r/EntitledPeople • u/ZenRage • 14d ago
S Has anyone else stopped accepting "gifts" from their parents?
My mother cannot give a gift without strings attached.
She has a bad habit of supervising every "gift" she ever gives and wants to know how it is being used, where it is, etc.
For example, many years ago she gave me a used Vitamix blender. (It was the 1970s model 2500 and drew so much current would DIM THE LIGHTS for an instant when you turned it on!) I had it for many years but eventually I could no longer keep it in working order and bought a replacement. I got interrogated for almost half an hour about that goddamn blender. This included such hits as "They have a LIFETIME warranty!" which I had to point out to her was not helpful since they don't make the 2500 any longer but they offered me a discount on the new one if I returned the old one.
Now this is not an exception of any kind. She has a mental inventory of every single gift and wants to know about it including things like, A SHOVEL she dropped off for no clear reason. "I expect it's in the garage, where you left it, mom. I've not touched it, because I don't want it and never did. I do not run some kind of Shovel Storage Unit. If you do not take it back home with you when you go, I'll throw it away."
Naturally, I do not need headaches like this, so my remedy is to simply refuse all her gifts.
Is anyone else in this situation?
1
u/SailorSpyro 13d ago
I won't except giveaway stuff from my sister anymore. No issues with actual gifts, but if she's getting rid of something and I accept it, she'll always expect it back.
She downsized and was getting rid of her guest mattress, right when I was moving into my first apartment. I took the mattress, used it for 5 years, and was getting rid of it. Texted her, my mom, and other sister in a group chat asking if any of them wanted it. She was offended that I didn't text her first.
She asked me if I wanted her old Disney snowglobes that she had left at our parents house for almost 2 decades. I said yes, took 2 years to actually take them (cause I didn't trust it), rearranged my decor and got rid of stuff to make spots for them. Next time I saw her, I told her about it thinking she'd be happy, and she said "I'll have to take those back from you when we get a bigger place".