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Christmas

From present ideas to party food, find all your Christmas inspiration here.

Original poster

I am slightly peed off with my mother...

15 replies

MrsSchadenfreude · 06/12/2006 22:00

..she has asked me to buy and wrap "something from her" for not only DH and the DDs, but also for me and "I'll reimburse you when I see you at Christmas."

It would be nice if a bit of thought went into her grandchildren's present FGS, she's only got two.

OP posts:
hatwoman · 06/12/2006 22:03

i can handle the idea of gps not knowing what to get - but the lack of effort would piss me off. I suspect you might have more on your plate than her. tell her you've thought of something they'd really like but they didn;t have it in your branch of [insert shop] so could she get it?

OTickletownofbethlehem · 06/12/2006 22:05

yup - it's the thought not the money, isn't it? My mum is abroad, & does this, but she is excused cos of postage etc. She always chats to me about what to buy etc, bless her.

DonnerDasherDancerDior · 06/12/2006 22:06

I would rather a present for £3, lovingly chosen, than the authority to chose something for £30 myself!

Original poster
MrsSchadenfreude · 06/12/2006 22:08

I got DD2 a tamagotchi that can be from her. I told her this and she said "Oh I don't want to get her that!"

I am v fed up, and yes, I do have more than enough to do - have just started new job with long commute and moving house next week!

OP posts:
hatwoman · 06/12/2006 22:09

i've just thought of a way to be philosophical about this. lots of people (me included, and - if you're a thought-that-counts type I guess you as well) derive a lot of pleasure from choosing and giving presents. your mum is missing out on this (even if she does pay) - so consider it her loss.

motherinfurrierfestivefrock · 06/12/2006 22:18

Sweetie, can you say firmly to her to get you each a book from Amazon?

deaconblue · 06/12/2006 22:20

That would annoy me too, but not as much as MIL who has bought ds the same present I've got him for Christmas and gave it to him last weekend!!

Original poster
MrsSchadenfreude · 06/12/2006 22:39

MI, she thinks that the internet is the spawn of Beelzebub.

BTW, have been meaning to e-mail you, have nearly finished what I am going to send you to have a look at so will finish and send to you in the new year if that's OK?

OP posts:
joanna4 · 06/12/2006 22:46

Your mil sounds just like mine.My nana is the only excused from buying the kids pressies cos she is 87 i wouldnt expect her to do it.But my in laws have oodles of time I always plead cannot get it locally and then they have to do it.

TerrbileTwos · 07/12/2006 16:44

is your mother so unbelievably busy that she just doens't have the time or is she more afraid that she'll get the wrong thing and end up umpopular with the grandkids? Or another option maybe that she'll be able to say to the grandkids 'well actually your mother bought it'

wannaBeOnTopOfTheChristmasTree · 07/12/2006 16:50

my sister's mil does this, and it infuriates her. She'll give her say £100 for them to buy presents for their ds, then they give the presents to her to wrap and bring round for him on Christmas/birthdays. as my sister says it's not as if it's hard enough to think of what to buy from yourself let alone having to think of two peoples' worth of presents.

This Christmas she apparently went round because whatever she was buying was coming from amazon, so it was agreed that she would come round and they would all do the shopping together on the internet. so, did she bring her card to pay for the purchases? no no no, she brought cash!

MulledRubyRiojaWine · 07/12/2006 16:54

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

wheelsonthebus · 07/12/2006 17:06

this would cheese me off too..as if us mums don't have enough to buy and wrap

tallulah · 07/12/2006 17:34

My MIL used to do this. To make it worse they'd have to visit with the money, come again Xmas Eve to pick up the presents and again Xmas Day to deliver them. One year she asked what I wanted and I asked for a specific book that had just been released in all the shops. I gave her the title, author, and told her which shops stocked it. On Xmas morning I opened a book token

I think what made me really mad about the whole situation was that while the kids were tiny and she was doing this over Xmas presents (and birthday presents) she was buying odd things for them and every time without fail she'd just present me with yet another cheap nylon tracksuit or those PJs that shrink after one wash, usually in complately the wrong size, instead of asking was there anything we needed. We always needed socks and we never got them.

sunnysideup · 07/12/2006 17:44

I would really hate that. The pleasure of seeing them get something from their grandparents is that the GPs bothered to think about it, choose it, buy it and wrap it!

This would sap all the joy out of it for me, she may as well get them nothing in my view.

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