[Bungleau]

Okay, my turn to rant and rave... and my usual nearby ranters and ravers are elsewhere, so where else to get supported and chewed up than the IW GD board?

After my son's birthday, I had a conversation with my mother about her buying him too much stuff. And not just stuff -- junk. Crap that she gets for 90% off because no one in their right mind would expect that !#$^% to last for more than five minutes of playing, only it has really cool pictures on the box that make you think it would be fun to play with. If you check the pictures out, though, you notice that no kid is actually touching the toy... it'd fall apart if they did that.

I asked her (as I asked my dad) to not buy the kids so much stuff because they don't need it, and because they too often ask "what did you bring me?" before they say "Hi, Grandpa". I explained that we're trying not to make them materialistic, and help them appreciate what they have.

I also talked about how her mother (my grandmother) was the queen of frugal, and my mom doesn't need to live in that shadow. My grandmother was so cheap that if you got something for free, she'd tell you about a place where they would have paid you to take it.

Message delivered, and I thought, message received.

Christmas day shows up (parents coming to my house for dinner).

Dad shows up first, a little heavy on presents, but not too bad. Kids open, kids enjoy.

Mom shows up later, pompously hands me her keys to empty the car, AND THE ENTIRE BACK SEAT IS FILLED WITH PRESENTS!!!

I mean, even the space for your feet!

Took me six trips to schlepp all this stuff indoors.

I then went to the bathroom to the sound of my dad, eyeing all this stuff, saying, "Geez, and you told me to go light on the gifts".

I shut the door and took care of business, which is just as well because the response from my mom was that she "got the lecture" and "didn't care", that she'd "do what she wanted".

Had I heard that, even sick and under the weather as I am, I would have left the house to avoid saying what was on my mind (which obviously still is on my mind, since I'm ranting here).

You wanna buy 'em a bunch of trash? Go ahead -- I can throw it out as fast as you can buy it... faster, maybe. You wanna buy 'em last year's discount bin coats with styles that were popular in the early 1980s and haven't made their way back into style, go right ahead. It's only 1.2 miles to the Salvation Army dropoff point.

I mean, try buying something because it's nice, not because it's cheap. With few exceptions, stuff cheaply priced is that way for a reason -- 'cause no one in their right mind wants it!

For his birthday, she gave my son this car garage toy that had to be assembled. And I mean assembled -- some fifty pieces that fit together lightly (and come apart easily). It's made of cheap plastic that the first time he accidentally steps on it (at a meager 37 pounds, not the 220 that I bring to bear), it's going to snap irreparably. And I'm the one who's going to have to comfort the crying kid who's just decided that the newly-broken toy is the best one he's ever had.

She could have spent twenty bucks (instead of two) and bought him a garage at KB or Toys R Us, and he would not have had to worry about breaking it.

Ah, if only Christmas were a single day, though...

She's here for a couple more days, and I don't have much tolerance left. Went out to the store to pick up something I needed along with something for her, and when we get to the checkout line, she decides she'll "let me" pay for her thing.

Let me! As if it's a privilege I should be grateful for! No "Hey, would you pick this up for me?" Nothing that indicates any respect or appreciation.

I'm now even more irritated, and counting the minutes until my house is peaceful again.

So... to make this something more positive than just a rant... any suggestions for things I can do to try to keep my cool? All ideas, tips, and suggestions are appreciated.