Petty Holiday Vent thread 2022

[Anonymous]

I don’t like poinsettias. Every year, my mom arrives with a poinsettia for me and then acts surprised that I don’t like it. I have told her repeatedly that I don’t like them. This year she brought me three small ones because she couldn’t find a big one like usual. Hooray.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t like poinsettias. Every year, my mom arrives with a poinsettia for me and then acts surprised that I don’t like it. I have told her repeatedly that I don’t like them. This year she brought me three small ones because she couldn’t find a big one like usual. Hooray.

My in laws don’t like dogs and every year I tell my MIL we have to keep the poinsettia she gives us out of reach and every year she puts it on the floor for “just a minute while I ________” we call it her annual attempted murder (and don’t worry we watch her like a hawk so we know when to get the dog out of the room)

[Anonymous]

I do all the cooking. I like cooking so it's not a petty complaint about that. It's about every. single. time. one family member notes how they're going to modify xyz before they eat it. Or how I should have made it. Oh, you made a corn cheese chowder with water? Should have used veggie broth (no, I shouldn't have. I followed the recipe and I've made this for years.) Oh, you made a quiche? I'll probably add bacon to it before I eat it. And on and on and on. It's not like I'm not going to cook, but these little remarks are annoying. And I'm being petty, OK! Vent over.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:My mom (65) texted me yesterday, 12/23, for gift ideas for my younger brother. I was slammed at work and finally got to get a few hours later. I sent her something I think he’ll love and her response was “it can’t get here in time!”

No shi* Mom, it’s two days before Christmas. Go to TJ Maxx and get him a head scratcher.

“Well, mom, that’s what happens when you wait until Mary’s water breaks to buy Christmas gifts.”

Visiting in-laws and there is not one comfortable seat in the living room. There is an assortment of chairs and one unbelievably lumpy, slippery sofa. It’s so odd. Buy some comfortable furniture already!

I so, so relate to this! Luckily, we are at our house this year. My ILs have literally two seating options:
1) High-backed Victorian sofa and matching wingback chair with no padding and honestly less comfortable than just sitting on the floor
2) Stupid rocking chairs with caning (no cushions)

Even they talk about how uncomfortable their sofa is. I’m like…what the hell? You bought a new coffee table, you remodeled your alread-decent kitchen, and you can’t spring for a new sofa? I will buy one for you. I’m seriously thinking of just anonymously sending them a new sofa and probably they would just deal.

When we stay over at the ILs we are in DH's and his sister's old rooms. The mattresses are at least 40 years old. Then my FIL asks me every morning, "So how'd ya sleep?" Finally I just started saying, "To be honest, I didn't sleep at all, Bob! The mattresses are 40 years old." He just looks at me goes "mmmhmmm" and MIL shuffles uncomfortably. Once I even offered to buy new mattresses and MIL was like, "But we don't need new mattresses! We hardly use them!" Agggghhhh. (I bring an air mattress now)

I can totally relate to this - we had the same issue!! It was SO UNCOMFORTABLE (and also DH slept in the basement of his parents house, so we slept in the freezing cold basement in an ancient full size bed with the original mattress from when he was a kid). When we had our second kid we lost our guest room, so offered them the queen size bed and three year old mattress. We rented a truck and drove it out there (we usually fly but this was worth it). Life is so much better when we visit them now. Now I need to figure out how to get them to buy new pillows....

Easy - gift the new pillows for the guest rooms so t"hey don't have to spend their hard earned money" (questionable in my MIL's case) on it?

My in-laws have pillows made of concrete. Everyone here loves “firm” pillows. This year I just bought myself a pillow while we were out holiday shopping. MIL looked surprised and said, “We have soft pillows!” No, you don’t but now you have at least one!

I want to be at your in-laws house. I love concrete pillows, and all I can find are the soft smushy kind here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do all the cooking. I like cooking so it's not a petty complaint about that. It's about every. single. time. one family member notes how they're going to modify xyz before they eat it. Or how I should have made it. Oh, you made a corn cheese chowder with water? Should have used veggie broth (no, I shouldn't have. I followed the recipe and I've made this for years.) Oh, you made a quiche? I'll probably add bacon to it before I eat it. And on and on and on. It's not like I'm not going to cook, but these little remarks are annoying. And I'm being petty, OK! Vent over.

Lol. I have family like that. I made a note of the complainer, and then assigned them the job to them next time. So corn chowder woman was assigned the corn chowder at the next gathering. Some people took the opportunity, others learned to shut up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t like poinsettias. Every year, my mom arrives with a poinsettia for me and then acts surprised that I don’t like it. I have told her repeatedly that I don’t like them. This year she brought me three small ones because she couldn’t find a big one like usual. Hooray.

My in laws don’t like dogs and every year I tell my MIL we have to keep the poinsettia she gives us out of reach and every year she puts it on the floor for “just a minute while I ________” we call it her annual attempted murder (and don’t worry we watch her like a hawk so we know when to get the dog out of the room)

Ooooh yeah we had this growing up with cats. My grandmother (mom’s mom) was afraid of and didn’t like cats. Lillies and poinsettias are very toxic to cats. What did grandma give us, a family with 2 cats, every Christmas and Easter? A poisonous to cats plant. My mom used to have to keep them (the plants, not the cats!) in the upstairs bathroom with the door closed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t like poinsettias. Every year, my mom arrives with a poinsettia for me and then acts surprised that I don’t like it. I have told her repeatedly that I don’t like them. This year she brought me three small ones because she couldn’t find a big one like usual. Hooray.

I had this happen to me. I pointedly gave them to one of my neighbors, and told the neighbor that my mom bought them for her because she knows I don’t like poinsettias myself.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for this thread because the following is such a petty complaint!

I see a friend who I don't exchange gifts with, and she gives me a new pair of Birkenstocks. I had broken a bone in my foot, and Birkenstocks aggrivate the break, and she's a PT so she knows this, but probably just forgot. That part is okay.

But she's like, "oh, if they don't fit, just take them back to (store 40 min away with no parking). You can take your DC and make an event of it"

And I just wanted to say, "Thank you for giving me shoes that

1) are the wrong size and
2) aggravate my broken bone,
3) now I'm indebted but not going to give you anything so I'm just left feeling guilty, and most importantly,
4) THANKS FOR GIVING ME ANOTHER F-N JOB to do

The best Christmas present you can give me is to NOT GIVE me a job!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My sister cannot say no to her children. My doom is dying, we’re trying to have hard conversations about DNR orders and hospice nurses, and in the middle of all that my 7 year old niece will come in and demand to show us gymnastic moves or sit in the middle of the group playing loud games on her iPad and instead of telling her grown ups are talking and to make herself scarce, sister meekly tries to redirect niece then let’s her do whatever she wants. And she’ll also say to her kids “oh, I’m sure your auntie wants to go read you bedtime stories now” the second I finally sit down with a glass of wine after cleaning her kitchen. I always feel like the mean aunt to her kids, which is not an issue I have with any of my other nieces and nephews.

This is how my brother and his wife parents. It drives me batty. What are they so afraid of?

[Anonymous]

I immediately dumped my poinsettias into the compost and then thanked my mom for making my compost look so festive. She stopped buying them after that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My sister cannot say no to her children. My doom is dying, we’re trying to have hard conversations about DNR orders and hospice nurses, and in the middle of all that my 7 year old niece will come in and demand to show us gymnastic moves or sit in the middle of the group playing loud games on her iPad and instead of telling her grown ups are talking and to make herself scarce, sister meekly tries to redirect niece then let’s her do whatever she wants. And she’ll also say to her kids “oh, I’m sure your auntie wants to go read you bedtime stories now” the second I finally sit down with a glass of wine after cleaning her kitchen. I always feel like the mean aunt to her kids, which is not an issue I have with any of my other nieces and nephews.

This is how my brother and his wife parents. It drives me batty. What are they so afraid of?

Their own kids. If you think what you see is bad, you won’t believe what happens in their own house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for this thread because the following is such a petty complaint!

I see a friend who I don't exchange gifts with, and she gives me a new pair of Birkenstocks. I had broken a bone in my foot, and Birkenstocks aggrivate the break, and she's a PT so she knows this, but probably just forgot. That part is okay.

But she's like, "oh, if they don't fit, just take them back to (store 40 min away with no parking). You can take your DC and make an event of it"

And I just wanted to say, "Thank you for giving me shoes that

1) are the wrong size and
2) aggravate my broken bone,
3) now I'm indebted but not going to give you anything so I'm just left feeling guilty, and most importantly,
4) THANKS FOR GIVING ME ANOTHER F-N JOB to do

The best Christmas present you can give me is to NOT GIVE me a job!

Can’t you just leave the Birkenstocks out with the trash next pick up? Someone will probably pick them up, especially if you write Free/New on the box.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for this thread because the following is such a petty complaint!

I see a friend who I don't exchange gifts with, and she gives me a new pair of Birkenstocks. I had broken a bone in my foot, and Birkenstocks aggrivate the break, and she's a PT so she knows this, but probably just forgot. That part is okay.

But she's like, "oh, if they don't fit, just take them back to (store 40 min away with no parking). You can take your DC and make an event of it"

And I just wanted to say, "Thank you for giving me shoes that

1) are the wrong size and
2) aggravate my broken bone,
3) now I'm indebted but not going to give you anything so I'm just left feeling guilty, and most importantly,
4) THANKS FOR GIVING ME ANOTHER F-N JOB to do

The best Christmas present you can give me is to NOT GIVE me a job!

Can’t you just leave the Birkenstocks out with the trash next pick up? Someone will probably pick them up, especially if you write Free/New on the box.

Where do you live? If you post them on Buy Nothing, I’ll come by and pick them up if I’m in your neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

My very large cat is quite insistent on ‘helping’ me wrap gifts. I feel that this is not going to come to a good end (for me).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I generally like my in laws, so here's my tiny petty complaint. My nephew is a picky eater who doesn't eat a lot and grazes instead of eating meals. When I host, I have plenty of breakfast food options--muffins, bagels, English muffins, etc. My nephew will ask for a bagel. My SIL will say "do you want half?" (Why does she even ask?) he immediately demands a whole bagel. She gives it to him. He takes 2 bites of it (not exaggerating). Then they leave it on the table for hours because "he might come back to it later" HE NEVER DOES. Repeat for the next meal. I wish she would just give him a quarter of it or half so someone else can eat the other half and it doesn't go to waste. They stay with us for a few days and so much food is wasted because this kid demands something whole, they give in, and he never finishes it.

I know kids like this. The solution is to buy those mini bagels. Even if they don't eat the whole thing, it's just a small amount of waste vs a giant 4 serving bagel.