AIBU to expect grandparents to wrap birthday presents for young children?

[Stoptheworldiwanttogetoff]

I feel like this is a really petty issue to be annoyed about but my partners parents never wrap birthday presents for my DC. They are 8 and 5 years old now but this has always been the case and for me I feel like part of the excitement of birthday presents for kids is the unwrapping. They just shove the presents in a bag and give them to my DC some time near their birthday so if it’s a few days beforehand they can see exactly what they have got so no lovely surprise on their actual birthday. My DPs siblings do the same thing so not sure if it’s a family thing. All my family wrap presents and I thought it was just standard practice. As an adult I wouldn’t really care but for children I just feel like it takes away some of the magic of birthdays. It comes across to me that they just can’t be arsed. Before people start jumping on about being ungrateful blah blah blah, I am grateful that they get my DC gifts and my DC will always thank them for whatever they are gifted. And to cover any other bases, they are retired so not that they don’t have time and they are well off so not that they can’t afford wrapping paper and tape! They make very little effort with my DC anyway so maybe that is a factor in how I feel about this but please let me know if I am being unreasonable for expecting presents for young children to be wrapped

You’re right. This is insanely petty.

My dear late mother-in-law never wrapped gifts. (Neither could she wait till the big day and always handed it over on the day of purchase. In the bag it came in.)
Just a strange little quirk we found funny.

Omg...I don't even know what to say to this, are you winding us up 😂
Just reminded me though, my dad doesn't cos he hates all that paper and trees going waste. And he hates wrapping. I do too. So I generally try to use bags. I now wonder, are my gift recipients complaining that there's no excitement when opening their bags... The despair...

I wouldn’t fall out with anyone over whether a present is wrapped or in a gift bag.

Families just do things differently. It’s unusual but if they do it for everyone, and your DH’s siblings do it too, it’s not like they’re making some sort of point by just not wrapping your children’s gifts.

Who ever invented wrapping paper and presents is the work of the devil!!! HATE WRAPPING PRESENTS… what a waste of time!

So yes yabu - no one remembers unwrapping a birthday present much less many of their childhood presents…. Do you remember what you got from your grandparents for your 8th birthday????

Didn’t think so , so not a hill to die on

I’ve not said that I’ve fallen out with them about it! There are plenty of issues I could fall out with them over but the lack of wrapping paper is more of a mild annoyance!

I don't understand not wrapping birthday gifts. In my family, nearly every gift would be wrapped for birthdays, Christmas, etc. Only exception would be if something was too large or awkwardly shaped to wrap, and even then we'd make an effort with presentation. I think it does make things nicer and more exciting for both giving and receiving gifts. However, it sounds like this is just how your in-laws do things, so I'd try not to take it badly. It would be entirely different if they wrapped gifts for others, but didn't bother when it came to your family.

I dont wrap presents anymore. Shove them in a present bag thing.

Coming back to say that giftbags definitely count as gift-wrapping, in my opinion. Basically, it's just anything that makes the experience feel more special. A bow or ribbon would also count. It's not essential, but it makes a difference.

‘The magic of Christmas’, sure; but birthdays? Even as kiddies?
Excitement of course, but there’s not a lot of twinkling fairy dust I’d have thought.

So your argument would be not to bother doing anything for your DC that they won’t remember then? So presumably nothing at all until they are about 4 or 5 years old. I don’t remember what my GPs got me for my 8th birthday so I guess they shouldn’t have bothered getting me anything at all. My point is more about the in the moment on their actual birthday, the excitement of ripping off the wrapping paper to see what’s inside rather than whether they can still relive that moment 30 years from now!

The thing about a gift is it should be chosen and presented with care . Shoving it in a bag does not demonstrate that . I’m with you OP I wouldn’t dream of handing over a carrier bag .

If you don't like it OP wrap them yourself.
Be grateful you get presents.
Some people would love a present and wouldn't care if it was wrapped or not?

Threads like these make me think the OP really doesn’t like their in-laws so finds the most mundane things to get wound up about.

Sorry, OP, it’s a non-issue.

It annoys me too but their present, their rules. We just have to suck it up x

As they all do it then it obviously IS a family thing. I love wrapping presents but it ts certainly not something I’d get worked up about!

I use gift bags usually as I have a plethora of them

Wonder what they think of you? Perhaps you have Annoyances too.

I remember! A brownies handbag

I get it. We all hate wrapping gifts but we do it for each other as its part of the experience. The gift bag wouldn't be so bad if they took the effort to hide it- a piece of tissue paper over the top would make it a lot less bad.

What sort of bag? I think a gift bag taped up so they can’t see inside is fine. Left open, no, that ruins the surprise. If it’s just a carrier bag, they’re being arses.

Just tape up the gift bag so they can't see what's in there @Stoptheworldiwanttogetoff .

But was it wrapped? 😂

I agree with you! I used to buy all presents for my in-laws to give to our children. It started off they wanted ideas, then they wanted links to the product, then they wanted me to buy them and pass them over before the birthday. I did all this under the pretence of being grateful for the actual present until the year that they gave the gift to my child in the same bag I had given it to them in. No wrapping, absolutely no effort on their side whatsoever.

Now I ask for cash for them.

In my mind, it’s all about the fact they can’t be arsed.