Reply to Easter gifts from grandparents

Forum Index » Family Relationships

Reply to "Easter gifts from grandparents"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Hello again! It's me, the OP who was overthinking the Easter thing.  I'm back and now overthinking birthday gifts.

MIL has told me that she already sent a box of "small gifts" for us to take on our upcoming vacation or to open before we leave for 2 of my kids who are celebrating their birthdays while we're on vacation.  She's wondering what to do with "the rest of the gifts".  She says we can open them as soon as we get home or else when they come visit us later in the summer (about 4-6 weeks after the kids' bdays), but either way she'll send them in the mail (so not really sure what she's asking if she's already planning on sending them).  What I want to say is "don't buy more gifts. Whatever the "smaller gifts" are will be more than enough."  In need of the perspective many of you provided before Easter. Thanks![/quote]

What on earth do you think you'd be teaching your kids?  Won't you want to relay the message that you gratefully accept a gift?  That you don't purposefully hurt someone's feelings?  That faily is important?  That you respect your elders?  So what if she didn't really want your input on getting additional gifts to the smaller ones.  So what if you want to say, "don't buy more gifts."  Just zip your lip and be grateful your kids are loved and remembered.[/quote]

If she just sent the gifts, I would certainly zip my lips and just act grateful, have the kids call right away to say thank you, send a note, etc.  But she keeps asking for my input on the gifts.  When should she send them? When will we be opening them? What should she send? Has the box arrived? Oh! just checked the tracking! The package will be here this afternoon! Should we plan to open them before vacation or after vacation? It drives me crazy. Maybe that's my problem.  Not this gifts but the hundreds of questions/emails about the gifts that I am expected to answer. [/quote]

Clearly she feels a connection to the child by providing the gifts.  She wants to know that the items arrived, when they arrived and when they will be opened.  Is it such a big deal to suck it up a few times a year and answer a few questions about them?  Let's say she asks the same questions every day for 4 days before the gifts arrive, and then does this 6 times a year.  The whole conversation to cover all of those questions is about 5 minutes max.  That's a total of 2 hours over the course of 365 days.  Such a NON issue.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics