My parents spent thousands on my Christmas gift but it’s so inconvenient with my 4 kids, they should’ve checked first
A MOM-OF-FOUR wasn’t happy with the Christmas gift she received from her parents.
Although extravagant, it wasn’t well-thought-out and would bring on too much stress for the family.
Posting anonymously to Reddit, the frustrated mother revealed why she was torn on how to handle the gift.
After agreeing to do an early Christmas gift exchange with her parents who were in town, she was left shocked at what they bought.
“They got us and our four kids prepaid tickets to an international cruise without discussing it with us first,” she began.
Although a prepaid vacation sounds like a good idea in theory, there were several reasons why it wasn’t for this family.
“We have an autistic/ADHD 8-year-old, a 5-year-old, a hyper toddler, and an infant.
“My oldest has a problem with eloping, especially when he gets overstimulated. I just had to run him down after he disappeared on a hiking trail, and he nearly had a total meltdown at a Christmas lights show because it was too much.”
Another concern? She said she wouldn’t enjoy because she’d be preoccupied with the thought of one of her kids going overboard.
The timing, too, isn’t ideal.
“The cruise is in the middle of the week in May, meaning my two oldest will have to miss a week of school.
“In my state, you can get in serious trouble for missing that much time. You can actually get fines, mandatory parenting classes, and your kids could be failed.”
And lastly, the expenses involved will add up.
“We also would need to get six passports to do the cruise, which would run about $900.”
While she realized it was a nice gesture, she was less than enthused, noting that her parents “valued the ‘wow factor’” over whether it was a smart idea.
“I want to love the gift because my folks were so excited to give it to us and they spent thousands of dollars on this, but taking a cruise was not something we would have ever planned on doing.
“Now the kids are expecting to go.”
What added to her frustration was that when her parents asked her for Christmas gift ideas, she gave a good variety of options – from big to small.
“And they just did their own without consulting us.”
Most viewers had her back.
“Who on earth chooses an entire vacation, dates included, for someone else’s family, without consulting them? That’s an OBLIGATION, not a present.
“I would very politely turn it down. The repercussions are completely on them for not so much as running this by you first. There’s zero reason for you to tie yourself in knots trying to make this work,” one person wrote.
“They’ve given you a gift that they’d love, but with no consideration for what you might want.
“Not only don’t you want it, but you can’t even legally use it. Don’t make it your problem. Give it back to them and let them deal with the white elephant,” added another.
“Cancel the cruise…And tell your parents that any future ‘experiences/ holidays’ must be approved by you first or you will cancel again,” a third advised.