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?

YABU to make a big issue about it - just buy more batteries before Christmas. Surely not all their gifts are battery operated anyway. Perhaps try to focus on buying more that aren't if batteries are such an issue.

Please for all our sakes move on.

yes, probably a giant vibrator

Poundland sell cheap batteries- You appear to have very little to worry about and the Christmas spirit of Scrooge. Sorry but you did ask.

Just suck it up and get some extra batteries, even better get the rechargeable ones.

Or when you next talk with her just remind her to include batteries.

This isn't worth blowing up Christmas over.

OP, I wouldn’t dream of buying a toy that needs batteries without including said batteries. Your MIL is vv unreasonable not to have provided batteries. Unfortunately, if this is becoming “thing”, you had better lay in a supply of batteries, or at least ask her if the toys she’s buying need them and if so, what size. We have a collection of spare batteries that have served us well (even if one year I did have to take some out of the outdoor Christmas lights…)

It's quite irritating but she probably didn't think about it in the same way that someone with young kids whose toys get through a lot of batteries would. She might have also assumed you would have a big stock of batteries at home as people, especially with kids, often do.

We always have a big stash of various batteries from Costco which I really recommend. However I also see your side as we had someone to stay who needed batteries and hadnt realised. Told him to use some out of the drawer. All fine. But the next time he had two things which curiously had just run out of battery and he helped himself to the drawer again jokingly saying "oh I know you always have loads". (He and his family were unsurprisingly CF guests in other ways and we don't have them to stay any more.)

The thing is if you have a store of something some people forget that you originally paid for it and think "it's free, it's just sitting there not being used". See also wine and stamps aaarrrggh. (Had a boss once who was a menace for asking to "borrow" a stamp until he'd used my whole book and was then much affronted that I inconvenienced him by not replacing it!)

You could "remind" her to bring a supply of batteries this year if her gifts are likely to use them. But it will probably offend her and if she then forgets, you'll feel even more annoyed. It's not really worth the aggro, even though I agree with you in principle. If she remembers off her own bat, you'll have a nice surprise!

I thought everyone had a drawer in the kitchen with a stash of AAA and AA batteries? Buy Aldi or Lidl own brand. Costs very little to be ever ready!

Very odd thing to fall out over. Accept family are not perfect.

I don't understand why your kids couldn't play with the toys Santa had given and then after a while you take the batteries out and put them in one of the toys your MIL had bought, it's not like batteries don't come out.

Your kids missed out on playing with a toy on Christmas Day as you seemed more intent on making a point with your MIL - sorry that's not good behavior on your part

As gazillions of PPs have said, buy extra batteries for next year

You can either:
Not invite MIL this year in view of the letter she sent you,
or
Tell her to bring her own batteries
or
Put your batteries in the children’s toys before they are given
or
Buy some cheap batteries but this may cost you in the long run as you will have to replace them later.
You need to forget about the batteries but not the letter that she wrote to you. You should have responded to this at the time.

Omg life is too short!

are you really posting about this

Unless they brought the ones they had bought

;-)

Love this answer, it's perfect.
Shame on those crying "it's nearly a year ago" yeah that's how often Christmas comes around, every single year. Also on those reading "MIL brought it up" as "OP brought it up". Any excuse to tell an OP they're wrong.

Look some of us have poundland envy. My nearest one is two trains away. They've cleared out of Merseyside. It's ironic that Chester is still open, given it's 'posh'.
Re rechargeable batteries, some things won't take them.

When you order stuff, it automatically offers you batteries. Whoever buys the present, buys batteries.

Only a thoughtless idiot buys toys that need batteries, and not the batteries as well

@Ponoka7 ,[waves frantically].A trip to Poundland/Costco/B&M would mean a car journey on a busy road.
I agree with you: Whoever buys the present, buys batteries.

Only a thoughtless idiot buys toys that need batteries, and not the batteries as well

The MIL is a CF.

I would just reply to the long message and say it's a shame it's still bothering her and that the best way to avoid the same thing happening is for her to check the packaging of the things she's bought this year and make sure she brings/sends the right batteries this time, Don't get sucked in to feeling bad for sticking up for yourself, it's on her, so let it all wash over you!

If you go in the works you can get packs of Panasonic batteries for a £1. They don’t last ages but fine to have in reserve. If my mother in law was kind enough to bring presents I wouldn’t have the heart to make a big deal about the batteries. I just have loads ready for Christmas Day. I do like my mother in law though so maybe that’s the difference

I always keep a drawer full of batteries, for new things and for replenishment purposes. It wouldn't have been a problem in my house. They all get used eventually.

How many toys are you all buying every year that need batteries?

YANBU in the slightest and it has nothing to do with it being last year. Obviously OP is worried the same thing may occur this year and she's also allowed to feel the way she feels about it. MIL wasn't in the right, period.

I cba with this thread any more. Buying batteries for other people's gifts and hosting is women's work innit.

#teamOP

😂

I've always had a surplus stash of batteries in my house. Are you saying that you only buy the exact amount you need each time OP?

I mean, she sounds like a twat, but to be honest I would either:

a) just buy some extra batteries, given that you can get large packs cheaply from Amazon and loads of discount shops like Home Bargains etc
or
b) say 'Sorry about the confusion over the batteries last year. To be on the safe side, if you're buying them anything that needs batteries could you bring some batteries just in case we don't have enough? You might not even need to use them and you can take them home again if not, but better to be on the safe side! Cheers.'

I don't feel like this needs to be the big deal you're both making of it.

I hate having extra work to do cos of others laziness