Woman Feels 'Disrespected' After Brother Gives Her Son Unwrapped, Thrifted Gifts for His Birthday

Woman Feels 'Disrespected' After Brother Gives Her Son Unwrapped, Thrifted Gifts for His Birthday https://ift.tt/euEUjiM

Family drama erupted after a woman’s sister-in-law used her father’s money to buy thrifted, unwrapped gifts for her son

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Stock image of woman upset opening box.

NEED TO KNOW

• One woman explained on Reddit that she was not on good terms with her father this holiday season
• So, instead of sending money for his grandson, as he usually does, he gave the money to her brother to buy gifts for the child’s birthday and Christmas
• She was shocked when her brother and sister-in-law showed up with thrifted, unwrapped clothes and then demanded the money back after she refused the gifts

Gifts are meant to express love and thoughtfulness, yet the way they are presented can sometimes spark conflict.

A 33-year-old mother turned to Reddit for advice after her brother and sister-in-law thrifted all her 8-year-old son’s Christmas gifts — and then got offended when she turned the items away after finding out who really paid for them.

In a recent post, the mother of one explained that her son’s birthday falls just before Christmas, and her father traditionally sends $200 for her son’s birthday and Christmas gifts.

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Stock image of woman upset opening box.

“My father and I are currently on the outs but the holidays are here and he sent the money to my brother instead,” she revealed.

Her 28-year-old brother, who is married with two children, attended her son’s birthday gathering with a “big bag of thrifted clothes as his ‘present.’ ”

The Reddit user emphasized the lack of presentation, noting, “They didn’t bother to put it in gifts bags or wrapped in gift wrap. They literally brought it in the bag from the thrift store."

Feeling “disrespected,” she pointed out, “I would never do that to my nieces they deserve the best and to spend my father’s money on thrifted items that HE WOULD NEVER BUY.”

After discussing her feelings with her mother, her father intervened and called her brother to address the issue.

The situation escalated when the sister-in-law sent a message asking for reimbursement: “Hey, if you don’t want that stuff for your son, i’ll take it & give it to someone who needs it, I just need my money back. it was $170 for all that, I can pick up cash or you can send it here.”

However, the Reddit user emphasized that the money in question belonged to her father, not her sister-in-law, further complicating the family tension.

She concluded by explaining that she personally had no problem with the thrifted clothes, but using them for a child’s birthday or Christmas presents in this way felt entirely inappropriate.

“Personally I have no issue with thrifting clothes but to thrift a child’s birthday/christmas presents is really crazy and disrespectful to me,” she wrote. “I wouldn’t do that to their kids.”

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While some readers sympathized with the original poster’s feelings about thrifted gifts, many argued that the deeper problem was how her father’s money had been handled.

“Getting thrifted gifts is not the issue. That they pocketed the money from someone else and did not care enough to make the kid feel special, is,” one user wrote.

“My kids get a lot of thrifted gifts, and they do not mind in the least. But the unwrapping of a gift and feeling special in your bday is what counts and that was not the case in OPs story.”