Can you ever politely ask your in laws to stop buying the kids clothes?

[Anonymous]

I'd be annoyed at MIL's lack of taste and thoughtless dumping (which in itself is rude, even though a lot of people on DCUM do not understand this), so my husband would step up and tell his mother to only buy a couple of pieces of year, because we don't have the room and wish to buy our own children clothes too.

[Anonymous]

We just put all of the crappy gifts in the donation bag.

[Anonymous]

Let the kids wear them a few times, then donate, kids outgrow clothes so quickly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:


Ps it's not about the volume it is about the pink and Disney or you would not have mentioned it and it's about your inability to shutdown busybody parents

Wow. Nasty. Go away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I say be happy someone loves your kids and wants to spoil them with gifts. It’s not about the clothes but the thought and love. Be gracious and grateful, let girls wear few times then donate. If someone mentions sameness, pinkness or Disneyness, tell them these are priceless tokens of grandma’s love.

Well hello, Overbearing Grandma! Glad you stopped by.

+1. Love is not purchased. Unwanted clothing is not a token of love and much of that clothing is made by exploiting children in other countries. Truly gross to equate that with love. Exploiting foreign children to give stuff to your grandchildren that is unwanted is love? Maybe just be loving when you see them and respect parental boundaries. That is love.

Love is not purchased but giving is a love language.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


Ps it's not about the volume it is about the pink and Disney or you would not have mentioned it and it's about your inability to shutdown busybody parents

Wow. Nasty. Go away.

It's true. Op would not have mentioned those things if she didn't care. She's also a people bpleaser given she doesn't want DH to shut it down because it might upset MIL. She likely over values the busy body parents who make snide remarks about what her kids wear. She needs to toughen up

[Anonymous]

Why can't you just tell her the girls have more than enough clothes and can't possibly wear them all limit her to one or two outfits a season or something. If she can't do that let DH tell her more firmly. You can also suggest more useable gifts

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wait, let me get this straight: You’re tired of all the same clothes. You have a spouse that will actually tell his mother to stop. He’s one of these rare DCUM spouses that will actually step in and communicate directly to his mother. And your response is to back off, saying that her feelings will be hurt as if you’re more responsible for managing her feelings than her own son is.

So why in the world are you here? Do you just want to wallow in being a complainer? I know this sounds harsh, but what else could it be? Either take your spouse up on the offer or accept the clothes with zero complaints. You don’t get to dismiss a reasonable solution to your problem AND then keep complaining about the problem.

OP here. I do not want DH to hurt his mother’s feelings. Was that not clear? I want to handle it more gently. No one is wallowing.

[Anonymous]

Just accept them and donate what you don’t like. It’s not rocket science.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


Ps it's not about the volume it is about the pink and Disney or you would not have mentioned it and it's about your inability to shutdown busybody parents

Wow. Nasty. Go away.

It's true. Op would not have mentioned those things if she didn't care. She's also a people bpleaser given she doesn't want DH to shut it down because it might upset MIL. She likely over values the busy body parents who make snide remarks about what her kids wear. She needs to toughen up

Would you want all of your kids clothes to be red? Or everything Star Wars or Paw Patrol?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


Ps it's not about the volume it is about the pink and Disney or you would not have mentioned it and it's about your inability to shutdown busybody parents

Wow. Nasty. Go away.

It's true. Op would not have mentioned those things if she didn't care. She's also a people bpleaser given she doesn't want DH to shut it down because it might upset MIL. She likely over values the busy body parents who make snide remarks about what her kids wear. She needs to toughen up

I don’t see grandma as a busy body! Is that what you meant? And I wouldn’t want my kids to wear just one color of clothing regardless of the color. I truly think OP doesn’t want to hurt her MILs feelings. Living far from her grandkids, the grandma is just trying to stay important to them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I say be happy someone loves your kids and wants to spoil them with gifts. It’s not about the clothes but the thought and love. Be gracious and grateful, let girls wear few times then donate. If someone mentions sameness, pinkness or Disneyness, tell them these are priceless tokens of grandma’s love.

Well hello, Overbearing Grandma! Glad you stopped by.

+1. Love is not purchased. Unwanted clothing is not a token of love and much of that clothing is made by exploiting children in other countries. Truly gross to equate that with love. Exploiting foreign children to give stuff to your grandchildren that is unwanted is love? Maybe just be loving when you see them and respect parental boundaries. That is love.

Love is not purchased but giving is a love language.

Giving material things is not a love language. Do you understand children are exploited to make those things. It's disgusting to think you are sharing love as you take advantage of children in another part of the world. Gross, just gross!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wait, let me get this straight: You’re tired of all the same clothes. You have a spouse that will actually tell his mother to stop. He’s one of these rare DCUM spouses that will actually step in and communicate directly to his mother. And your response is to back off, saying that her feelings will be hurt as if you’re more responsible for managing her feelings than her own son is.

So why in the world are you here? Do you just want to wallow in being a complainer? I know this sounds harsh, but what else could it be? Either take your spouse up on the offer or accept the clothes with zero complaints. You don’t get to dismiss a reasonable solution to your problem AND then keep complaining about the problem.

OP here. I do not want DH to hurt his mother’s feelings. Was that not clear? I want to handle it more gently. No one is wallowing.

No you were very clear that you don’t want to hurt her feelings…which is problematic. First, you don’t trust your husband to be a caring person with his own mother. And second, that’s pretty controlling to think you’re responsible for managing someone else’s feelings. Your MIL will feel whatever she is going to feel. The idea that you have to to tiptoe around her is ridiculous. Trust your spouse to be clear and kind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wait, let me get this straight: You’re tired of all the same clothes. You have a spouse that will actually tell his mother to stop. He’s one of these rare DCUM spouses that will actually step in and communicate directly to his mother. And your response is to back off, saying that her feelings will be hurt as if you’re more responsible for managing her feelings than her own son is.

So why in the world are you here? Do you just want to wallow in being a complainer? I know this sounds harsh, but what else could it be? Either take your spouse up on the offer or accept the clothes with zero complaints. You don’t get to dismiss a reasonable solution to your problem AND then keep complaining about the problem.

OP here. I do not want DH to hurt his mother’s feelings. Was that not clear? I want to handle it more gently. No one is wallowing. [/quote
“More gently.” What does that even mean? Are you asking people to come up with lies to tell her? Is she some fragile flower with emotional issues? I’m really confused by what you’re hoping to accomplish here.

[Anonymous]

My mom has two grandsons who live close and one granddaughter overseas and I'll give you one guess which grandchild she likes to shop for. She sent boxes of clothes (always cheap dresses) over until the mom said "it's the funniest thing but X has become very picky about her clothes! She likes to wear things like this (with examples)." That cut down on the bargain hunting.