Mum rages as in-law takes daughter’s birthday present and gets credit for gift she chose

One mum has shared her disappointment after one of her in-laws swapped out the presents they had picked for her daughter’s birthday and then took credit for the better gift she had chosen

Picking out birthday presents for young children can be difficult given their changing tastes. But one mum who went out of her way to help her mother-in-law was left flabbergasted after the relative then took her gift and claimed it as her own.

The distraught mum had carefully picked out the perfect present for her five-year-old months in advance of the big day. But she did not get to experience the joy of giving it to her daughter, as she woke up after completing a night shift to find her mother-in-law had already given it to her earlier in the day.

Having decided the present she picked was not as good, the in-law swapped her gift with the mum’s, before passing off the better present as her own, according to the stunned parent.

The thoughtful mum was left “upset” and disappointed, as a result, but found no sympathy when she turned to her husband for support, as he did not think it mattered who got the credit. Sharing her frustration in a post to Mumsent, the parent explained why the gift exchange mattered to her.

She began by sharing that her daughter is “princess mad”, so when she saw a set of princess dolls on sale during a flash sale months before her child’s birthday, she purchased the set and put it aside, happy with her “absolute steal”.

On the other hand, her mother-in-law waited until a couple of weeks before the big day to choose a present. When quizzed by her in-law as to what to get the little one, the mum wrote out a list of suggestions, but the woman ignored it, instead buying clothes.

“Her choice, whatever,” thought the mum. But trouble arose when the relative came to stay for her granddaughter’s birthday, saw the mum’s gift the night before, and realised the child would “not like her gift as much in comparison.”

She then became so upset her son offered to swap the gifts, according to his wife’s version of events.

Having agreed the birthday girl could open some presents before school and the rest in the afternoon, since her mum works shifts, the grandmother gifted her the dolls in the morning. And by the time the mum got a chance to celebrate with her daughter, later in the day, it was too late for her to intervene.

The mum recalled: “[Daughter] got back from school SO excited to tell me about the princesses. I gave her the present from ‘us’ – i.e the clothes – which she opened, said thank you and then went straight back to the princesses showing me how amazing they are etc. [Mother-in-law ] sat and watched all this, randomly throwing in the odd ‘I knew you’d love them’ and ‘I saw them and thought of you’.”

She added that matters were made worse by the colour of the clothes, which were brown and beige, when her daughter “loves everything pink, sparkly or glittery”. Annoyed, she confronted her partner, blaming him for giving away the gift but also upset that his mother had “acted awfully”. But he did not understand her concerns, insisting the important thing is that their daughter got a gift she loves and “that’s all that counts”.

However, several fellow parents disagreed with his take, when the mum asked if she was acting unreasonably, sharing she feels “so upset by this”.

One person replied: “I would be livid at both of them.”

A second agreed: “I’d be fuming!”

While another added: “I’d be tearing them both a new one.”

Do you agree? Let us know in the comments below.