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.

Things like plates and glasses and tea towels are shit gifts regardless of whether they're themed or not unless you know the person collects them (e.g. if you like Clarisse Cliff plates then getting one will be a lovely treat), otherwise it's a gift for the house, not you.

I wish people would ACTUALLY READ THE BLOODY THREAD instead of just rushing to give their oh so important opinions!

Isn’t that a good present? It’s not cheap (but a great bargain) and if you wanted to do it properly, you get a small gift every day of December until Christmas. I think that’s quite thoughtful. There’s no point in giving that as a Christmas present is there, so a birthday near December would be ideal.

She won’t be the only one using them though. It’s like buying her a kitchen tap or a shed.

FFS. If you just read the OP’s posts you’d see that she loved the advent calendar.

For Christmas buy her a voucher for a psychiatrist. If she asks why tell her she's bonkers.

You don't need to.

It's dead easy just to read the OP's posts and nothing else - See All on any one if their posts

Oh, for the love of god...

Ask what she'd like? Ask your son what she'd like?

Stop buying stuff for the sake of it?

Stop expecting gratitude for stuff she neither likes or needs?

My mother does this to me and my brother almost every year, it really annoys me too, yes she is in her 80s and we both have our birthdays close to christmas but I dont even like Christmassy things, and she has been doing it years now, so i dont buy her much for her birthday anymore.

This exactly. The superiority of posters because they have time to grind through every detail …

You can just look at the OPs updates all in one go now if you don’t want to read through all the posts, it means you can see what they have said and not repeat the same old useless thing. It’s not superiority, in fact I’d say posters who don’t read the updates have the superiority complex to think their answer is so important and original that it must be heard.

And then expect gratitude……. ;)

Hahaha. Ohhhh MIL’s! Gotta love them for threads like this.

glad at least DH see it too.

re-gift? Re-gift too her? Then if she freaks out, re-freak about her not wanting to twin.

I’d also never bring out that crap. Is she hinting you don’t decorate enough? Have a garage sale getting rid of clutter, including it all.

too funny! Probably not worth the fuss, gee thanks, or a I can give you a list next year if you’re that desperate for ideas.

Definitely do the same to her even if her birthday is in June! See if her face slips!!! 🤣🤣🤣

I would just buy her Christmas napkins and tinsel for her birthday and Mothering Sunday every year until she gets the hint. Say you thought it must be a family joke.

Sorry for the annoyance. I’m new to mumsnet and hadn’t realised there was a way to see all the OPs posts without trawling through 20 odd pages. Lesson learned.

I agree it’s a bit strange with the tea towels coasters etc. Only so many you can use. And not really a gift you would want for a birthday, Xmas related or otherwise.

my birthday is October and one year I got a gin calendar. Best Xmas ever opening my wee door each night. Look around for a wine calendar and maybe drop some hints for that!! lol.

I'm a late Oct bday and ask for nice advent calendars and got all my expensive Xmas China as bday presents. That very different to getting unasked for and unwanted Xmas tat. I'd revenge buy Xmas tat for her bday or perhaps Easter if her bday is early in the year?

I'd just keep my mouth shut and be grateful for anything.