For context my parents are well off, as is my sibling. They’re all mortgage free and my sibling doesn’t work. Neither do my parents as retired.
In contrast, I am a single parent. I have a good income and DD’s dad is well off but I still have a mortgage and in comparison to the rest of my direct family I am in a different category financially. They’re all going away in summer for example and I’m only going for half the amount of time due to cost of the area they’ve chosen to go. However I do have money and by most people’s standards I’m in a well off category.
Anyway that’s the context. Sibling relies on parents and her in laws a lot. Today I met my parents at their request, around 45 minutes away, close to where my sibling is based because she won’t drive far now she has a 1 year old and 4 year old.
Sibling dropped 4 year old with my parents and went home for a break and then me, DD and parents and niece walked round the park.
I generally have a good relationship with sibling.
At the cafe at the end my niece ran up to the table with an ice cream she had chosen asking my dad to buy it and my parents were really funny with me that I’d not paid for niece’s ice cream or snacks.
I haven’t been in the best mood today as barely slept but I just felt like it was absolutely taking the piss. I said that I couldn’t always subsidise sibling and pay for niece too and that I had driven really far today to meet because it was local to sibling. Both parents said it was only an ice cream and snacks and I should be able to buy my own niece things.
I do buy niece things and have got ice creams and so on in the past. It’s not something I never do but I found it really shit they thought it was expected? I’m probably making more of things than I need to, it’s just really upset me. What do you think? As I say it’s not like I would have ran out of money for the month if I had paid for it. Was I being totally stingy and unreasonable?