not to be grateful for my MIL's regular delivery of tat

[Waltzywotzy]

Seriously her house in immaculate. She manages to do this by bringing me all her unwanted things (rugs, clothes, trinkets, photo frames). I have to hide it and store it for a while and show willing then after a while I have regular trips to our local lifeboat charity shop. I could move to a smaller house if it wasn't full of her second hand stuff. It's driving me mad.

yanbu!It's convenient for her to dump stuff on you. Be strong and refuse to take it.

o.m.g my M.I.L does exactly the same thing

My God

Just tell her you do not want her castoffs.

Have you tried telling her you don't want it.
or are you afraid too

She gives it to the children now. They love it and I cringe. Bloody oraments of teddybears and crap.

Can you just take it back to her house?

oh that's just sneaky giving it to the children (my mil does the same btw

I'm too afraid to tell her. Her intentions are good. Her tat is bad.

bananaknickers I do feel better for knowing I am not alone in my world of MIL tat.

I have just emptied a whole double undercounter cupboard of the stuff, while looking for the children's hot water bottles.

My MIL wwas cleaning out her cellar and wrapped a load of DH's old stuff and gave it to him for Christmas one year - about 5 years after he had moved out and in with me

DH first thought it was a joke, then when he realised he had nothing from his parents was seriously p*ssed off.

It was all I could do to stop him from throwing them out on Christmas Day

omg my mil is exactly the same even if i say i dont want it she will sneak it into a wardrobe/ cupboard when im not looking

tis bloody annoying, sympathys to you

soon as i find it now goes straight in the bin, or if she gives it direct and wont take no for an answer i wait for her to leave and it goes straight in the bin

Just take it straight to the nearest charity shop and tell her that's what you do with it.

My MIL does the same but at least recognises that she is bonkers about Stuff. She admits she can't throw stuff away but can persuade herself to give it to us. My granny was the same - wouldn't throw anything away but my dad convinced her that his friend George would appreciate all sorts of things.

George worked at the tip...

My mum does that. She seems to get endless free gifts from the catalogues she uses. And most of it seems to get off-loaded on us. And often she offers it to the children so I don't get a say

My mil used to do that, i looked for the reasons, she is a widow, gets a bit lonely and likes to 'give' something so i tried to alter it to make it more useful

She used to buy cheap/nasty clothes for dcs both here and abroad, i now tell her exactly what would be useful and am gushingly grateful if she can find it, i always offer to pay for it all/some of the cost, she accepts for pricier things and covers the cost of cheaper things but gets the joy out of 'giving' to the dc regardless

she would make jumpers and clothes for dc which i hated, so i went shopping with her found material that i liked, explained my prefernces (colourfast/hardwearing cloth, real wool blend not acrylic) and she has now made things i like, the dc wear and are practical

there is an m and s discount store near her, she would buy 'bargains' which werent helpful (she never fully got that if buying a size or two up you needed to change season) so i started asking for things i would like, so i now say to her could she check if the have baby vests in such a size (i could get these from anywhere tesco for eg) but then she will go and pick and feel useful and it cost me the same £ wise

i just say no to certain house tat but do allow things the kids will like (though prob not use)

she also does it with food which i am finding harder as i hate to waste food but am learning that actually an unwanted gift of a past its best apple wont be the end of the world i will just bin it and think of it as not really MY wastage

hth

notcitrus
It's true, this is about a generation of people who invented recycling out of war time shortages.

We used to have a local tip that used to keep small covered area for recycling tat, crockery, ornaments, fireguards all sorts of house hold types of things. Probably not allowed to do it anymore.

New Year's resolution "not to accept my MIL's tat".

I thinks it's her way of being thrifty, some people like to share their thriftyness. She likes to tell me that I should buy this as it has an offer on it, or go to that store and buy x,y and z for the same reasons (could be a chair, duvet cover, garden fork). Then when I see her next, "did you go there?" "did you get those things?".

When I say "No", I can see the exasperating in her face.

I do tell her it is only a bargain if you need it. I don't need it, I can live without it. So I am getting there, I suppose.

Perhaps she thinks you need it and thinks she is being kind. If you don't, find a way of telling her you're well off enough thanks and perhaps she could donate it to a charity who really do need it? Politely of course!

Waltzywotzy - "I'm too afraid to tell her. Her intentions are good. Her tat is bad."

Hahaha, made me laugh