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?

So MIL gives the DC gifts that adds an extra task and an extra £5 for OP to sort out. Great.

Needing to buy batteries for the toys you give isn't a new concept.

Mine always do. As would I now if I was buying a toy that needed batteries to operate, but that is probably because my family have always done this.

Completely agree, just adding to ops load. Maybe the mils son can sort it

I bloody hate when people buy kids toys that need batteries and then don't supply the batteries.

In future, put the batteries in the toys beforehand then they're not up for grabs and the kids don't have to wait to play.

It's alright to say to have a stash but if have 3 kids that all get a toy that needs 4 AAA batteries then that's your spare pack of batteries gone on one toy each.

I’m consistently glad my life doesn’t involve the crazy overblown dramas that pop up on MN 😂

@MadeinScotland2026 , if you had posted as the MIL in this scenario you'd have been flamed.

I never knew this! Off to buy a battery tester!

Jesus christ the things people get wound up about. Its trivial. Just buy bulk packs and share them out.

Well hopefully she'll remember batteries next time if she's still stewing over it

100 👍 from me, well said OP!

Can DC not be taught to take batteries out of one toy and put them in another? So that they can play with all the toys, though not all at the same time.

Weird answers on her from performatively laid back posters (laid back about other people’s lives that is!)

YANBU at all

That would be very annoying, especially her bringing it up again.

I agree that your reply should make it clear you’re not buying batteries for any battery operated toys she might bring! As a pps said “great, you’ve remembered how awkward you made it by not bringing batteries - they do sell them all over so should be easy for you to get some this time if you buy battery operated toys again”

The batteries for the gift should be part of the gift surely?

Pile on the tasks to OP's to do list.

The disappointment of the little kid who gets a present without the batteries is not trivial.

Some gifts need expensive batteries.

We were buying fireworks ages ago in a local shop run by a couple of Asian brothers and as we were paying one brother the other was unpacking loads of batteries. When we asked if we were due some power cuts he explained that they opened on Dec 25th for a few hours and sold more batteries on that day than in the rest of the year combined, they had known people, usually shamed faced fathers, drive miles to buy them! 'We do well out of Christianity!'

Tell me you hate your MIL without telling me you hate your MIL

My brother the electrician would swap them round to get more use out of them.

I think they sound very enterprising! Love it.

Are you going to expect her to replace the batteries in the presents she buys every time they run out?

Unbelievably petty.

Christ, I will buy her some batteries if you want, poor woman.

Really, the op asked the DC which toys they want to use and put the batteries in those. I think that was the right solution rather than making them play with MILs toys when they wanted to play with Santas toys.

They were and were quite good for free advice about electrical stuff which was their main business, the fireworks were a bit of a side hustle!

She’s right. It was a pretty crappy way to deal with a relatively minor problem. Poor planning for you not to predict there may be an issue. Having spare batteries at Christmas is parenting 101. Then dealing with it in an “these are MY batteries and you can’t have them” way, being self satisfied kids chose your presents over hers is a very weird reaction. I assume you hate her generally.

She should have bought batteries, but to treat a guest in your home so appallingly is worse. Especially when the really easy solution was “let’s use the batteries in these toys first and then we can swap them over.” You don’t have to permanently have batteries in every toy if you can’t afford to buy a lot of them. If you are on a tight budget. A 40 pack of batteries on Amazon is £10, that should last a good while.

I can only imagine the Christmas spirit in OP 's home last year.

For MIL to send that message, I can only imagine that OP 's tone when managing the situation was not ideal. Yes MIL should have thought about batteries. But there was no need for OP to be unpleasant about it, which I tend to think that she must have been

If you only buy the exact amount of batteries for the toys you’ve bought, what do you do for the rest of the year? It would be nice if MIL would buy batteries for her toys, but it sounds like she didn’t and won’t. I would buy extra when I see cheap ones as you’ll get through them the rest of the year. Or buy rechargeable. I’ve just got Amazon own brand and they seem pretty good so far, not like the useless rechargeables we had as a kid. I’ve heard of people powering e-bikes with vape batteries so rechargeable battery power has obviously improved considerably

Tell her if shes buying toys that need batteries to buy suitable rechargeable ones to go with them & a you will provide a charger.