to tell mil she cannot use xmas batteries

[MadeinScotland2026]

This happened last xmas but it's been brought up again due to everyone making xmas plans i think.

Mil stayed with us last year and she got the kids lots of presents that needed batteries. Which she didn't get before hand or prewarn us that we needed them.

On xmas morning she noticed my bag of batteries I got for xmas and went to put them into the toys she got. I said no they were for the toys santa got ( they were brought for this reason and cost £££)
I told her she can use any left over and I will buy more when I can. She wasn't happy to say the least and then asked the kids which toys they wanted batteries in first ( they said santa which i already knew)
I was annoyed as

1. They cost £££
2. I wanted to see my children play with the toys I got
3. She couldve said before hand or got some herself

aibu?

Exactly!

It just seems unnecessarily bitter and I do wonder if OP would have said this if it was her own mum.
Would it really have been the end of the world to not put batteries in every single Santa present at once in the morning and let the MIL use a couple to set up the kids toys from her?
Then everything can be swapped around later if they want to play with toys that don’t have batteries.

Batteries don't need to cost £££. I always stock up in Lidl before Christmas. If it's not MIL there will be other random gifts that need batteries.

Or you can always swap them out according to which toys DC want to play with. Can you honestly say you'd be so petty if your mother hadn't got batteries?

It's hardly a huge crime!
Perhaps mother in law didn't realise about the batteries.
If there weren't enough batteries for toys on Christmas morning I would have done exactly the same as your mother in law and asked the children which toys they wanted to try first. I wouldn't have had an hierarchy of toys based on what I bought and what someone else had.
I always have spare batteries in my house anyway though!

We used to co-ordinate presents

One year it was train track - for example

So someone got the basic set then the grandparents added on the fun (expensive) extras, station, level crossing, buses, more people etc etc

One big present basically, split into several packages - seemed to us much better than smaller separate things and then the kids played with everyone’s presents at the same time

My mum used to put a mini parcel with the corresponding batteries inside the requisite presents when we were kids.

We are less organised and just have a generic battery cupboard/drawer of the usual types and top it up when it's running low - in desperate events, borrow the ones out of the remote control for the obscure bit of the TV system.

It's just part of Christmas organisation when you have young kids to stock up on batteries in a variety of sizes as someone invariably gives them presents requiring batteries but forgets to include them

I don't blame her, and I bet the batteries aren't the only problem in her long message.

Or the poor woman could bring batteries with the gifts, if she wants to enjoy her grandchildren straight away

Can't you see how utterly trivial this is? Just buy extra batteries when doing your Christmas shop. I'm sure your MIL went home rolling her eyes. Talk about looking for something to moan about.

Surely these are very easily solvable problems? Just talk to the MIL about her battery requirements and explain to her either way whether you will or will not be covering them. Communication is the answer.

You can get a pack of 100 AA and AAA batteries from Amazon for £17. And they work fine. You don't have to but expensive Duracell ones

That's weird to dictate battery usage - surely they can just be swapped over according to what kids want to play with.

Also very ungrateful of you & your DC to not value the gifts.

Put the bloody batteries in let the DC have a go on the toy, say thank you to granny & then swap the batteries over. Weird to specify the batteries are either gifts from Santa or gifts from granny - let the kids decide.

There can't be that many battery operated toys left these days so I think you just got unlucky last Xmas.

Just buy more batteries & stop driving a war between you & your mil

Amazon do a job lot - maybe she can get that or send her the link etc?

Hopefully instead of 'binned' you meant to write 'donated' so a charity could sell it on instead of adding to permanent landfill...

If MIL had bought some, she could have brought them....

Of all the issues people face - and I’m sure you too - this has got to be so minor I can not believe it’s something anyone would post about.
Just buy extra batteries - I mean how many toys are you getting your kids? Surely a couple each is plenty. Maybe think that they are possibly getting too much stuff?

When I was a child batteries appeared by magic. Whoever was hosting had stocked up. I've always done the same.

You're making this a MIL thing. Unless you can honestly say you'd have made the same fuss for any other guest, you did make her feel unwelcome.

What a load of drama over nothing! Just buy some cheap batteries and keep them for Xmas.

Why not take some action to solve the problem and take away the conflict?

Send her a message, or get DH to do it, asking if she could let you know if she is getting any toys that may need batteries so you can get some in advance and then the kids can play with everything on Christmas day.

So the OP should have sacrificed her pleasure in seeing her children play with the toys she bought them so that a thoughtless MIL could take all the glory for OP’s hard work and planning? No.

OP yeah, you probably could have been more tactful but your MIL needs to love on and be more prepared next year. I like the PP’s tip of putting batteries into toys before wrapping. Makes Christmas Day much easier if the toys can be played with right out of the box.

Well you're an angry little elf aren't you?

When did she send you the message? Why are you worrying about it now?

Can’t she just bring her own?! They are part of the present. What are you; the buyer and organiser of batteries?! One of my pet hates about Christmas is people trying to delegate the boring tasks onto other people

I always have a supply of different size batteries and I don't even have kids! It's really not difficult.

My toys are all usb chargeable 😉