Parent calls out sneaky mother-in-law when she takes credit for Christmas gifts they purchased for their children: ‘[She] tried guilt tripping [me]’

Author image for Lana DeGaetano
Lana DeGaetano • "Show me to me please."
Dec 25, 2024 10:00 AM EST

Going Christmas shopping for your loved ones is a lot more difficult than folks think. You want to find the perfect gift for someone—one that they might brag about to their friends so they feel bad (kidding). As a parent, shopping for your kids might be one of the most exciting times of the year. It feels good to give your child the life you were given, or wish you were given when you were a little tot like them.

Some family members like to stamp their names on gifts that they didn't buy, like the mother-in-law in this story. What it all comes down to is rampant entitlement, which the original poster (OP) has to deal with just days before Christmas. The OP's mother-in-law said she'd wrap their gifts for them because she had downtime to do so, but when the OP goes to check on the wrapping progress, they see that their MIL decided to take the credit for gifts she did not purchase nor ideate. Scroll to read.

Advertisement
  • 01
    merry Christmas 83 (P merry Christm Be Christmus stmas دروع 9-18 merry -istmas =3° merr Christ merry Christmas y merry mas Christm merry Christmas merry Christmas 208 as ry Ch mas Chri merry Christmas mas
    via Unsplash (Ben White)
  • 02
    AITA for telling my mother in law not to place her own gift tags on Christmas presents i ordered for MY children?
    via AtomCadaver
  • 03
    so basically i had ordered all my children's christmas presents online to be sent to my in-laws home, as we are spending christmas there this year, my mother in law said that she didn't
    via AtomCadaver
  • 04
    mind wrapping them all up before we all got there, we arrived here yesterday and all was well, after the kids got settled in their room i got a chance to ask her about
    via AtomCadaver
  • 05
    the presents, she told me that they were mostly all wrapped with just a couple she needed to finish off and that they were stored in their basement, i did ask if she
    via AtomCadaver
  • 06
    needed a hand finishing the rest off, but she insisted that i should rest after our journey, so i rejoined my husband in the sitting room, a couple hours later she had gone
    via AtomCadaver
  • 07
    to take a nap, so i went down to their basement to see how many had been wrapped and like she said there were some still left to wrap but as i was checking some of the
    via AtomCadaver
  • 08
    bigger presents i noticed that they already had gift. tags taped to them, when i flipped the tags they read "from grandma" on not just one, but on all of the bigger ones so i
    via AtomCadaver
  • 09
    immediately went and told my husband about what i just found n he said that his mum had asked if she could put a few of her tags on as she "didn't want to disappoint
    via AtomCadaver
  • 10
    her grandsons" my husband agreed that she could and told me that it isn't a big deal and that this is the only time we will be spending Christmas over at theirs
    via AtomCadaver
  • 11
    (as they live 4hours away) i'm mad that most of the bigger presents are things that i had pre ordered for a long time and put a lot of thought into and had some toys
    via AtomCadaver
  • 12
    personalised with their name (which costed a lot of money) anyways my mother in law came back downstairs from her nap so i basically told her that i don't think it's right for
    via AtomCadaver
  • 13
    her to just do that without asking me also, she got super upset and told me that i was being selfish and the tried guilt tripping by saying this could be one of the last
    via AtomCadaver
  • 14
    Christmas's she will have, she's old but she's not that old (71) she told me that i'm ruining christmas. already, idk i'm trying my best to appear as nothing is wrong around my kids, i
    via AtomCadaver
  • 15
    do feel bad and that i maybe overreacted, i don't know what to do, should i leave her tags on and apologise or put my own tags on and tell her she should have bought more?? this is turning into a nightmare
    via AtomCadaver
  • 16
    AgitatedDot9313 • 1d ago • NTA, she is overstepping here and taking advantage of a situation. What did she actually get the grandkids?? She shouldnt have asked your husband as we was well aware she did that just to circumvent you. Clearly you were the one she
    via AgitatedDot9313
  • 17
    organized everything to do with the presents with until she decided she wanted to put her name on things. Very deceptive of her and really that your husband didnt tell you right away, even if he was okay with it. Maybe he should help more with presents overall too
    via AgitatedDot9313
  • 18
    edebby 1d ago • NTA. What a lousy AH move! She knew you would be upset and sneakily told you it's all fine and ready so you'll find out when it was too late.
    via edebby
  • 19
    you don't want to disappoint your grandsons? well how about saving for their BIG presents instead of leeching from the mom and making HER look bad in front of her kids?! I just can't understand how people feel so entitled to even suggest such a horrible request, by knowing they
    via edebby
  • 20
    are making someone else taking the fall for their lack of preparedness, and laziness. you should put your own tags, and let her take the fall as she should
    via edebby
  • 21
    Lia_Delphine • 1d ago . NTA remove the tags. Don't let them make you feel bad for their lack of preparation. You put a lot of thought into your gifts don't let her claim credit.
    via Lia_Delphine
  • 22
    stollentrollin · 1d ago . Who raised this woman? The audacity and entitlement are astounding. Of course you are NTA and your MIL is a really big one.
    via stollentrollin

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

christmas entitled parents mother wife reddit story relationships christmas presents husband entitled people karma mother in law entitled Reddit entitled people
Scroll Down For The Next Article