Gifts carry sentimental value.

But at the end of the day, most gifts are just material things that can be used in your daily life.

The man in this story gave his boyfriend a pair of sneakers as a Christmas gift last year.

He thinks that his BF is neglecting the gift, but the BF has a different perspective on gift-giving.

Read the full story below for all the details.

AITA for telling my boyfriend that he hasn’t been taking good care of the shoes I gave him for Christmas?

Last Christmas, I (24M) gifted my boyfriend (26M) a pair of white sneakers.

Just a month after I gave them to him, I noticed they were covered in mud, and they had been left uncleaned for weeks.

Every time I asked him to clean them, he said he would, but he never did.

This man brought up his concern again, and his boyfriend got upset.

Today (as it is close to this year’s Christmas), when I brought up the topic again, he became upset.

He said he felt attacked and accused me of implying that he didn’t appreciate the gift.

He then turned his frustration toward me, saying that a gift should be selfless and questioning why was making it about my own feelings.

His boyfriend argued that shoes are meant to be dirty, and it meant he was using the pair he had given him.

He argued that he hadn’t ruined the shoes or treated them carelessly and that he simply treated them the same way he treated all his other pairs.

He insisted that shoes are meant to get dirty and that I should be happy he was wearing them at all.

I tried to explain that it would mean a lot to me if he treated the shoes a little more carefully, just to show that he values the gift and the thought behind it.

But for him, gifts are more than just personal objects, and they should be treated with care.

But instead, he told me that if I continue to have such expectations, he doesn’t want me to give him any gifts in the future.

To me, gifts mean so much more than just objects you can buy for yourself. They carry the sentimental value of the person who gave them.

Because of that, I’ve always done my best to keep the things I receive in pristine condition so that when the giver sees me using them, they know I truly treasure the thought and intention behind their gesture.

Now, he wants to know if his feelings are valid or if he is overreacting.

But to him, gifts seem to hold no special distinction.

They’re treated just like anything else he owns.

And part of me feels inadequate and unfulfilled, sensing that he doesn’t truly value my thoughts and emotions behind what I give.

I know I am for sure not the jerk. But are my feelings valid, and am I overreacting?

They have different ideas of what it means to appreciate a gift.

Let’s find out what others have to say about this on Reddit.

This person gives their honest opinion.

You’re wrong, says this person.

Here’s another insightful remark.

Short and simple.

And lastly, people are calling him out for being controlling.

You can’t expect everyone to care about something the way you do.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check out what happened when a family gave their in-laws a free place to stay in exchange for babysitting, but things changed when they don’t hold up their end of the bargain.