MIL has stolen my childhood christmas decorations!

[ExhaustedPigeon37]

Hello all,

Bit of a strange one but I think my MIL has stolen my Christmas Decorations!!

They have been in my family since I was small and although they aren’t expensive, nothing special they are just sentimental to me.

We had these three decorations, saying Joy, Noel and Ho Ho Ho with a Santa head on the top. The letters cascade downwards and the Santa has a loop so that you can hang them up. This year I put our decorations up and only found the Joy one. Asked DH and he said he hadn’t seen them, so I only put the Joy one up thinking I’d come across them in another box, I never did.

Fast forward to yesterday when we went over to theirs and they live about an hour away so we stayed for dinner and catch up after DH finished work. MIL was showing us her new decorations and the tree (which is themed red and white). I happened to glance at the bottom of the tree where I saw THE/MY Noel and Ho Ho Ho decorations hanging off of her tree!!! I’ve never seen these decorations at their house before, so the only conclusion I can come to is that they are mine, which is why I couldn’t find them this year!

Asked DH and he said he didn’t notice, asked if he remembers us giving them to her or anything and he said can’t at all. Last year we moved house in

I’m so shocked. What do I do? Do I ask for them back? Do I just leave it? Do I sneak them out when we next go there? DH wanted to stay at home on Boxing Day but I now want to go there to retrieve my decorations (they have been invited on Christmas Day but declined due to the journey and FIL recently having had a knee replacement).

Team steal them back!

two choices I think
steal them back
Ask her where she got them from as youve lost/misplaced yours and you’re heartbroken as they are from your childhood , my guess is she’ll say ooh take mine 😂😂😂

Yes, that is what I am suggesting is wholly within the bounds of possibility.
Now we've got that cleared up, enjoy your evening.

@ExhaustedPigeon37 Funny that she didn't (St) Nick the 'Joy' one. Sounds like she needs that the most.

Buy her a Grinch decoration for Christmas, where the slogan 'The Grinch Who Stole Christmas' is printed, add the word 'Decorations'. And then smile sweetly.

Hahahaha! 😂😂😂

Bespoke were they?
The MN desperation for drama is laughable.

That’s another post entirely!

This is truly brilliant 😂😂

I absolutely agree. She needn’t have said anything!

Could they have dropped off the tree into a gift bag that was under the tree if they were with you last Christmas? Or one of the children put them in one of the gift bags? That would make more sense to me than your mil actually stealing them - the fact you haven’t asked her could mean she is equally perplexed as to where they came from?!?

The decorations have not been on a tree.

DH had an affair during his first marriage (who he had 2 DC with), he then ended up being with the affair woman for ages and had his youngest with her. He then ended it and started seeing me about 6-8 months after leaving her, I’ve always had the impression that they wished his first wife took him back as they loved her to bits. I came along with my own daughter, so now DH has 4 kids effectively and they think its too many (now we also have one on the way too!).

I believe this is what Gen-Z describe as 'tea'.

I wouldn't be surprised if you're back on these forums in a few years' time, writing asking for advice about your husband. Good luck!

Well I suppose stealing them back @ExhaustedPigeon37 will maybe point towards whether mumsnet have successfully diagnosed MIL or not if you steal them back.

if she’s not - she’ll be asking questions about her decorations

if she has - she’s lost it.

(option c - she’s a thieving little tealeaf and she says nothing in either scenario as she’s too embarrassed at being caught out)

If you sneak them out you may never be able put them on display at your house.

But that's what I'd do if I knew mine are missing and I'd be so ballsy to display them too...

I think you should buy the larger replica decorations and replace the ones on MIL’s tree with them and take yours back and see if she notices. Each year buy one even bigger and swap them again and again

The husband sounds awful with his previous cheating and the MIL not much better with the way she treats your child, yuck. They don't seem to care too much about the children/grandchildren they have. Good luck with this 😫

I’ve just finished reading the full thread and finally found my post to either edit or quote myself telling op to ignore it 😂😂😂
now I’m rooting for the steal them back team 😂❤️

Ignore most of that, I’ve just read the rest of the thread - does sil know about this? I got a bit confused there (doesn’t take much) ….
I think you need to visit again and simply take them back! 😉

So, you will have gone and taken back your stolen items now, and told your DH never to minimise or be such an uncaring dick to you again.

Looking forward to a photo of your three ornaments, reunited where they belong, on your tree.

@ExhaustedPigeon37 OP, two of my grandparents had dementia and the things you’ve mentioned really ring alarm bells for me. Being adamant you’re 63 when you’re 76 is really worrying. Applying Occam’s Razor here, the most likely scenario is probably true - they are your decorations and MiL/FiL have taken them. As this would be an extremely odd thing to do if consciously planned (for many reasons, mainly that it would be pretty obvious that they’re yours), it seems possible your MiL has taken them without being aware of what she was doing. I think the dementia thread is the one to look into first here.

Look MIL stole them to fuck with you. All the pathetic reasons posters have given how she could have them. Nope. She stolen them.

so come on ! Nick them back OF COURSE and replace with ones that that say ‘Git’
or ‘fucker’ or …….
www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1286103484/rude-christmas-decoration-white-snowman?ls=s&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=cunt+christmas+tree+decorations&ref=sr_gallery-1-4&organic_search_click=1&nob=1&local_signal_search=1&content_source=b2e79247-4c75-4127-b45d-d384eaceead6%253ALT3c313b4af65164fe61961f33ee05396ccea3e878&logging_key=b2e79247-4c75-4127-b45d-d384eaceead6%3ALT3c313b4af65164fe61961f33ee05396ccea3e878

The stolen decorations have sentimental value and I don’t like the fact your DH was so dismissive OP. Would he “leave it” if it was a favourite pair of cuff links or similar?
I think MIL has taken them and I’m wondering if this is a petty act to try and get at you. The decorations are hard to miss, not a standard bauble. They hold happy memories so I am waving a flag for Team Steal.

Erm, sentimental value and all that...

If I was sure she'd taken them deliberately/maliciously then I'd take them back. If it could have been a mistake or she could be getting absent minded and they are really important to you then I would ask her about them.

Interesting that you had 2 hanging on front windows, and 1 somewhere else…..and that it’s 2 that have turned up on her tree.