This woman believes that her family is “weird” about Christmas because the holiday shapes up to be extremely expensive every single year.
Apparently, there’s an “open expectation” that each person is supposed to gift multiple (and often costly) presents to every relative involved in the celebration.
That would be a tough pill for most people to swallow, and each holiday season, she suggests that her family should just do a no-present Christmas. Then, they could simply spend time together and do other festive activities.
“And every year, I’m dismissed and expected to get this mountain of presents for everyone,” she said.
This is precisely why she’s been presented with a conundrum for this upcoming Christmas. First of all, she genuinely hates when gift-giving and receiving are forced. Secondly, she and her partner had planned to travel for the New Year.
“I want to spend my money on that and not on a hoard of presents,” she reasoned.
To be clear, she stated she’d be more than happy not to get any gifts, too. She genuinely just doesn’t want to participate in the gift exchange due to her budget.
“Or to maybe give one or two small gifts at most. I don’t see it as an essential part of a nice festive day together,” she explained.
Well, when she brought up her idea again recently, her family started chastising her for being “cheap” and not taking part in their family tradition. For her, though, the fact of the matter is that her budget’s tight.
sonyachny – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual person – pictured above a woman opens a Christmas present
Plus, her relationship is long-distance, and she’d rather pay to see her partner than blow a ton of cash on presents.
“Which are purely for the sake of ‘everyone getting to open lots of presents on Christmas,'” she vented.
That’s why she’s considering refusing to partake in gift-giving this season. She just isn’t sure if that’s justified or if it makes her a jerk.
Do you think her family should be pressuring her to spend a lot of money on presents if she can’t afford them? Don’t their expectations go against the spirit of Christmas? Should she stand her ground?
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