Background. Elderly father can't walk too far these days. I suggested to my mother that he gets a mobility scooter and offered to help out with it financially. Both she and he agreed that it was a good idea but they are quite capable of paying for it themselves thankyou. No problem! She then mentions the idea to my brother who suggested looking on Ebay for one. She agreed that it might be worth looking. He then emailed me and other sibling suggesting that we all chip in. I said I'd no problem with that but that Mum would not be happy about it and would insist on paying for it herself. He said well we should just get it and present it to them as a pressie.
Anyway, a scooter has now been bought from Ebay and when my bruv said that he'd got one and that it was a pressie from their children unsurprisingly she went off on one.
I will be going to visit them tomorrow and am expecting an onslaught.
Now, I can see my parents' point of view in that they might need the odd mobility aid but that doesn't mean they aren't in control of their own faculties and are quite capable of buying something for themselves without being told what to do. I understand the nobility of us chipping in to buy it for them but I think my bruv has lost the point a bit in ignoring my folk's wishes and TBH it's a bit patronising. It's not about the money but more the symbolism of it all. How do I convince him before WW3 erupts over something which had only good intentions?