Woman rips sister-in-law as ‘rude’ for always exchanging Christmas gifts
A woman has divided the internet after calling her sister-in-law “rude” for always exchanging her Christmas gifts.
Ahead of the holiday, the frustrated woman took to Reddit’s Am I The A**hole to air her grievances about her recent tiff. She began by explaining how her sister-in-law would exchange the presents she received for her and her family.
“One year, she asked for a makeup set I used because she liked how it looked on me. Then, when I splurged and got her one, she said it was too complicated for her to use, so she returned it and got a credit,” the Redditor wrote.
“Another time I bought her son sweatpants and shirts that she said he needed. I went to Target and got a few pairs,” she continued. “When he opened them he said thank you, but she later said he doesn’t wear stuff from Target because it tends to be cheap quality and breaks easily and she wanted the receipt to change them.”
The Reddit user went on to say she didn’t keep the receipts, assuming the clothes would fit and wouldn’t need to be returned, but her sister-in-law still didn’t want them. She was then instructed not to get the kid’s clothes again.
After years of enduring her criticisms, the Redditor and her husband decided only to give his nephew money and no longer get the adults anything.
“I hate gifting money only as it seems thoughtless. So last year, I thought I’d include a shirt from his favorite store,” she noted. “I got him a color I thought would look good on him (like a dark orange). He got the gifts and thanked us for them and seemed happy.”
Her sister-in-law “later asked for the gift receipt because he doesn’t wear that color, usually black, blue, or gray,” she continued. “I had enough and said I chose that color because I thought it would be nice for him and that if he didn’t want to wear it, he could buy what he liked with the money.”
Later that night, the Redditor had a conversation about her sister-in-law with her husband and his mom When her mother-in-law admitted her daughter is “so particular,” the Reddit user candidly agreed before adding that her behavior was also “rude.”
She said: “It’s very rude to criticize gifts in front of the person gifting, and that I was taught to appreciate the thought.” However, her mother-in-law wasn’t pleased.
“MIL got quiet and seemed upset with what I said so maybe I overstepped?” the Redditor asked.
Readers were torn. Some people thought the Reddit user’s comment wasn’t appropriate, given the audience, while others believed the Redditor’s feelings were justified, but thought she conveyed them poorly.
“When you say you were taught to appreciate, you implied that your MIL failed to teach your SIL manners, which I imagine made her feel bad,” one person pointed out. “And that’s pretty unfair in my opinion, because SIL is an adult, your MIL didn’t do anything to you.”
A second disagreed: “She got quiet because you spoke a well-known truth and she knows there’s no excuse for her daughter’s poor behavior. You don’t need to feel guilty.”
“You have been far too polite for far too long,” another said.
A third noted: “Yes, I think SIL might be being a bit overzealous with the nephew’s clothing thing, but once the gift is given you can’t control how it’s used.”
“Returning things and exchanging them for things you can use is perfectly reasonable,” one individual said.
