It was my birthday yesterday, MIL bought me Christmas themed stuff

[HagsRule]

I feel ungrateful even creating this thread, but it has been bugging me all day. AIBU to feel this way? Is this weird?

Basically, it was my birthday yesterday and MIL came over today with presents for me. Over the past 5 or 6 years I've received at least one Christmas themed present for my birthday from MIL which I've thought was odd since it is almost 2 months before Christmas and I'm not really a big Christmas fan anyway.

After she did it again last year on my birthday I maybe didn't receive the Christmas themed plates and glasses as enthusiastically as she'd expected. Just to clarify I always say thank you and haven't said anything as I don't want to upset anybody and come across as ungrateful. Even posting this I feel guilty! But anyway, maybe last year my face slipped or something and I gave myself away because this year for my birthday every single present was Christmas themed and my BIL (her other son) also gave me entirely Christmas themed presents bar one book. I suspect BIL got help from his mum to buy his presents as when he handed the parcel to me he checked with his mum first to make sure that was the right gift to give me (he's almost 40 fyi).

Is she trolling me now? She must have picked up on me feeling a bit irked by it last year so she's ramped it up this year. My DH is also annoyed on my behalf and at lunch today said something about Christmas not even being on our radar until December (which to be fair is true). She looked annoyed that he said this.

Should I just suck this weird gift thing up forever more? I mean, it's just so random and I think I'd understand more if she bought me Halloween themed tat since that's the day before my birthday, but Christmas stuff? It makes even less sense.

The modern little lego packs with wee instruction booklets are fab. My children loved duplo (duplo zoo in particular) as very young children. They moved on to things like pirates, lego friends and more. They're all in different boxes in the loft. I seem to recall one was a big Egyptian mummy figure with lego inside. I'm thinking I should go up there and check. Now I am buying some fabulous wee sets for grandchildren and they enjoy helping build them. Last week, it was a mini zoo thing that included a tree with a red panda on it. I keep telling my children not to dump the toys when I am gone as they can either sell them or (this would be my preference) enjoy them with their own children/grandchildren. Go lego. Brilliant toy. I also have a collection of Polly Pockets.

@GranPepper I've spent a large part of today sorting out my Lego Friends collection. I want to build a Christmas house out of it 😂

The perfect gift is sorted everyone!
Lego Tea Towel 😂

brilliant

Of course, I am just thinking. I like the bbc show, Sort your life Out, and there is a very brilliant organiser in it called Dilly. The only thing I don't agree with Dilly on is lego storage. She wants to sort it into colours. I always think, noooooo. I sort them into sets with the pieces and instruction booklet and the box I've broken down that go with the set, into a ziplock or if it's bigger a box that fits each set. I don't want to rummage through a thousand black or yellow pieces of lego to help my grandchildren find the mini bit they need for their build. And if the lego gets offloaded/sold later, having the required bits and instructions in its own ziplock/box, would be helpful, I think. But how do other lego lovers store theirs I'd be interested to know

At this time of year, everything in the shops has Christmas labels/wrappers etc. it’s really hard to find things that aren’t! Maybe that’s partly the problem?

@GranPepper mine is a mix of sorted into sets, loose parts but semi sorted (ie windows and doors together) and completely mixed up.
It's slightly chaotic.

Right. Could you enjoy building them up and sorting them into ziplocks, haha. The newer ziplock ones I store in a plastic box with a cover that fits under a bed. I'm in the middle of building the Japanese garden one. I bought it months ago when I was recovering from an operation. It reminded me of one of my fave books and films, Memoires of a Geisha. I wasn't able to tackle it at the time but am enjoying doing it now bit by bit

Big stuff (Disney castle, Death Star, Millenium Falcon, ferris wheel, various cars, space station, Apollo rocket,
rollercoasters, Harry Potter train) all displayed around the house.

smaller stuff gets broken down into colours and kept in little drawers under the Lego table (converted 4x1 kallax unit). Boxes and instruction booklets collapsed down and kept in a storage box under a futon in the Lego room.

Right, if you've got all them, wow, it's a foreign holiday on retirement but only if you can bear to part with them, haha. I'm going to think about any nooks and crannies I could put shelves up and display them on. Hmmm, the 1960s Action Man and Batman car I got out loft to show grandchildren recently, what to do with them, although unfortunately Batman is missing, only Robin remains.

@GranPepper @ThatIsNotMyNameSoWhyAreYouCallingMeThat
unless you're there already join in on the "Show Us Your Lego" thread 🙂
(sorry....not sure how to link)
(it's in AIBU)

omg, is there a lego thread, brilliant

On lego sorting, there is a plastic see through box for all the mini figures and everything else is chucked into larger see through boxes. All the leaflets are in a little ziplock plastic folder.

Love it. The mini figures are epic. I have a small vintage bookshelf thing that has a selection of books I had as a child (Enid Blyton, Castle of Adventure; Island of Adventure etc, a couple of Secret Sevens - I hid them in my room after my mother got rid of the entire Famous Five collection we had), and some books my children enjoyed (Anthony Horowitz (my daughter was fortunate to meet him once with other pupils with her teacher - he was very nice to the children), Clarice Bean, Terry Jones books. But the top shelf only has mini figures/toys on the grandchild like. Everything from a mini lego joker guy to a lego Gran pushing a lego baby in a lego pram. The grandchildren love it.

Trying to wean myself off. I’ve about 6 sets still in boxes I’ve not had time to build yet. :-/

I love how this last page is all about Lego haha. Brilliant! Also...I loved the calendar! I loved it people!!!! 🤣 How many times?

@HagsRule ask for a Lego advent calendar next year 😂

At this time of year the shops start stocking all their Christmas products in eye catching displays. I wonder whether your MIL feels joyful when she sees it all freshly laid out and genuinely thinks it would make a great gift?

Maybe regift them back to her for Christmas??

Mention to her over Xmas that you have too much Xmas stuff to use, and you may have to start thinning it down. Tell her again in September, when all the Xmas stuff appears in the shop, that you have more than enough Xmas themed items in the house and "please, no more for my birthday".
See what happens. You'd have put her straight about it and put the onus on her to heed your words.

Happy birthday. As a child I got joint Christmas and birthday presents. It still hurts. I suspect now your partner has made a comment, this will cease. Away to the local shops and buy a bag/box of bulbs and wrap them beautifully. Having to wait to enjoy them may drop a subtle hint? I wish you well.

Mention it to her ( casually) at Xmas that you feel you have too.uch Xmas stuff and need to declutter it. In September when all the Xmas stuff appears in the shop tell her politely "Please, don't buy me Xmas themed gifts for my birthday, I have far too many to use and store".
You have told her straight and now the onus is on her to respect that.
If she doesn't and you get another Xmas item for your birthday, either say, sorry that you have no use for it and would she like it back or is there anyone else in the family she could gift it to.
If she won't take it back, straight to the charity shop.

Don't worry OP, people don't actually read what other people have said or the replies before they jump on the bandwagon...but I'm delighted that you really, really loved the boots calendar!
In future, I would just expect Christmas things and treat it as a family joke, then you won't be disappointed!

This. Some Christmas themed gifts will only have their value in advance of Christmas and are for the build up to Christmas and may be of little use opened on Christmas Day.. Maybe she thinks she's being thoughtful, sounds like she thinks the world of you. Sorry, if you've already said, OP, but does she also gift you Christmas themes for Christmas?

I would be happy with Christmas tableware or boots beauty advent calendar to be honest. Particularly the calendar- you could have just opened it early to enjoy the products.