Mom of 9 kids demands her sibling buy them each $100+ Christmas presents: 'I just can't justify spending that much'

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Dec 4, 2025 11:00 AM EST

Christmastime for those with big families can break the bank! 

Many of us save up money throughout the year so that we're prepared to buy our loved ones the things they want most. It's helpful to write it all out in a list, so that your loved ones can buy you exactly what you want, minimizing returns. Everyone's smiling, everyone's happy, and whatever money you spent on your gift-giving will probably come back to you in the bundle of presents you receive. 

But for those with big families with tons of kids, it can be logistically and financially impossible to buy every child a good gift every year. Sure, you could buy every kid a little $5 gift or some mittens or something… but if you're going to spend money on a present, you'd ideally like it to be something that kid is going to be psyched about. 

For this big family, having 9 kids is making the holidays a bit harder to navigate. It's good to make a list for each kid, but their Mom is demanding that her sibling buy every kid a $100+ present. That's where this all starts to break down. You can't just demand that your sibling spoil your kids. It would be much more reasonable to ask that sibling to spend maybe $20 or less per kid — there are Goodwill stores or garage sales where you could find some cool and unique stuff for a low price. Or perhaps the sibling could give them all a gift card to somewhere fun, like a movie theater or a Chuck E Cheese location. Since this person also noted that they're not even that close with the mom of 9, it's not possible to plan a few outings with like 3 kids at a time, but the parents could take the kids out using those gift cards. 

This mom is clearly expecting way too much! It's going to ruin the holiday cheer if she's being a Grinch about gifting, which we all know is about the thought that counts, rather than the dollar signs next to the present. 

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  • 01
    Two girls in pajamas look excited to open large gift, in background is Christmas tree and white couch
    via Kateryna Hliznitsova For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 02
    To start off, my sister and I are not close. Nothing happened, I don't think she's a terrible person. We are just two very, very different people and live very separate lives. We text each other on birthdays, and call each other once around the holidays and that's it. We
    via u/NotWrongChristmasTA
  • 03
    live thousands of miles away from each other and it's been about 8 years since I've seen her and her family in person. I don't have kids, while my sister has always dreamed of a huge family, and she got her wish.
    via u/NotWrongChristmasTA
  • 04
    Between her and her husband, they have 9 kids between the ages of 2 and 16. After my sister and her husband got married and the head count reached over 4, I decided to just start getting something for all the kids to share on Christmas. Some years
    via u/NotWrongChristmasTA
  • 05
    it's been something for all of them to do, some years it's been something like a gaming system. I figured it was probably nicer to get one expensive gift that they probably wouldn't have gotten rather than 9 cheaper ones. My sister's never said anything about
    via u/NotWrongChristmasTA
  • 06
    it, although I don't know how she really feels about this. A week back I got a surprise call from my sister. She said money was super tight this year and was wondering if I could get all the kids something they can
    via u/NotWrongChristmasTA
  • 07
    unwrap individually, instead of one big thing. I asked her to send me their Christmas lists to see what that would look like. Most of the kids asked for really expensive electronic items, totally well over 100 bucks a kid.
    via u/NotWrongChristmasTA
  • 08
    Girl in pajamas sits in front of Christmas tree opening present and smiling, next to her a little boy peers at her present while holding another wrapped box
    via Kateryna Hliznitsova For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 09
    If I got everyone something from their list, that would come to well over $1000. I haven't even met some of the kids, and I am not even part of a religion that celebrates Christmas, so I thought that was a ton of cash to drop.
    via u/NotWrongChristmasTA
  • 10
    I called my sister back and said hey I appreciate money is tight (because hello it is she's raising the next line up for Braves- not that I said that) but I said I'm just not in a position myself to spend over a grand on Christmas gifts. My sister got upset and said she
    via u/NotWrongChristmasTA
  • 11
    just wanted to give the kids all something to open. I said I understood, but unless she was willing to let me know some cheaper options, I wasn't able to spend that much. We went back and forth for a while before she snapped and called me a jerk and hung up.
    via u/NotWrongChristmasTA
  • 12
    We haven't spoken since. I appreciate the position she's in, but I just can't justify spending that much on Christmas presents. AITA?
    via u/NotWrongChristmasTA

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christmas family drama presents siblings christmas presents family
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