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Daughter Cannot Stand The Gifts Her Mom Keeps Giving Her, Decides To Finally Call Her Out For It
A young woman smiling while receiving birthday presents from an older woman, showing mums bad birthday presents.

Daughter Cannot Stand The Gifts Her Mom Keeps Giving Her, Decides To Finally Call Her Out For It

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Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you’re given a gift you really don’t like? It doesn’t fit your interests, your style, or lifestyle, but this person is confident that it does. So, you have to politely smile and accept it. 

But why do situations like this keep happening to you, because this clueless person is your family member? That’s the predicament today’s OP found herself in. And the way she dealt with it, well, turned out to be a little controversial.

More info: mumsnet

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    It’s always awkward to receive a gift that’s completely not your vibe without being a jerk and pointing out what a miss it is

    Older woman giving small gift box to smiling younger woman holding a wrapped present about mums bad birthday presents.

    Image credits: zinkevych / Freepik (not the actual photo)

    While many of us experience this from time to time, today’s author does it occasionally

    Text excerpt about a person upset with their mum’s bad birthday presents, feeling misunderstood and unappreciated.

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    Text expressing frustration about mums bad birthday presents despite clear interests and style preferences.

    Text on a white background describing a mum’s bright and extravagant style contrasted with a minimalist's neutral clothing, highlighting mums bad birthday presents.

    Three women celebrating a birthday with party hats and cake, highlighting mums bad birthday presents humorously.

    Image credits: macniak / Freepik (not the actual photo)

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    You see, her mom is terrible with giving gifts — she always gives something that she likes herself and not what fits the receiver

    Text excerpt about feeling boring compared to mum and her controlling style when choosing clothes, relating to mums bad birthday presents.

    Text describing a complicated mum and child relationship highlighting mums bad birthday presents and controlling behavior.

    Text excerpt discussing a selfish mum and family tension related to mums bad birthday presents.

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    Alt text: A story about mums buying bad birthday presents like a bright neon bedding set and throw pillows with herons.

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    Older woman with glasses receiving a wrapped gift, illustrating mums bad birthday presents and family celebrations.

    Image credits: Ivan Samkov / Pexels (not the actual photo)

    What makes everything worse is the mom’s character — she’s one of those people who likes to be controlling, but also acts like a victim at the same time

    Text excerpt about mums bad birthday presents describing a navy and white themed bedroom with white linen sheets not matching the mum’s gift style.

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    Text snippet describing a mum’s bad birthday presents, featuring a baby blue cable knit wool jumper with frills.

    Alt text: Negative reaction to mums bad birthday presents, describing an ugly gift that looked like a clown lizard when worn.

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    Text about disliking wool gifts on a bad birthday present, reflecting mums bad birthday presents frustration.

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    Woman in pink sweater holding a large wrapped gift with a disappointed expression about mums bad birthday presents.

    Image credits: azerbaijan_stockers / Freepik (not the actual photo)

    So, even mentioning anything about her poor skills of gift giving is pretty difficult for her

    Alt text: Excerpt describing bad birthday presents from mums, including a bright pink fluffy clutch bag and an irritating lime green sequin t-shirt.

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    Alt text: Text expressing frustration about mums bad birthday presents and questioning if it's intentional or just poor gift choices.

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    Text expressing frustration about mums bad birthday presents and feeling misunderstood after many years.

    Text message about mums bad birthday presents discussing sequins, wool, and colour preferences causing upset.

    Image credits: Rhinestonerhi

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    Yet, one day, the daughter’s patience ran out and she called her mom out on it, which resulted in her storming off after calling daughter ungrateful

    Throughout all of her 26 years of life, the OP’s mom has always been bad at giving her presents. It got to the point where the young woman wondered whether this woman even knew her at all. 

    As a matter of fact, she’s very open about her interests, hobbies, and sense of style, so it shouldn’t be that hard to get her something she likes. But no, instead, the mom gets something according to her own style. For instance, the mom likes everything with bright colors and extravagant patterns, while the daughter is more into low-key stuff. 

    But that’s not all. You see, the OP has a relatively weird relationship with her mom. That entails that said mom can be rather controlling, but also act like a victim at the same time — a textbook manipulator. 

    Still, the daughter hopes to keep the peace with her, which isn’t working out that well. Here, one day, after receiving yet another bad gift, the young woman’s patience ran out, and she decided to call her mom out on it. This caused the mom to feel extremely upset, lash out by calling her daughter ungrateful, and leave ASAP. 

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    Remember when we called her a textbook manipulator? Well, the latter action of hers just adds to this speculation of ours. The thing is, one of the most common things manipulators do is shift the blame for their actions onto others. Just like this mom — instead of admitting her fault for the poor gifts, she went straight to calling her daughter ungrateful, making it seem like she was the jerk in the situation. 

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    Person wearing a light blue knit sweater that looks like a mums bad birthday presents joke in a kitchen setting.

    Image credits: Rhinestonerhi / Mumsnet

    And while yes, some might say that the OP kind of overstepped by calling out her mom’s gift giving, others would side with the young woman. Overall, the topic of improper gifts is quite a sensitive one, just as this story proves. 

    Basically, as we already acknowledged, some people believe that you should never point out to someone that they got you a gift you don’t like. As this Quora answer explains, “The only appropriate response to any gift is to say thank you.” In this author’s eyes, it doesn’t matter if you liked or needed the present; you have to show gratitude and swallow any negative feelings just to not be a brat. 

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    At the same time, others argue that, in some cases, it’s acceptable to decline a gift or at least express some opinion about it. For example, when you’re given a piece of clothing that’s not your size. Or, you can accept it without saying anything, but don’t keep the present for yourself and re-gift it later — this way, you don’t insult anyone, but you also don’t have to be stuck with something you don’t want. 

    Essentially, as often is the case in life, it all depends on your situation. In the one from the story, calling out bad presents after years and years of them seemed like the most reasonable thing for the woman to do. Some netizens thought so too, recalling their own experiences. 

    So, that leaves us with the question: What do you think? We’re eager to hear your opinions in the comments!

    When she posted about this whole situation online, netizens showed her empathy and started sharing their own similar experiences

    Comment from Hatty65 sharing frustrations about mums giving bad birthday presents like unwanted books and clothes.

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    Comment discussing mums bad birthday presents, advising to accept gifts and not devalue personal style or taste.

    Comment from user Cadenza12 suggesting to return odd, unmatched birthday presents and ask not to receive similar gifts in future.

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    Text excerpt from ThinWomansBrain about mums bad birthday presents, discussing lists and a thoughtful gift from a friend.

    Social media comment highlighting unusual and disappointing birthday presents linked to mums bad birthday presents.

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    Comment discussing challenges with mums bad birthday presents and advice on asking for specific gifts to avoid disappointment.

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    Ugnė Bulotaitė

    Ugnė Bulotaitė

    Writer, BoredPanda staff

    Read more »

    I am a writer at Bored Panda. I have loved creating and writing down stories about people and things since I was little and I think this passion led me to get degrees in sociology, communication, and journalism. These degrees opened various paths for me, and I got a chance to be a volunteer in the human rights field, and also try myself out in social research and journalism areas. Besides writing, my passions include pop culture: music, movies, TV shows; literature, and board games. In fact, I have been dubbed a board games devotee by some people in my life.

    Read less »
    Ugnė Bulotaitė

    Ugnė Bulotaitė

    Writer, BoredPanda staff

    I am a writer at Bored Panda. I have loved creating and writing down stories about people and things since I was little and I think this passion led me to get degrees in sociology, communication, and journalism. These degrees opened various paths for me, and I got a chance to be a volunteer in the human rights field, and also try myself out in social research and journalism areas. Besides writing, my passions include pop culture: music, movies, TV shows; literature, and board games. In fact, I have been dubbed a board games devotee by some people in my life.

    What do you think ?
    Uncle Panda
    Community Member
    1 month ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Put a box in your house marked Donations and deposit the unwanted gifts directly there in front of her It sounds harsh, but I had to regift another unwanted gift right in front of a guy to get him to stop with the unwanted presents.

    Janelle Collard
    Community Member
    Premium
    1 month ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Gifts like these are why places like shelters for kids, moms, women + unhoused people were invented - give the stuff to people who can us it.

    Uncle Panda
    Community Member
    1 month ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I'm pretty sure that's not why the shelters were invented but I agree with the rest. I've been doing a homegrown version of Swedish Death Cleaning and am fairly popular at the local charities, especially Habitat for Humanity. I hadn't considered the local domestic violence center though. I'll send the next batch their way.

    Load More Replies...
    Cee Cee
    Community Member
    1 month ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I must have ben 10 when I only ever asked for book tokens. Switched it up a bit aged 12 to include record tokens. My mother ignored it and bought some dire things that I had no interest or use for.

    Load More Comments
    Uncle Panda
    Community Member
    1 month ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Put a box in your house marked Donations and deposit the unwanted gifts directly there in front of her It sounds harsh, but I had to regift another unwanted gift right in front of a guy to get him to stop with the unwanted presents.

    Janelle Collard
    Community Member
    Premium
    1 month ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Gifts like these are why places like shelters for kids, moms, women + unhoused people were invented - give the stuff to people who can us it.

    Uncle Panda
    Community Member
    1 month ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I'm pretty sure that's not why the shelters were invented but I agree with the rest. I've been doing a homegrown version of Swedish Death Cleaning and am fairly popular at the local charities, especially Habitat for Humanity. I hadn't considered the local domestic violence center though. I'll send the next batch their way.

    Load More Replies...
    Cee Cee
    Community Member
    1 month ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I must have ben 10 when I only ever asked for book tokens. Switched it up a bit aged 12 to include record tokens. My mother ignored it and bought some dire things that I had no interest or use for.

    Load More Comments
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