‘Sister claims my nieces will be bullied over the Christmas present I got them’

When a young woman made her nieces a rocking horse for Christmas in one of her high school classes, she didn’t expect it to receive the frosty reception it did – but from her sister

Giving Christmas presents is personal for everybody – some people may choose to lavish their family with expensive gifts, but some may find it more sweet and personal to make something for their loved ones, putting lots of thought and kindness into it. That’s what one 17-year-old did for her sister’s children – but the 30-year-old wasn’t impressed with the gesture.

The woman took to Reddit’s ‘Am I the a**hole’ forum to explain that she was in her final year of high school and she was doing woodwork as one of her classes and had to make a wooden household object. Thinking ahead, she opted to make her nieces a wooden rocking horse and they loved it – but her sister didn’t.

She wrote: “I (17F) am in my final year of high school and one of my classes is Technology where we deal with woodwork etc, we were assigned a project to design and make a wooden household object by the time we broke up for winter having four months to do this and would be allowed to take it home once finished.

“I have two nieces (8f) and (5f) so after looking at ideas I decided to do a rocking horse. It wasn’t easy and I needed help from my teacher at points as I didn’t want to take any risks with the safety of this but I managed to finish and I even had some of the biggest guys in my class take turns sitting on it to ensure it could hold weight figuring if it could hold them it’d hold kids.

“Christmas day came and I gave the rocking horse to my nieces as my sister (30f) and her husband had come round to our parents for the day, my nieces loved it and had to be dragged off it when it was time to eat. My sister not so much and she told me in private she’d have rather I had bought something for the girls as it wasn’t that “nice” and it’d embarrass the girls if their friends made fun of them for it.

“Now, it’s not exactly stunning, I know one eye is bigger than the other and it’s not as good as one you could buy but it’s not that bad I thought and I was kinda hurt by this and told her as much, but she told me I should have run this by her first so she could have let me down before I wasted my time and that this was a risk of handmade gifts.

Who do you think was in the wrong? Let us know in the comments.

“I was in a rather down mood for the rest of the day but tried to not let it ruin everyone’s fun and her husband loaded it into the car when they were leaving so, fine. She may not like it but the girls had and that’s what mattered.”

But the drama didn’t stop there, because her sister decided that she didn’t want it in her house – and the original poster was shocked to find the rocking horse in her living room after a day out with pals.

She continued: “I came back from a day out with my friends today though and found the rocking horse in our living room, apparently my sister had dropped it off while I was gone saying it’d be better if it stayed here so the girls had it to play with when they visited our parents. It has nothing to do with room, the girls have an extra bedroom as their playroom so I know it’d fit in just fine and it’s just likely she wanted it out of her sight.

“Maybe I’m in the wrong? is it really that bad that it’s not as perfect as store-bought? Maybe I shouldn’t have made something?”

In the comments, people were quick to defend her and say that the present she’d given was far better than a plastic toy that would be disregarded within a few days.

One wrote: “Not the a**hole. Handmade rocking horse instead of some lame toy? This gift is awesome”, whilst another praised: “You made a rocking horse? That’s freaking awesome!”

Someone commented: “Handmade s*** costs more because of all the time and effort put into making it. That’s why stuff is more expensive at small businesses and websites like Etsy.”

One Redditor fumed: “Not the a**hole – your sister is one though. You put effort into a handmade gift for your nieces, something they will cherish for years to come. Who is going to make fun of a rocking horse?!?! I’m sorry this happened, that was such a thoughtful and nice gift.”

“I would love if a family member hand-made something for my kids”, someone else encouraged. “The time you invested in making it is worth more than driving to a store for some random item.”

Did you get a bad Christmas present this year? Email [email protected].