AIBU to be frustrated by repeated wolf-themed gifts?

[Herecomes]

I am an animal lover, I am especially a dog person meaning I like wolves too if we’re talking wildlife. My mum has taken this to mean I’m obsessed with wolves - I’m really not.

Every year at Christmas she buys me something wolf related … it started off as huge framed pictures (often featuring native Americans too 😂) and in the end I had so many massive pictures piled up the spare room that I made a point of telling her I am no longer buying wall pictures as I don’t like a lot of stuff on the walls and I’ve ran out of space. She got the hint and stopped buying me pictures … instead she started buying me huge blankets, fleece bed covers etc, again featuring wolves howling at the moon, native Americans, wolf eyes staring out of dark trees etc 🤦‍♀️

I ended up with a big pile of fleece blankets that were just sat there collecting dust. In the end I asked her if she wanted any blankets as I’m getting rid of loads as I have far too many and don’t use them. She got the hint.

Now … as my birthday this year was approaching she asked me what size clothing I was. I told her. I joked to DH that I’ll probably end up with a wolf fleece jacket for my birthday … I was wrong … I got 3 wolf fleece jackets for my birthday.

I don’t get it!!! I’m in my 30s, she sees me every week … surely she can see that I don’t wear stuff like this?? It was funny at first but now its getting frustrating. She gets upset and offended easily so I’ve tried to treat lightly but come on …

What would you do?? Or do I just carry on accepting this stuff and lying that I like it to keep the peace?

My father buys my mother expensive jewellery every birthday/Christmas/mothers day/a day with a y at the end but one year she mentioned she'd love a glass ornament shed seen in a shop window (its hard to explain but they are a round ball with swirls in it)

My father was very confused (his fall back is a nice necklace or a pretty bracelet) so asked my aunt for help

Every birthday/Christmas/mothers day/ a day with a y at the end for the next 20 years,she got another version of the glass ornament-she had to buy a new Welsh dresser to display it all

Then she mentioned she liked flower fairies...

Thank god I went nc years ago (unrelated to this tat) and my sister in laws will inherit it one day

Rather them than me

Can you make a big thing of your enthusiasm for Marie Kondo or similar decluttering philosophy as an excuse for asking for non-cluttering presents like theatre vouchers or whatever?

There was a social media post similar to this a while back. A woman casually remarked to her mother, “aren’t bumblebees lovely” as they paused during a walk.

Cue relentlessly bee-themed birthday and Christmas presents from the mum for the next five years …

OP, I only voted you are unreasonable because I know this is often how people become those people - because one person heard you like dogs, so thought you must be obsessed with wolves and before you know it, house full of wolves and wolf-themed 40th birthday. 😂 So, @Herecomes , I heard you like wolves?

I have a relative who has a huge owl themed collection of stuff because she mentioned at a party that she thought owls were cool (in the context of a conversation about owls).

All her friends and colleagues buy her owl themed things. Every year for the last 20 years 😂she thought it was hilarious at first so she indulged it....but then it got too late to say anything.

@Herecomes The solution is to re-gift them all to me, of course! XD I'll pay postage!

Joking aside, I wish I had your problem, in a way... obviously wolves are my lifelong favorite animal, to the point that I drew myself as a wolf when I was a child, and when I make a profile on a site that uses profile pictures, I usually choose a wolf.

My mother has, all my life, been absolutely shít at gift-giving - when she has given me a birthday or Christmas present, it's usually something SHE wants. I have told her all my life that I love wolves and I would be happy with anything wolf-themed, even a crummy cheap notepad with a wolf on it. She never listens and will instead get me clothing she would wear, or household items she would use (and I never would.) She's kind of narcissistic so it's par for the course with her, but I wish I'd had a family member who always got me wolf-themed stuff!

But I can only imagine how annoying it must be for you by now! XD I do sympathize!

Beware of asking for chocolate. My mum's worst present to me was a regifted, now out of date box of chocs which I'd given her two years earlier 😭

I get large cases of fererro rocher without fail for every birthday and Christmas, and have done for as long as I remember.
I'm not keen on fererro rocher at all.
I did once express a liking for them as a child when they were a fancy novelty. It's been too long now so I don't say anything.
At least it's not wolf fleeces though!

I think you will feel a lot better if you just get rid of all that stuff down the charity shop. Keep one blanket you can chuck over the bed if your mum stays. Crackers to have a room stuffed full of stuff you don't like.

I'm sorry but your post reminded me of an episode of The Apprentice where the team had to market a "wolf spirit jacket" on a shopping channel.

My ex sister in law got it in her head that my mum loved frogs 🐸, she has never loved frogs, she just had 1 frogs ornament in the garden by her water feature. For as long as she was married to my brother she bought my mum frog ornaments as "she collects them" she did not collect them, the only frogs ornaments she owned bar the garden one were the ones my sister in law had bought 🤣🤣. It did give us a good laugh watching these frogs multiply every bday and Christmas 😆. My mum never did tell her.

Sorry OP, but I’m howling at this (pun intended).

My DP was in the same situation a few years ago when her DM went through a paint by numbers phase. Her DM loved paint by numbers, but didn’t want to keep any of the paintings herself, so she’d unload them onto DP.

DP didn’t want them either, so they’ve been stored in a cupboard for years. MIL got the hint eventually.

As she’s not listening, just start doing it back to her.

Pick something she mildly finds inoffensive like a garden gnome and then give her gnomes for every birthday and Christmas.

So she got all the fun of doing piss easy paintings and some other poor sucker had to store her works of genius.

I‘m quite jealous of my son‘s parents-in-law as he likes them so much, so I was quite pleased when his wife said she wished I was in charge of choosing gifts from her mother, as I‘m so good at choosing what she likes

Sorry but this is really, really funny.

When I was a kid my dad did the same thing with Hello Kitty. I liked it for a few months as a young teen but went off it fairly quickly. He thought I still liked it when I was 19 and was still buying me merch…

Isn't it lucky there's so much cool and stylish wolf stuff out there 😂

Yep, pretty much. She didn’t want them in her flat because she didn’t have enough space. Then, she proceeded to palm them off to DP, whose flat was even smaller!

That reminds me, I’ll have to ask if she wants them back…

OP, this really made me laugh. Thank you for posting this.

(Although in all seriousness I can appreciate how annoying it must be to have all this random wolfie paraphernalia which you don't want!)

As a child, I had an aunt and uncle who collected antique milk bottles, you know, like old glass milk bottles with the logo of the dairy on them. It’s a thing apparently. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Whole conventions dedicated to it as a hobby.

I made the mistake of feigning interest in their collection aged about 10. Big mistake.

Every birthday and Christmas until I was about 25, I got a milk bottle! 🤣 Now joke is probably on me because I still have them all somewhere packed away in boxes. They’re at least another 20 years older and rarer now and probably some are worth some money. But made me want to poke my eye out every birthday for many years. 😂

Have a sit-down talk and explain that you find it triggering to have wolf stuff given to you, because you change into a real wolf every lunar month.

I can relate to a point. As a kid I loved cats. They are still my favourite animal. So for years I got cat related things mainly from one sister. Fortunately she has stopped that now. My DD has always liked foxes and this same sister will buy her anything fox related. I did tell her a couple years ago that she’d pretty much grown out of the foxes fixation. I also told my other sister to remind her that she wasn’t 12 anymore…
Tell your mother you are no longer liking wolves and you already have too many themed gifts. If she’s offended? So what.

At least it wasnt a furry wolf costume...maybe next year though! 🤣🤣🤣

I’m sorry but this is cracking me up 😂
Could you tell her you used to love them but you’ve gone off them? Maybe you saw a documentary that traumatised you or something?!

Omg me too! I once commented that I like Ferrero Roche when I was a child … now every Christmas I get massive boxes of them from at least 3 different people including my mum along with the wolf stuff 😂 I don’t even like them that much anymore. Last Christmas I told my mum I’d become allergic to them 😂