Parents have all kinds of rules when it comes to their children, and most of the time it’s a no-brainer when it comes to respecting them – their kids, their rules, right?
That said, sometimes the parents are being downright ridiculous, and as kids grow out of the baby and toddler phase, they have wishes and dreams of their own…so what is an involved and caring aunt to do?
This woman found herself in that conundrum, stuck between the gift her niece really wanted and her sister, a “Disney Adult” who insists her daughter have no toys that are not Disney approved.
My niece just turned 5 and we got her a MagicMixie. My sister, “Elsa” has a strict “Disney Toy Only” policy and literally gives us lists of acceptable Disney-only toys, but that’s not what my niece wanted. She’s been obsessed with getting a MagicMixie since her friend got one.
My BIL doesn’t care and gets her other stuff all the time. I texted him and he said it was okay to not stick to the list since the grandparents got her stuff that wasn’t Disney-related.
He said he wants Niece to branch out more and to ignore the list.
Her sister has had the same rules since her daughter was born and even goes so far as to throw away anything she’s gifted that isn’t Disney.
“Elsa” is a Disney Adult. Everything has to be Disney related.
Before my niece was born Elsa sent out a facebook post and a family-wide email that anything without a Disney character on it, toys, clothes, bedding, furniture, anything, would get thrown out. Not donated, thrown out.
We’ve never actually sent my niece a gift at all because we knew Elsa would throw it away.
Disney is her aesthetic and she’ll throw things away in front of the people who gift them to her if they’re not plastered with cartoon characters.
The little girl was obsessed with her gift, but after she was distracted by something else, the sister went ballistic over the gift and about how she’s going to have to throw it away.
At her birthday party, Niece opened the MagicMixie and went bananas. Elsa didn’t say anything other than a neutral “how cute” and then moved on to something else.
After the party was over, Elsa went apes*%t and said it’s my fault she has to throw her kid’s toy away. Apparently she and BIL got into a big fight when she tried to throw it out during the party.
She tried giving the gift away to other parents at the party, which also backfired because it made her mom friends aware of her “policy” and wonder whether or not their gifts were getting trashed as well.
She also tried to give it to several of the parents at the party.
The moms from her mom group called her insensitive that she’d try to get rid of a toy her kid was so excited about and asked if she was going to do that with their gifts.
Her mother thinks she was wrong and caused a bunch of trouble for nothing, and apparently now the sister and the niece have been uninvited from other things because of the debacle.
My mom called me later and said I was a huge AH for not sticking to what Elsa wanted and “making her anxious about the presents” because I guess after the party, her mom group friends got pissed at her when they found out she throws gifts away so she and Niece are uninvited from a lot of spring activities.
AITA for not giving in to a Disney Adult and getting the kid the toy they actually wanted?
Should auntie have toed the line, or is what her niece wants more important than adhering to her sister’s strict rules?
Reddit has some thoughts on the matter!
This person points out that the mother is going to end up making her daughter hate Disney, more likely than not.
Image Credit: Reddit
And maybe her marriage is going to be sacrificed to the Disney gods, too.
Image Credit: Reddit
I mean, there’s loving Disney, and then there’s this.
Image Credit: Reddit
Disney love aside, why would you limit yourself to just one thing?
Image Credit: Reddit
Honestly the sister might need therapy.
Image Credit: Reddit
I find it hard to believe this is true, even though I know there are people like this out there.
Would you have done what OP did here or followed the rules? Tell us which and why in the comments!
