Gift giving stops being fun the moment someone starts keeping track.

Imagine being 16 and using the money from your part-time job to pay for Christmas gifts for your family and your girlfriend, only to be told you spent too much on one person and not enough on everyone else.

How would this make you feel? Would you feel like you did the best job you could? Or would you start second-guessing your own spending?

In the following story, one teen boy finds himself in this scenario and is looking for advice.

Here’s what’s going on.

AITA for getting my s/o more presents than my family?

I (male, 16) recently got into a small argument with my mother regarding Christmas presents. She believes I got more gifts for my girlfriend (of 2 years) than for my family.

For starters, I work a weekend job making minimum wage while in school. I have been trying my best to save money for the holidays.

While having a weekend job is nice, it makes it hard to save money for later. I did my best to find affordable gifts for everyone, such as clearance, homemade gifts, and leaning on the cheaper side of things.

He tried really hard when shopping for everyone.

Although today, I was discussing gifts with my mom, and she got slightly upset, saying she thinks I spent more money on my GF (about 20 gifts in total, with some being homemade), and said I should have spent more on my family (such as her, my grandparents, and my aunt). They all have about 1-3 gifts, with my mom having closer to 10.

I can agree it is not A LOT of gifts for each of them, but I found it quite difficult to shop for them, and I found it easier to shop for my gf. That doesn’t mean I didn’t try. I bought what I thought they’d like in my price range.

I told her I felt bad, but I couldn’t afford it. Her response was that she told me to pick up a second job.

Now, he’s not sure what he should’ve done.

With me being in school, I felt it would leave no time for myself and my hobbies. I also believe it would only hurt my grades, as I don’t feel like I have enough time as is.

I wouldn’t think too much into this whole thing, but since my GF and I got together, she has been weird towards her. I can’t help but feel it’s another personal attack on my gf.

I would like to know if I should have spent more on my family or if I’m justified in my reasoning.

AITA?

Yikes! His mother sounds like something else.

Let’s see what the people over at Reddit think about this issue.

An information diet is a great idea.

According to this comment, he shouldn’t tell his mom next year.

These are thoughts from a mother.

It does sound like she feels like that.

His mom needs to let go.

It’s time to realize that her son is growing up and will start making his own decisions.

If you enjoyed that story, read this one about a mom who was forced to bring her three kids with her to apply for government benefits, but ended up getting the job of her dreams.