My sister just let her kids open the Christmas gifts from us

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Someone sounds really jealous and bitter about their sister.

Haha, no way. Isn't this DCUM land where we hate SAHMS anyways? This is an odd thread where the SAHM of school aged kids must have an anxiety disorder to complain about how stressed she is. Where were you people on the myriad of "what do SAHMS do all day?" threads?

[Anonymous]

Eh? We still haven't opened all our presents. It was overwhelming and the kids appreciate them more if they aren't just sitting in mounds of stuff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What does being a SAHM have to do with being a control freak?

Absolutely nothing! My SIL works full time and is a control freak. OP's just trolling SAHM for no reason. OP, I'm sorry your sister is doing this, but it's not the end of the world. You had the $$ to give her kids gifts and she has the computer access to share their gratitude.

This is truly a First World Problem.

OP here. I was a SAHM for years and am now a part timer.

I thought it was relevant because, for example,
I have a ton of sympathy for my coworkers (ER docs and nurses) who scramble to juggle holidays stress,
Covering vacations, out of town guests and their overnight nannies there, etc.
Working 40-60 hour work weeks does allow one to say "how am I going to get all these wreaths on the Windows" with a little more credibility versus someone who is a SAHM to 8 and 10 year olds
.
Her kids are 8 and 10, mine are the preschooler's.
It's a little much!

If your kids are preschoolers, how were you a SAHM for "years"?

?? They are 3 and 4, almost 5, so I was home for 5 years (miscarriage, pregnancy and bedrest so stopped working 5 years ago) and have been back part tkme for almost a year. It's a hospital schedule so full time can be 3 nights, or a weekend. I am one of those odd ones who could technically be a SAHM during the week and considered a full time employee working Fri night to Sunday.
Are we good?

Ha, I am a nurse too but even when I worked prn, 1–2 shifts a month, I did not consider myself a SAHM. I had a job. You can't be considered a SAHM if you work FT.

So were you home for five years or you stopped working five years ago and returned one year ago?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What does being a SAHM have to do with being a control freak?

Absolutely nothing! My SIL works full time and is a control freak. OP's just trolling SAHM for no reason. OP, I'm sorry your sister is doing this, but it's not the end of the world. You had the $$ to give her kids gifts and she has the computer access to share their gratitude.

This is truly a First World Problem.

OP here. I was a SAHM for years and am now a part timer.

I thought it was relevant because, for example,
I have a ton of sympathy for my coworkers (ER docs and nurses) who scramble to juggle holidays stress,
Covering vacations, out of town guests and their overnight nannies there, etc.
Working 40-60 hour work weeks does allow one to say "how am I going to get all these wreaths on the Windows" with a little more credibility versus someone who is a SAHM to 8 and 10 year olds
.
Her kids are 8 and 10, mine are the preschooler's.
It's a little much!

If your kids are preschoolers, how were you a SAHM for "years"?

?? They are 3 and 4, almost 5, so I was home for 5 years (miscarriage, pregnancy and bedrest so stopped working 5 years ago) and have been back part tkme for almost a year. It's a hospital schedule so full time can be 3 nights, or a weekend. I am one of those odd ones who could technically be a SAHM during the week and considered a full time employee working Fri night to Sunday.
Are we good?

Ha, I am a nurse too but even when I worked prn, 1–2 shifts a month, I did not consider myself a SAHM. I had a job. You can't be considered a SAHM if you work FT.

So were you home for five years or you stopped working five years ago and returned one year ago?

Am I doing the math wrong? I guess I haven't been challenged on exactly how long I was home for before?

My oldest is almost 5.
I had a miscarriage and immediate new pregnancy with complications and bedrest for about 1-1/2 years before he was born.
I had to stop working since I'm on my feet for my job.
So that's home for about 5 years since I went back in March of last year.

I don't consider myself a SAHM, but it is odd to be a working mom when I'm home M-F and do the SAHM routine then but am still almost full time at my hospital when
the SAHM/working mom battle comes up.

[Anonymous]

How can you be a stickler for manners and hold gifts for a month?

[Anonymous]

OP you sound like a control freak. We don't usually wait this long to open Christmas presents, but we do hold out with at least half until epiphany. We have 3 birthdays between mid-December and Epiphany. Kids often don't spend birthday/Christmas cash until summer. If it is so important that your kids see their gifts to their cousins opened in front of them, then make visiting your sis a priority. Then your directive to open immediately upon receipt is more likely to happen. Or alternatively, have a post Christmas exchange. We did this when I was a kid with out of state family.

[Anonymous]

Your sister sounds like she's struggling with a mental illness. Good job on the sympathy bit OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I spread out gifts to the kids at Christmas bc they get so much from relatives - the kids actually appreciate/play with the gifts much more rather than having the gifts get lost in the crowd if we dole them out over a few weeks. It's not such a big deal.

When I give a Christmas gift, I expect it to be opened on Christmas morning not two weeks or a month later. The same with birthday gifts. I would be furious if someone did this with my gifts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your sister sounds like she's struggling with a mental illness. Good job on the sympathy bit OP.

OP is making her sister sound like she is struggling with mental illness because she has a serious case of jealousy and it makes OP feel superior/better about herself.

Nothing listed in the OP is an actual problem or even something to get annoyed over.

[Anonymous]

By January 21, I expect to have received handwritten thank you notes from anyone over the age of 6. And that's how my whole family is.

[Anonymous]

I don't understand what the issue is. My sister doesn't do it anymore but she used to have her kids spread out gift opening for birthdays and holidays. Her thinking was they could take time to appreciate each gift. If a child opens 20 gifts at a time, they're unlikely to pay much attention to most of them. When they get a single gift, they tend to play with it all day and remember who gave it. I think it's really nice that she wants the kids to FaceTime to say thank you. if your kids aren't into it, so be it. Just have them say a quick hello and then you can interact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I spread out gifts to the kids at Christmas bc they get so much from relatives - the kids actually appreciate/play with the gifts much more rather than having the gifts get lost in the crowd if we dole them out over a few weeks. It's not such a big deal.

When I give a Christmas gift, I expect it to be opened on Christmas morning not two weeks or a month later. The same with birthday gifts. I would be furious if someone did this with my gifts.

Okay. You sound a bit unbalanced too. How does this impact you as the giver?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your sister sounds like she's struggling with a mental illness. Good job on the sympathy bit OP.

OP is making her sister sound like she is struggling with mental illness because she has a serious case of jealousy and it makes OP feel superior/better about herself.

Nothing listed in the OP is an actual problem or even something to get annoyed over.

Why would someone be jealous of opening gifts a month later?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand what the issue is. My sister doesn't do it anymore but she used to have her kids spread out gift opening for birthdays and holidays. Her thinking was they could take time to appreciate each gift. If a child opens 20 gifts at a time, they're unlikely to pay much attention to most of them. When they get a single gift, they tend to play with it all day and remember who gave it. I think it's really nice that she wants the kids to FaceTime to say thank you. if your kids aren't into it, so be it. Just have them say a quick hello and then you can interact.

The kids are 8 and 10. It's a little old to be micromanaging gifts

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your sister sounds like she's struggling with a mental illness. Good job on the sympathy bit OP.

OP is making her sister sound like she is struggling with mental illness because she has a serious case of jealousy and it makes OP feel superior/better about herself.

Nothing listed in the OP is an actual problem or even something to get annoyed over.

Why would someone be jealous of opening gifts a month later?

"Sister is a SAHM with a 4k2f house what on earth would she have to stress about."