conuly: (Default)
conuly ([personal profile] conuly) wrote in [community profile] agonyaunt2025-06-24 09:15 am

(no subject)

Dear Care and Feeding,
My husband and I have a 7-year-old daughter, “Jade,” who my mother-in-law, “Pam,” is in the habit of buying clothes for without consulting us. These are always girly-girl things—mostly dresses, lots of pink—and Jade is absolutely not a girly-girl. She refuses to wear them, and we end up donating them.

The trouble is that Pam takes offense that she never sees Jade wearing “what I worked so hard to pick out” and has even gone so far as to guilt her: “Don’t you like what Nanna gave you?” I have tried explaining to my MIL that while we appreciate her generosity, Jade simply isn’t into those types of things, but she refuses to accept it and thinks that our daughter will come to like them “once she matures.” My husband says we should just carry on as we have and let her waste her money if she wants. Pam has four boys, so he thinks that’s where this is coming from (Jade is her only granddaughter so far). Is that the right approach?

—Dress Distress


Dear Distress,

Yes, I am with your husband on this one. If you thought it would help, you could use Pinterest or other resources to create a “look board” to steer Pam in the right direction, but ultimately it’s up to her to hear you and adapt her gifts accordingly.

Link
mrissa: (Default)

[personal profile] mrissa 2025-06-24 03:50 pm (UTC)(link)
(Of course with the allergy it's not just "smile and say thank you," it's also "and then say 'there was no way for you to know, but I'm afraid I can't have this because...'.")