Mom Gets Backlash for 638263848362 Christmas Gifts

[FundieFarmer]

Blogger Emma Tapping has been the recipient of some major internet backlash after people caught sight of her tree via her Instagram. The tree is piled high with gifts, and of course, Teh Interwebz are mad about it.

When I first read the headline, I thought it was just more judge mental nuttiness. But then I saw the tree- er, the pile of gifts, because you can't really see the tree for the gifts. Apparently the exact number is around 300 presents. I do think it's an inordinate amount of gifts. To each their own, but not something you'd find at my house- in no small part bc I'm too lazy for all that and also because 300 more items around the house sounds like my worst nightmare.

She caught shit, and her answer didn't really help her. She tries to justify the pile by saying the gifts are also for herself, her hubby, and her mom...but it doesn't go over well, mostly because that's still about 50 gifts per person. Take a gander for yourself!

http://www.someecards.com/parenting/moms/emma-tapping-christmas-tree-presents-shamed/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3352684/Mother-three-spent-1-500-300-Christmas-presents-children-insists-NOT-spoilt.html

[manda b]

Looks like my mother in law's. She wraps everything. For example, she buys a pack of socks, she opens the pack and wraps each pair of socks.

[Eternalbluepearl]

I saw this. My first thought was no way I want that amount of stuff coming into my house. 

[Jingerbread]

I agree with the shaming in this case.  What possible reasons could there be for posting that picture other than to brag?  Part of why people are tired of the Kardashians is their gross display of wealth that they like to shove in our faces along with their stunts for attention.  That blog-mom is doing the same thing.  When even first-world countries have so much poverty, it's gross conceit to post a photo like that.   At it's most mild, it's proving how bad consumerism (a long-time problem, I know) has become, and at it's worst, it's intended to make people envy her during a time of year when tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands, of families are struggling to pay increasing heating bills and have aching hearts because they can't spare anything for a single Christmas gift for children who are very aware that Santa always goes to other kids, but will probably forget them again.

 

Editing to add that my mindset probably comes at least partly because there was a lot of class disparity in my family, and when my poorer cousins visited us in our smaller middle-class house, my siblings and I were taught to always hide the presents under our tree (one gift per kid from parents were under the tree until Christmas Eve, when we brought out the handmade gifts that we kids gave, and then one family gift from Santa) because we didn't want our cousins to be hurt that they might not get anything.  So I was raised very aware of how showing more money to people without any can hurt people, especially kids, at Christmas.

[FundieFarmer]

Seriously, @Eternalbluepearl. I just spent the summer purging my house and am just doing a second round now, because it's so fun (call me weird, it's fine :D). No way would I want 300+ items coming into my house. If it comes in, something else goes out. Ain't nobody got time for this nonsense.

[purple_summer]

I wonder what it's like to have that much money to waste...

[Rajah061014]

Apparently she spent over 2 grand on all the presents, and most were on sale. So who knows how much they are worth at retail value.  Sheesh. That's a ton of money to spend on just 5 people.

[doggie]

2 minutes ago, Rajah061014 said:

Apparently she spent over 2 grand on all the presents, and most were on sale. So who knows how much they are worth at retail value.  Sheesh. That's a ton of money to spend on just 5 people.

2 grand is not a lot for a family but that many things looks like lots of clothes.

[feministxtian]

considering I purged a 4 bedroom house down to enough for a 1 bedroom apartment, there's NO WAY I'd ever buy that much shit at one time.

And...if I had 2 grand to blow, it'd be on useful shit like a set of tires for my car (yes, it's possible to blow 2 grand on a set of 4 tires for my Mustang).

[thebestusername]

welp for my entertainment I'm imagining them to be different varieties of socks, underwear, and sweaters.

[Rajah061014]

Just now, doggie said:

2 grand is not a lot for a family but that many things looks like lots of clothes.

2 grand seems like a lot to me. But then again, it's all about perspective. Either way, her post is distasteful.

[SpoonfulOSugar]

2 hours ago, FundieFarmer said:

Seriously, @Eternalbluepearl. I just spent the summer purging my house and am just doing a second round now, because it's so fun (call me weird, it's fine :D). No way would I want 300+ items coming into my house. If it comes in, something else goes out. Ain't nobody got time for this nonsense.

You are cordially invited to come assist Mr. Spoon.  I will go . . . . away somewhere and let y'all have at it. 

My inability to get rid of stuff is really frustrating.

[Cartmann99]

3 minutes ago, Rajah061014 said:

2 grand seems like a lot to me. But then again, it's all about perspective. Either way, her post is distasteful.

Whenever I read news stories about what the average person spends at Christmas I'm like . I know I'm an odd duck in this regard, but sometimes I forget just how different from the norm I am. 

[AmazonGrace]

It looks like Dudley's birthday

[Milly-Molly-Mandy]

2K seems like a lot to spend on presents. And we are what some may call wealthy. 

Xmas can be so over the top. We just do Kris Kringle for the adults (budget $50-70) & get gifts for the kids. Much easier. 

[doggie]

I always like quality over quantity. I would love to give that much if I could. love to give more away to the poor too. but think of the calories burned from all that work.

[louisa05]

1 hour ago, Milly-Molly-Mandy said:

2K seems like a lot to spend on presents. And we are what some may call wealthy. 

Xmas can be so over the top. We just do Kris Kringle for the adults (budget $50-70) & get gifts for the kids. Much easier. 

What is "Kris Kringle"? 

We spend about $20-30 per person on gifts for parents, siblings, etc... and maybe twice that on each other. I think that the reason I don't get the annual "no one should give gifts it is expensive and wasteful" outrage is that it has never been over the top for us. My husband's parents and both our siblings spend about the same.  My parents (just mother now) spend about $100 to $150 each on us, but they also buy us very practical things. So far this year, I'm getting socks, some replacement kitchen towels and a saute pan because the coating started coming off the one I have (mom can't drive and I'm the only one with time to take her shopping). 

[OddlyAmused]

And I thought my mom liked to have boxes to unwrap...

No, really, that's a lot of gifts. I'm hoping that's each pair of socks wrapped separately or something. My mom and dad (well, okay, my mom) likes to separate things so the tree looks full underneath, but not to that extent! I don't know the exact number spent on gifts each year-usually there's one more expensive item and some less expensive now that we're all adults. When I was a kid I had two grandmothers who liked to spoil their grandkids, even when my parents tried to convince them not to!  

[SilverBeach]

5 hours ago, FundieFarmer said:

Take a gander for yourself!

That is absolutely ridiculous and tasteless. Even if one could afford all that, the question is WHY? I use a few empty wrapped boxes to fill in, when I do put up a tree, since I no longer have little ones.

[Karma]

46 minutes ago, louisa05 said:

What is "Kris Kringle"? 

 

Kris Kringle is where each person in the family/social group is allocated one other person to buy for, so each person gives and receives one gift - usually a higher value than if everyone was buying a gift for each person.  Because it's a draw, the present is not "from" the person buying it, but is from Kris Kringle (another name I guess for Santa Claus).  It works really well for large families. 

[Milly-Molly-Mandy]

Yes we use an online free generator that emails everyone the person they are getting a present for. Just one present for one person as opposed to 8 for each adult. 

First year we did it I saved $300. Which I spent on myself. Ha. 

 

[Rear Window]

Imagine how much of that could have gone to the less fortunate. Tacky and disgusting!!

[ck29_2000]

So I'll be generous and assume they're all nice presents.  Even if they all came in pretty blue boxes with the white satin bow, there is a limit to my patience.  No one is going to appreciate anything after package 30, give or take.

[Pixiedust1960]

I wonder how much is wanted or used. Who really needs that much stuff.  

[doggie]

So I'll be generous and assume they're all nice presents.  Even if they all came in pretty blue boxes with the white satin bow, there is a limit to my patience.  No one is going to appreciate anything after package 30, give or take.

My sisters kids would get so much stuff from relatives that they would run out of enthusiasm before the end. I am proud to say no one runs out at my house.