Christmas shopping can be a daunting task. To make the process a bit easier, one woman asked her three nieces what they wanted for Christmas — especially because her nieces don’t really appreciate surprises. Her three nieces, 14-year-old Alice, 11-year-old Olivia, and 8-year-old Ella, gave her their Christmas lists. However, the woman didn’t buy her 8-year-old niece the gift she wanted to teach her a lesson, and now she’s wondering if she is in the wrong.
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Initially, the woman's 8-year-old niece said she wanted 'Stitch stuff.'
In a Reddit post, the woman explained that when she asked her nieces what they wanted for Christmas. Her two older nieces gave her short lists and her younger niece simply said she wanted Lilo & Stitch merchandise. “She didn’t have any specific ideas, just Stitch-themed merchandise in general,” the woman explained in her post. After receiving their lists, she went out and bought their gifts.
Two weeks later, she visited her nieces again and they asked about their gifts.
Olivia asked her if she purchased the heatless hair curling set she had put on her Christmas list. However, she wouldn’t tell any of her nieces what she bought for them. “I said, ‘maybe, maybe not, you’ll have to wait and see!'” she wrote. When Ella heard about Olivia’s gift, she decided she wanted a heatless hair curling set, too.
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Given that she had already finished her Christmas shopping, the woman told Ella that she couldn't buy her a heatless curler.
“I said, ‘Sorry Ella, you’re a bit late, I’ve already bought all your Christmas presents!'” the woman explained. “She then asked what I had got her, and I said Stitch stuff.”
When Ella heard this, she “looked annoyed and said ‘What?! I don’t want Stitch stuff!'” Though the woman reminded her that she asked for Stitch stuff the last time they saw each other, the 8-year-old insisted that this never happened. Ella’s aunt was not super surprised by this. After all, “Ella has a habit of changing her mind about what she wants.”
She feels like Ella should know better by now.
While this behavior was completely expected when Ella was younger, her aunt thinks she’s now old enough to know better. She doesn’t want to buy a new gift for Ella as returning her gifts would be a “hassle.” However, she still feels a bit guilty for not buying Ella the gift she now says she wants.
Asking other Redditors to weigh in, she wrote, “Would it be a good idea to help her learn the lesson that she has to be sure when she asks for things and can’t just change her mind with no notice? Or am I being too harsh on an 8 year old?”
Redditors think both the aunt and her niece can learn something from this experience.
The majority of Redditors told the aunt to give the Stitch stuff she had already bought.
“It’s important for children to learn to be appreciative for things they’re given, and that they don’t get every single thing they ask for,” one person commented.
Another Redditor wrote: “As a mother of an 8yo girl, Id say for you to stick with what you got her. Girls that age like what their mates do, and want to show off what they have.” The commenter added that Ella “just wants what her sisters have.”
However, some pointed out that there was also a problem with the aunt’s approach.
“Personally, I wouldn’t have told them what they were getting, but I suppose you learned that the hard way,” one person pointed out. “It opens up a can of worms.”
Stitch stuff seems like a more age-appropriate gift anyway.
Other people who commented on the post couldn’t get over the fact that young girls wanted heatless curlers for Christmas.
“I wouldn’t set the precedent that she can just change her mind after you said you’re done shopping,” one person commented. “She can ask mom or dad or Santa for heatless curl set. Also, as a mom of an almost 8-year-old, I would be hesitant giving an 8-year-old a heatless curl set. I think the Stitch stuff is much more age appropriate.”
Another person agreed. “I know things are different now, but I can’t don’t want to imagine a world where an 8-year-old would rather beauty products over toys!” they wrote. However, they also realized that Ella might not even know what she was asking for. “It honestly wouldn’t surprise me I’d the 8yo doesn’t even really know what heatless curlers even are 😂 She’d probably be more upset if she actually got them!”
These stories are based on posts found on Reddit. Reddit is a user-generated social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website where registered members submit content to the site and can up- or down-vote the content. The accuracy and authenticity of each story cannot be confirmed by our staff.
