I am an ungrateful bitch, but here goes. . .

[Anonymous]

I asked my folks if we could do a gift free Christmas. Just a few things for the kids, and the adults just enjoy each other's company. My mom bought me Uggh (sp?) boots. I am forty. And I had to feign extreme gratitude.

[Anonymous]

Oh, OP. That is all.

Wait, one more thing: Can we trade mothers? I want yours. You can have mine. btw, if you're big on the whole "living" thing, keep a safe distance from her. A few hundred miles should do it. And don't tell her you have children. Don't ask why, you don't want to know.

[Anonymous]

I'm 39. I stopped doing gifts with my siblings a couple years ago. Finally got DH on board with it for his sibling as well. Working on going gift-free with parents now....this is the last year we'll do gifts with my dad.

You're not an ungreatful bitch. I think many of us are realizing that there's too much CRAP in our houses already. Who needs more?

[Anonymous]

I'll take your Uggs, OP. I'm only 39, so they are just my style.

[Anonymous]

That's a really nice gift. We also don't do gifts among adults, but our moms always like to give us something - I guess we'll always be their kids. So yes, you are quite ungrateful and should feel blessed instead.

[Anonymous]

At least you own it (not the Uggs but the ungrateful bitch part).

[Anonymous]

Yeah, you do seem ungrateful. Did you ever stop to think just because you do not want to give gifts it does not mean your parents feel the same way? You are your mom's child you will always be her child no matter if you are 40. Moms love to give to their children. (Most moms anyway.)

[Anonymous]

Yup, ungrateful, imo.

[Anonymous]

ha ha ha. I'd be ungrateful too.

[Anonymous]

i am also ungrateful. i hate christmas for many reasons, but the pressure to give gifts and graciously receive gifts annoys me to no end. so, i started a secret santa among my aunts and uncles.

to show how bad i really am, we opened gifts early with my inlaws, who gave me a cocktail purse (old fashioned style) and a scarf that they told me i could wear with a nice black dress (even if i liked crushed velvet and rayon scarves, I SAH and never wear nice black dresses). I turned right around and gave it to my grandmother, who loved it.

[Anonymous]

So now you have a pair of ugly overpriced snow boots for the few times you will actually need them in DC. You'd probably never spend the money yourself, but at least now you have something to wear when the weather is that bad.

I prefer Merrills myself, but a decent pair of winter boots isn't the end of the world.

It is annoying to ask for a no-gift holiday, be told it is ok, and then be handed something expensive. That part I get.

[Anonymous]

You can't stop gifts with your mom. Moms always want to give gifts to their kids.

[Anonymous]

A quick parable: There once was a woman who rolled her eyes at her mother--not just as a teenager (although it doubtless started then) but through her 20s and early 30s. She thought to herself "gee mom, don't you notice that I'm not 14 any more?" and "why would you ever buy this for me?" The woman heard occasional hints from her mother that something was wrong with her father, like "he's not the same". The woman's mother dropped dead of an aneurism when she was 34. She quickly found out that her father had Alzheimer's and could not recognze her or understand where his wife of 40 years was any longer. The woman now spends Christmas feeling sad that she 1) doesn't get any presents from either of her parents and 2) realizing that it is a shame she didn't appreciate her mom a little bit more when she was alive to see it.

[Anonymous]

treacle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A quick parable: There once was a woman who rolled her eyes at her mother--not just as a teenager (although it doubtless started then) but through her 20s and early 30s. She thought to herself "gee mom, don't you notice that I'm not 14 any more?" and "why would you ever buy this for me?" The woman heard occasional hints from her mother that something was wrong with her father, like "he's not the same". The woman's mother dropped dead of an aneurism when she was 34. She quickly found out that her father had Alzheimer's and could not recognze her or understand where his wife of 40 years was any longer. The woman now spends Christmas feeling sad that she 1) doesn't get any presents from either of her parents and 2) realizing that it is a shame she didn't appreciate her mom a little bit more when she was alive to see it.

Care to check your math on this? thanks.