Yeah, that's true, but if one of your kids is just a truly unpleasant person to be around, some of your opinion will probably come through even if you're trying not to.

Also, based on the letter, which if it's real is presumably LW trying to cast themselves in the best possible light, I'm not really sure what parents should be doing instead. I mean, presumably they also hung the smart TV on the wall along with the art! Are they supposed to say "Our daughter Jane saved someone's life last week in a gripping night of heroism, but that's boring, LW got a promotion to second assistant supervisory manager of the department of redundancy department!"

It really feels like what LW actually wants is for their parents to talk about how Jane is poor and Jane's gifts were cheap and tacky in comparison to LW's, which I do not think is something they are going to get. I think they are managing to lose a competition they are the only one competing in.