My mother-in-law accused me of going overboard on my daughter’s Christmas presents so I got revenge

A man has blasted his mother-in-law after she accused him of ‘spending too much’ on his daughter’s Christmas presents and then refused to give her a gift.

Sharing his dilemma on Reddit, the anonymous father, from the US, explained how he has got a new job that ‘pays well’ and wanted to reward his nine-year-old for her good behaviour this year.

Without disclosing how much he paid for the gifts, the parent said he bought ‘three big gifts and three mini’ ones for his child.

He admitted: ‘I spent a lot of my money on my nine year old daughter and she deserves it 100%. 

‘She has been pushing herself in school, helping around in the house without being asked, and always being the kindest soul you’ll ever meet.’ 

Although he was thrilled with the gifts he’d bought for the family, the father says his mother-in-law was ‘outraged’ to see how many there were under the tree – specifically the ones for his daughter.

As a result, the grandmother told him that she no longer wanted to give his daughter the present she’d purchased as she didn’t want her to be ‘spoilt’.

He continued: ‘I told her that was unfair especially since my mother-in-law promised my daughter a doll for Christmas and my daughter was looking forward for it. 

The anonymous father shared his dilemma on Reddit and was met with support from users

‘My mother in law said let it be a lesson to my daughter that in life she cant get all things she asks for.’

To make matters worse, the man says his wife took her mother’s side in the dispute and said it was ‘her right’ not to give the present if she wanted.

Following his mother-in-law’s logic, the man decided not to give her the £500 [$600] designer bag she’d asked for – even though it was the ‘thing she wanted the most’.

Instead, he only gave her a £33 [$40] dressing gown – despite getting every other member of his family several presents.

The majority of readers believed he was right to act as he did towards his mother-in-law

Unsurprisingly, this didn’t go down well with his mother-in-law on Christmas Day – who was offended to see how much he had spent on everyone else.

He continued: ‘Once my mother-in-law opened her present she was disappointed [and asked] if that was all from me, because everyone else got increasingly more expensive gifts from me. And I said yes and apologized if I disappointed her but we cant always get the gifts we hoped for.

‘This left both her and my wife extremely furious, but hey the mother-in-law got enough gifts, I wouldn’t want to spoil her!’

Needless to say, the overwhelming majority of users argued that he was right to prove a point to this mother-in-law.

One replied: ‘You need to sit your wife down and have a serious talk. Your mother-in-law punished your daughter as a proxy for imposing her values on you. Your daughter is innocent in all of this.’

Another added: ‘[Your wife] needs to stick up for her daughter, she needs a serious sit down why your daughter is less important to her than her mother…’

‘It’s concerning that your wife seems uninterested in your daughters feelings,’ a third said.

Meanwhile, a fourth wrote: ‘Petty? Yes. Did your mother-in-law deserve it? 100%. The fact that you still gave her a nice robe instead of some of your old socks makes you a better person. 

‘Like a lot of people have said. Return the expensive designer bag and buy your daughter her doll.’

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