Gift giving can be a source of tension for many.

So, imagine your family begs you to make a Christmas list, but later you find out they didn’t even use it when buying your gifts? Would you just stay polite and not put much thought into it? Or would you let them know just how upset you are by the whole thing?

In the following story, a high school senior finds herself in this predicament and can’t help but be upset. Here’s what’s going on.

AITA for saying I don’t want what wasn’t on my list for Christmas?

So I(18f) am typically pretty easy to please for Christmas. I never really make a list, just say things I don’t want (my family gets whatever it is anyway, and it never gets used), and if I do make a list, it’s very short.

This year, my family begged me to make a list for Christmas, and I actually put some thought into it because all they told me/all I’ve heard is that Christmas sucks after you graduate. So I put a lot of thought into my list when my mom asked me to make it, so I tried keeping it small and reasonable.

Well, my mom, the other day, told me she didn’t get me anything on my list, and when I was upset about it, she said, “That sucks. Looks like you have to save up.”

She feels bad asking her dad for more.

Then, she went on to say how I was ungrateful because I don’t even know what it is (which is true, but when I lean more towards indie things and she is a small town country girl, our interests seldom align and what she gets me never gets worn or used because it just doesn’t fit my style or it’s not something I use).

Only she and my sister got that list (parents are divorced), and I told my sister specific things I wanted and took them off the list because she said she had it.

My dad got me an expensive gift, and I didn’t want anything else from him. And I feel bad asking grandparents for anything, since what I wanted was a little pricey.

There’s so much tension right now.

But I guess my main issue with this is when my mom takes Christmas into her own hands, I typically don’t like what I get, and it gets wasted, and I hate that (I like baggy clothes, she gets tight, etc., etc.), especially when that money could be put towards something else.

And part of this might just be that it’s my senior year, and I have been beefing more than usual (she’s been trying to make me apply to certain schools because we have minor family ties there, and they are schools I have no desire to attend).

And if you can’t tell, there’s just a lot of tension between my mom and me, so that might be it, and this is just one of those minor things to add on, but I just don’t feel listened to by her and my stepdad.

AITA?

Eek! That whole situation sounds pretty stressful.

Let’s see how the fine folks over at Reddit think she should handle it.

For this reader, a bad gift is a reminder of how much the other person doesn’t care.

For this person, it seems like there’s something deeper going on.

Here’s someone who wants an update.

This reader also thinks there’s something more going on.

She’s right to be upset, but it doesn’t seem like the situation is going to change. So she may just need to accept it for now.

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.