Her Mother in Law Returned a Birthday Gift Apparently Because It Was Not Expensive Enough, “You Should Spend More on My Gifts!”

A woman posted on Reddit recounting how ungrateful and condescending her ex-mother-in-law was.

I Will Keep Your Inexpensive Gifts Just for Now

The original poster (OP) says there are many ungracious things her ex-MIL did when she was married to her son. For instance, she cried at OP’s wedding to get her way with things. She also kept saying that OP’s 18-months old son had to be put on a diet for fear that the child would be overweight.

However, OP says that what stood out for her was when her MIL turned down what she considered inexpensive gifts.

So, it was her MIL’s birthday, and OP bought her gifts, including a necklace, scarf, bracelet, and earrings from different stores. The OP says in total, these gifts cost her around £30.

She then wrapped all these pieces together and handed them to her MIL at the birthday party. MIL opened this gift at the party and seemed impressed by it.

Related: He Left a Vacation He Planned for His Girlfriend After She Brought Her Friends Along

They Are Not Expensive Enough for Me To Keep Them

Surprise, a few days later, the MIL returned the gifts to the OP, saying, “You can as well keep them because I would not get any use out of them.” She added that she does not wear any jewelry that is not sterling silver or gold, which was all lies. OP says her MIL wore jewelry that was made of precious metals in the past, including those she had gifted her previously.

The MIL went ahead to criticize the scarf, pointing out a small hole by its edge. OP agrees the scarf had a hole, but she had not spotted it while shopping. She says it looked like a hole created by tearing out the tag. However, she says it was so small nobody would have spotted that.

OP apologized for not knowing her MIL’s new stance in jewelry and the small hole on the scarf.

“You Should Spend More on My Gifts!”

MIL told her son, OP’s husband, how disrespectful it was for OP to buy her such cheap gifts. She went on to suggest that OP should spend more on her gifts.

The good thing is OP decided never to give her a gift again.

It is a whole new level of ungratefulness to face someone and give back a gift saying how cheap it is. What baffles me more is the fact that she went ahead and suggested that more should be spent on her gifts.

Now, I understand that some people consider regifting rude and disrespectful. But I think it wouldn’t have hurt anyone if the MIL took the gift, thanked the OP, and silently re-gifted it to someone who would have cherished it. This is if she honestly wouldn’t have gotten any use from the items as she claimed.

Redditors Weigh In

One Reddit user jumped in and gave an almost similar experience she has been having with her biological mother, “Sounds like my mother. Nothing is ever good enough, and I am sure she does this, so you will try harder to please her. In the end, I stopped giving her gifts and suggested that since our birthdays were a week apart, she could take the money she spent on my gift (generally around $20) and get herself something that she liked, and I’ll use the money I’d spend on hers ($100+) and get my gift. Didn’t that spectacularly backfire on her? I have four older brothers, but she never pulled this on them, only me!”

 

Another added, “A perfect example of the adage ‘if nothing is good enough, then that’s what you get.’ She probably thought you’d try harder to impress her. Ha ha, sucker.Well done!”

 

What do you think? Should the OP have tried harder to impress her MIL? Is there a way MIL would have handled this more gracefully? 

Read the original post here.

This article was produced and syndicated by A Dime Saved.

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Hi! I am a millennial mom with a passion for personal finance. I have always been “into” personal finance but got inspired to start my blog after a period of extended unemployment. That experience really changed the way I viewed my relationship with money and the importance of accessible personal finance education.