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Mother-In-Law Mall
A place to find great gifts!
and products related to mothers-in-law and other family members.
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Mother-In-Law Stories
March 18, 2010
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FEBRUARY
2010
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Worst gift: This isn't
a story about a worst gift, exactly. But, as gift-giving with MIL
can never be normal, I'll vent here. DH and I have been married
for twenty years. Every year, we send MIL a little something for
Christmas. It's usually a box of fancy cookies or little cakes
and goodies from a well-known food and gifts catalog. Every year,
she complains that the cookies were stale or the cakes were too
dry. She says, "Don't waste your money on that junk."
Then, we tried sending her a gift card that comes with a catalog.
The recipient can choose whichever gift they want based on the dollar
value of the card. That was no good either, as she felt the item
was of inferior quality. Another time, I sent her an assortment
of postage stamps with decorative pictures. I figured that anyone
could use stamps, right? No. "These are okay, I guess, but
I have plenty of stamps." Another year, she told DH that she
stopped her subscription to a certain magazine because she decided
she could no longer afford it. DH got a deal to get a two-year
subscription for the price of one, so he ordered that for her for
Christmas and had a little card sent announcing the gift. Well,
that was no good either. All of a sudden, after being a loyal subscriber
for over four decades, she told DH that he shouldn't have wasted
his money, because she never liked that magazine and won't read
it anyway! Each Christmas, she sends us money, and we have always
been thankful and appreciative of her generosity. But, any time
we get her something for any occasion, she says, "It's like
you took the money I sent you and just gave some of it back to me
by sending me something. Don't send me those things anymore. All
I want is a card and a letter telling me what's going on in your
lives. I don't want or need anything." Her exact words.
This past Christmas, it was the some ol' thing. She told DH, "Don't
send me anything. You don't have any money." For some reason,
she seems to think we live in a box under the freeway. So, against
our better judgment, this year we did exactly what she said. We
sent her a lovely Christmas card (which we do every year anyway)
and I included a long, newsy letter filling her in on our holiday
plans and general doings. She received it and called to thank us,
saying how happy she was to get our lovely card and that was exactly
what she wanted. Finally!! MIL seemed happy! The Christmas holidays
were over, and she called three times on one weekend day. DH and
I were out doing errands. When we got home and were about to listen
to the messages, she called again. If she calls and we are not
home, she spends half the live conversation asking us why we weren't
home to answer the phone. We will NOT offer to give her our cell
numbers, and I hope she does not think to ask for them! Finally,
she asked DH if we sent her anything for Christmas. BIL and SIL
and her nephew and his wife got her something. She just wanted
to be sure that our gift to her wasn't lost in the mail. They talked
for a few more minutes before he hung up. I asked DH if MIL was
mad. He said, "No. She was glad we didn't send her something."
Okay. The next morning, she called again. I answered. She wanted
to clear up our misunderstanding. I just played dumb and said,
"Oh? What happened?" She said that it would've been
nice to get a little something for Christmas after all the nice
things she has done for us over the years. I KNEW it!!! And, when
she told DH she wanted nothing at all, what she meant was that she
didn't want the magazine anymore because she doesn't like it. But,
"little old ladies like me really enjoy those little sweet
cakes, and the cookies were always delicious! I really would've
enjoyed that!" GRRR!!! In retrospect, we probably should've
lied to her and told her that we sent something and that it must've
been lost in the mail. Yes, it would've been wrong. But, oh, my
gosh!! I am so tired of her never, ever being simply thankful for
something. Whether we spend one dollar, ten dollars, a million
dollars or no dollars, we are always made to feel that we did something
wrong. It ended up okay, I guess. She's not exactly mad, but wants
us to know that we did something wrong. Again. DH piped up to
her and said, "So, do you want us to send you something today?"
She just laughed and said, "No, but don't forget me next Christmas!"
And, when we do send her something, she will complain about it.
Of that I have no doubt. No matter what happens for the next 150
years, we will never, ever hear the end of it. Sorry this was so
long, but GRRRR!!!
Signed - Can't Seem To
Do Anything Right!
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Working Women Don't Have Wives