Thoughts on this gift giving issue

[Viene]

Just wondering what others think.

My SIL is 26 years old. She's having money issues and we don't have a ton either. Her parents are buying gifts for her to give us and we are to buy her a gift. I think that's rediculous because she is an adult. If she cannot afford to exchange with us then I think we just simply shouldn't exchange. Am I wrong? My husband seems to think so.

[xnicolax]

I agree, we have cut loads of people out of our christmas list and told them not to get for us either. It does seem a little silly if her parents are going to buy the gifts for her?

[GDControl]

Well, her parents are very nice for doing that for her. My guess is they just don't want to lose the spirit of the day and have no gift exchange. I agree about being an adult but I understand her parents wanting to help. If put in that position one day by one of my kids, I would probably do the same for them.

[Catch!]

I think it's a bit silly too. If she really has no money but wants to give you a gift there are a 1000 ways to do it with little to no money. Something hand made, bake some treats, give you a baby sitting night so you can go out. That would be more in the spirit of Christmas to me.
On a similar note my BIL informed my DH that he was not giving any gifts to anyone this year. He's 24, and this is the first time in his life he had a real good job. But he split with the GF, and he quit his job recently, so while he does have money and is living rent free, he wants to save it. I get that, but of course he totally expects one from us. He is just never an adult, and everyone acts like it's ok.

[Viene]

Yeah, everyone in acts like that kind of stuff is ok too in my husband's family. I can't believe your bro in law still expects gifts from others in that case. He quit his job just because he broke up with his gf?

I get that her parents want to be nice, but she should be the one to be embarassed about it.

[atomic sagebrush]

I do buy gifts for my older sons to "give" each other because I want them to have the fun of opening up a lot of presents, but I keep it fair and buy for both of them. Plus, they're 19 and 15, not grown adults.

I hope you all had a great holiday regardless!