Woman in disbelief as she’s branded ‘tight’ for sending £36 for 18th birthday gift

A woman has turned to the internet for advice after finding it odd that her niece and nephew didn’t thank her for their birthday presents – but some thought she’d been ‘tight’

Arguably, any gift that’s received from a friend or family should be accepted with gratitude, no matter how much the item may have cost. However, one woman has been branded “tight” for sending her niece and nephew around £36 for their milestone 18th birthdays despite their lack of thankfulness.

Whilst the aunt took to a popular online forum to rant about the family’s lack of gratitude or even acknowledgement of the gift – a turn of events saw online users detailing the high expectations of the special birthday. Sharing her post in the “am I being unreasonable” section on forum Mumsnet, she stated that the siblings “didn’t say thank you” for the cash.

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The woman explained: “My niece and nephew both turned 18 in August. I posted them each a card with €40 (£36), but I never heard anything back.

“I was then down home at party over the weekend and met them.

“I was chatting to them and asked how their birthdays went, they celebrated together, and said ‘did my cards arrive’, niece ‘ya it did’, nephew just nodded.”

“I’m a bit p****d off that they didn’t say thank you,” she added.

“It’s a while since I was 18, but I am fairly sure I said thanks when someone gave me a card with money!”

Whilst the woman questioned whether she was being unreasonable for being upset over their lack of gratitude, fellow Mumsnet users surprisingly sided with the two 18-year-olds.

One person said: “£40 is a bit tight for 18th birthdays to be fair (especially in Ireland where you seem to be based on euros and ‘down home’), but they still absolutely should have said thank you, both at the time you mentioned it and when they actually received it.”

A different user explained: “In Ireland it’s customary to be extremely generous for big events and birthdays – think £500 for weddings and similar for big birthdays.

“For my nieces and nephews, I usually give around £100 each for big birthdays – I’m still considered a baby of the family so I get away with that.”

A third user found the middle ground: “Whether they think £40 is not enough or not they still should have said ‘thank you’ and if they did not, their parents should have made sure they did. No excuse for ignorance.”

On the other hand, a different user wrote: “How rude.”

“Very entitled. I wouldn’t give them money again!” Another said.

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