Nerdy 14-year-old requests museum guidebooks as a souvenir from uncle's European vacation, dad demands an extra gift for son when other nephews get more expensive presents: "He's being ridiculous"

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Ely Bulnes • Writer and Editor
Jun 19, 2025 7:00 PM EDT

My mom, like many parents in the audience, has a fridge full of magnets from all over the world. Some magnets are from family vacations wherein I was in attendance. Many are from adventures that she took with my dad. There is an entire side of the fridge dedicated to magnets brought to her by other people in the family from their travels. Naturally, whenever I visit a new place, I know exactly what kind of souvenir she wants. She's not interested in expensive perfumes, tacky t-shirts, or themed trinkets. She just wants more magnets to add to her vast collection.
In our story today, a young teen is quite like my mother. He knows exactly what kind of souvenir he wants people to bring him, and it's not very expensive. His siblings, on the other hand, want gifts that require a little more investment. So, when his uncle obliges his nephews' requests, the boy's father is left wondering why one son got a "lesser" present. Scroll down to get all the details

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  • 01

    AITA for getting one of my nephews 'less special' gifts than the others?

    Cheezburger Image 10519314688
    via Serhii Yevdokymov

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02
    I(36m) have three nephews. 'Albert'(14) is my sister's son. 'Nathan' (14) and 'Sam' (12) are my brother's.
    via u/Proof_Salamander_713
  • 03
    A week ago, I went on a holiday in Europe. Asked the kids what they wanted. Albert wanted an official cap from his favourite football club, Nathan some
    via u/Proof_Salamander_713
  • 04
    Cheezburger Image 10519317760
    via yuriyseleznev

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 05
    chocolate not available in our country and Sam a couple of museum guidebooks. I managed to get all the items.
    via u/Proof_Salamander_713
  • 06
    My brother was not pleased, though. He said it could upset Sam to see the others get more special gifts and I could have gotten him something extra not on the list.
    via u/Proof_Salamander_713

  • It's definitely not uncle's fault that the kid requested something so low-key. There's no way he'd be upset at getting exactly what he wanted.

  • 07
    SA SA ROMA ROMA ROMA TRO ROMA ROMA ROMA ROMA ROMA ROMA ROMA ROMA
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  • 08
    Resident-Syrup7615 Your brother is projecting. He wouldn't want the guidebooks and doesn't value them so he thinks they are a trash gift, but I'll bet Sam, who requested them, does value them.
    via u/Resident-Syrup7615
  • 09
    Traditional_Bug_2046 Yeah he's 12. If he asks for guidebooks when asked what he wants, he wants the guidebooks lol.
    via u/Traditional_Bug_2046
  • 10
    Diddly Dumb They would rather have their favourite sticker book than $500
    via u/DiddlyDumb
  • 11
    rak1882 right? that's a really specific request. especially for a kid that age. and to have that request heard and actually met? that's gotta be huge for Sam. great job being an awesome uncle OP.
    via u/rak1882
  • 12
    Traditional_Bug_2046 Special interest maybe? The kid might not get what he wants from dad if dad thinks his interests aren't valid/important
    via u/Traditional_Bug_2046
  • 13
    rak1882 yeah, dad's reaction is either he thinks his kid's thing is less special or he's not a fan of why his kid requested it.
    via u/rak1882
  • 14
    its possible he thinks his kid will regret it now that he has it and that OP should know better but that's part of growing up- requesting a gift and going, i wish i requested something else.
    via u/rak1882
  • 15
    pgh9fan As a person with a art history degree, I love Sam and I hope he enjoys his guidebooks and gets to go to the museums one day.
    via u/pgh9fan
  • 16
    Mandyissogrimm I asked a friend for a map of the London Underground once, and it is still very special to me. Sounds like OP appreciates the nephews for who they are as people.
    via u/Mandyissogrimm
  • 17
    cold-corn-dog I got a book as a gift from my uncle about Pyramids when I was a kid.... 30 years ago. I still have it. I still open it from time to time.
    via u/cold-corn-dog
  • 18
    TheTip Jar And let me guess, OP had to go to museums in order to obtain these guidebooks. They probably even went to a few more museums than originally planned just to get these. That's a pretty special gift, IMO.
    via u/TheTipJar
  • 19
    Cheezburger Image 10519318272
    via Gustavo Ramos from Pexels

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  • 20
    ARachelR NTA Your brother is an idiot. Petty, too. You got your nephews what they requested. Also, why are chocolate and sports caps considered "better" than museum guidebooks? Sam seems like a smart kid!
    via u/ARachelR
  • 21
    Diddly Dumb Maybe the sports cap? Cause merch is stupidly expensive these days? Chocolate doesn't sound like a super luxurious gift tho.
    via u/DiddlyDumb
  • 22
    cindybubbles Ruby chocolate is hard to get in convenience stores, though.
    via u/cindybubbles
  • 23
    Diddly Dumb So are museum guide books
    via u/DiddlyDumb

  • Right, it's not like the guide books can be picked up at your local Wal Mart or ordered off of Amazon.

  • 24
    Dittoheadforever You're NTA. You got Sam exactly what he wanted. Your brother sounds like a real pill. Was he upset that Sam didn't get somethng he could share? (Sorry Nathan, Dad needs to sample that chocolate.)
    via u/Dittoheadforever
  • 25
    Or does he have some issue with Nathan liking museums? Whatever his problem is, he's being ridiculous.
    via u/Dittoheadforever
  • 26
    No_Glove_1575 NTA. It's special in that you took your time to find what they specifically asked for, while on YOUR vacation abroad. Your bro does not get to police the details like this. This should be the LAST time you offer to bring souvenirs to them.
    via u/No_Glove_1575
  • 27
    Awesome_Forky I agree that taking your time and bringing souvenirs that we're asked for by the boys is great and special. But I wouldn't stop doing this because the brother was upset.
    via u/Awesome_Forky
  • 28
    I would ask Sam if he really feels that way or if he is happy with what you brought. As long as the kids are happy there is no problem. And the brother saying that the chocolate was "not special enough" is also dumb because apparently he sees another value than Sam did, since he asked for that.
    via u/Awesome_Forky
  • 29
    NTA. Professional-Duck927 You brought back the gifts that your nephews requested. Not only that, but you weren't obligated to get them gifts in the first place.
    via u/Professional-Duck927

Tags

europe nephews family drama presents siblings gift married life relationships favoritism aunt love family raising kids entitled people vacation
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