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).

😂😂😂 if I could go back to the 90s and know where my mum bought them, I’d do this 😂😂

I’d get some felt and cardboard and make a rougher version of them, swap them while she’s in the loo and wait for her to notice.

If you steal them and youre wrong it will come back to haunt you. There would be repercussions and youll be that bad one that looks like a crazy thief.
It could make life difficult. Is that worth it?

You said you moved house. Were they involved in storage or moving you in?
Were there boxes of stuff when you moved that your deccies could have been in amd ended up in their spare room or garage for storage or her car boot or something by mistake amd been forgotten about? Months later shes found them and thought “ I don’t remember these but must have bought them years ago so will put them up” in all innocence.

There must be an explanation. I know this is MN and “steal the back from the thief” seems popular but you need to live wirh the outcome of that and we don’t. 🤣

I think I’d be all
“where did you get the deccies as I’ve lost some that I loved in the move and im wondering if they ended up at yours or DH mistakenly gave them away thinking we had more, but if they are new if you can tell me the shop i will go buy them again and if you can remember if it was a box from the shed that they came from maybe they are DH and my ones that have migrated by mistake (tinkly laugh)”

If she says they are old tell her you love them and for next year if she fancies new ones can you get those please as you miss your identical ones that got lost in the move.

If new find out what shop and buy again.

OR say nothing and get DH to steal them back from the loft in January and say nothing as it’ll be forgotten about by next year. But if that’s the plan say nowt now. DH may not be up for it though. It’s his mum.

Someone said they're on Etsy?

Reminds me when I was a child and my mum lost a ring. It was a semi precious stone in a very unique setting. I was snooping around our staff living quarters (post colonial expats in Africa) and I found my mums ring next to our cleaners bed. I didn’t know what to do and didn’t want anyone to get into trouble so I took the ring and just put it back in my mums jewelry box. There was much confusion the next day when my mum ‘found’ the ring she had been looking for exactly where it was meant to be. Only myself and the cleaner knew…

Id definitely take the decorations back and then make sure everyone knew that you had magically found them in the back of a cupboard when doing a deeper search. Only you and your MIL will know.

Just speak to her, there's probably an innocent explanation unless she's a master thief. They probably just dropped off your tree and got scooped up with their gifts the previous year. Surely if she planned to nick them, she'd have taken all 3.

So she has the Noel and HoHoHo but not the Joy one ? That would be a very strange coincidence. I mean, it’s possible but v weird. Even more weird if you have never seen them on her tree before now. Would you have noticed yours being missing, when you packed them all away ? Eg when could she have taken them ? It would be an extremely strange thing to do, especially to then have them on her own tree the following year. Do you have small children who might have taken them off the tree and given them to grandma last Christmas ? Sort of thing a little child might do.
I would be quite worried if she has always been normal and then this happens.

Do you have younger kids that maybe 'gifted' them to her?

If not, I would ask her where she got them as yours have disappeared and you're totally devastated as they are super sentimental to your family, you're dreading having to tell your Mum, Granny, Auntie etc. Bonus points for crying, looking utterly devastated and blabbering on about how devastating it is knowing you've been burgled. And, make sure you do this in front of everyone, even if she doesn't admit it, her husband will hopefully interrogate her later.

@ExhaustedPigeon37 Do you think this could have just happened by genuine accident? If you moved recently, maybe they got misplaced or in an innocuous-looking box, etc? Maybe they were left at your MIL's house and she didn't even realize, but found them when decorating? Maybe I'm too much of a "benefit of the doubt"-er, but I can see this being purely accidental, especially as you've said she doesn't have form for this

That’s the thing, I don’t really remember, however I was working last Christmas Eve, Christmas Day (7am-7pm) and Boxing Day and the 27th (7pm-7am) so I didn’t really see anyone as by the time I’d got home they had left. Then we didn’t see them again until DH birthday at the end of Jan so everything was put away.

When it comes to putting the decorations away I don’t count them back I just pack them away. It’s only this year when I’ve put them up that’s I’ve noticed that two out of the three are missing!!

“That’s so funny MIL, you seem to have the matching two to the set of 3 which I’ve had since I was a child. Oddly you don’t have the third from the set? It’s especially funny because I was just telling DH how heartbroken I was to find the other two of mine missing. The two you have. The third of the set, which you don’t, I have is on my tree now. Don’t you think that’s terribly coincidental?”

I'd just quietly remove them and take them home. You won't win with a nutter. I would also keep the hell away from her, going forward.

I didn’t actually finish that sentence (oops)!

We moved in November, the decorations have never been at her house so the only was they could have got there was by someone physically taking them there. I’m just so confused.

nope, kids are 17, 15, 14, and 12. 3/4 are DH children from previous relationship and 1/4 is my DD

You clearly have to message her in the family WhatsApp asking where she got her new decorations as you just discovered you’re missing two of yours and you want to get replacements! Maybe mention how pleased you are she got them as you were really upset your treasured, family ones were missing but it’s ok now as MIL has saved the day by finding somewhere to get new ones 😬

Ask where she got them from as you had some like it as a child and remember them….

My bet’s on DH accidentally giving them to her or some other explanation.

But couldn't she have picked them up - legitimately or non legitimately - when she was round at your house last Christmas while you were at work? Was she round while you were at work last Christmas?

If so, my vote is that she commented on them and said oh they're nice, would match my theme and look good on my tree and your DH gave them to her. Now doesn't remember or realises epic fuck up and doesn't want to admit.

Please don't, she's already explained she was left with one, THE one she's taken a photo of!

It must have been a perplexing moment when you saw those on her tree! 😅Sounds like the best thing to do is innocently remark something like, "That's so strange, I was just looking for my ornaments that look just like those!" and see what she says/how she responds?

Seriously, just steal them back and stay away from her. Tell absolutely nobody, nobody at all, and then deny, deny, deny if anybody asks.

Never, ever try to reason with a nutter.

Yeah i would ask where she bought them, you're missing some and as hers are new, you're wondering where she bought them so you can get replacements. Ask her on the phone or in person, put her on the spot and you'll know shes lying!

This reminds me of a time I kicked off that a parent at DD’s nursery stole my DD’s coat…. Then a few months later when having a clear out I found it!

I think my 15 and 17y olds might just hand nana a decoration of the tree if she said she liked it.....

Why don’t you just ask her where she got them as you’re really upset that you can’t find yours, that had sentimental value for you?

I'd bet money that if you asked her she'd deny taking them, if she had. That would cause bad feeling.
I'd look them over, and if you're convinced they are yours, take them back. On the sly. Like she did. 🙊