bedroom house with outdoor storage too. She is a generous woman and imo buys for far too many people but that’s how she likes it and has always done it, so I’m not criticising her for that but I do feel annoyed with her. As for “wanting to get organised”, I’m not sure what she means. She is spending Christmas Eve, Day and Boxing Day with family out of the home and has nothing else to do really but buy and wrap presents —and store them in her own massive house til the last minute—
Usually we have an informal drop-in style present swapping afternoon/evening on the 23rd at one family member’s house and we’re going to do similar this year.
If IABU then I will hold my hands up and admit it but really, it’s November 14th and I’m pissed off