This time, we sent an air fryer to our youngest granddaughter, the cheapest thing on her registry. Eloise called us, livid, accusing us of being cheap. I remember picking up her call and she didn’t even say hi, she just started ranting, “Seriously, Grandma? I just got your gift. An air fryer? That’s the cheapest thing you could find on my registry!”
I was taken aback because as much as the air fryer was the cheapest on their registry, I still thought it’d be useful to them, so I told her that. Eloise kept on complaining, “Useful? Come on, you know you can do better than that. Everyone knows you have the money. I just can’t believe you’d be this cheap with me. It’s embarrassing.”
In this heated moment, I told her, “Yes, you’re right. We are cheap, old, and useless. The only thing you DIDN’T know is that the day before the wedding, we were going to gift you a check for $40,000.”
I revealed this in an attempt to explain to Eloise about the cash gift we usually give our grandkids before the wedding but she was so angry at this point, that she wasn’t listening to a thing I said. I speculated that maybe she didn’t believe we would gift her such an amount of money after only buying her an air fryer.
Eventually, she said, “No, it’s clear. You just don’t love me enough to show it. You know how much pressure I’m under with the wedding. And then, this? It’s like you don’t even care,” then she hung up.
Despite my husband and I’s shock at Eloise’s reaction, we then bought her a China set, hoping to appease her, but decided against giving her the $40,000, feeling she hadn’t earned it.
Fast forward to last week. Eloise talked to her brother and found out that we were telling her the truth about the money. After confirming it with her cousins, she, called again, accusing us of discrimination, “I just found out that it’s true you gave the money to everyone else when they got married. Why didn’t I get anything?”
We stood firm, explaining our stance was due to her initial reaction, “We felt after your reaction to the wedding gift, it wasn’t right to go ahead and gift you the money.” Eloise pleaded trying to convince us otherwise, “So, you’re punishing me? Is that it? Because I was upset about an air fryer?”
I was angry that she didn’t even understand what she did wrong. “It wasn’t about the air fryer, Eloise. It was how you spoke to us, the disrespect. That’s not something we expected or can support,” I explained.
Eloise implored us, nearly in tears, “But that’s so unfair! I was stressed, Grandma. Planning a wedding is hard, and I just snapped. I didn’t mean any of it.” I felt like she should have only apologized to us instead of finding excuses to justify her behavior.
However, I told her, “We understand that it’s a stressful time, but actions and words have consequences. We hoped you’d understand the value of family and love over material things.” Full of desperation, Eloise added, “But you don’t understand! Can’t we just forget all this happened? I need that money, Grandma.”
She pleaded, threatened to boycott Christmas, and accused us of cutting her off but we didn’t budge. In the end, I expressed, “We love you very much. This has nothing to do with cutting you off. We just hope you’ll reflect on this and understand why we made our decision.”
Now, Eloise has followed up on her threat and she’s boycotting Christmas. Her mother, who is our daughter-in-law, is siding with her, calling us unreasonable. However, we feel that after all we have done for Eloise, the air fryer gift, shouldn’t have triggered this reaction.
For context, we had already paid for her college, and her parents covered her graduate school and half the wedding. Additionally, she and her husband are financially comfortable and do not desperately need our money.
We’re also not upset with our grandkids for revealing the cash gift since she is among the group of family members who are allowed to know about it. Our reason for sending the air fryer earlier was that we live far away, so we always send our gifts early.
The wedding gift is also separate from the money, which we give with the hope it will be used for something significant, like a home. Now, we feel like the action we took towards Eloise was well deserved and we are not going back on our decisions even if she and her mom threaten to do their worst.
Despite the tumultuous events and Eloise’s refusal to understand our perspective, my husband and I stand by our decision. Love and respect in our family are paramount, and we hoped this situation would be a learning experience for her.
The holidays might be quieter this year with her family’s absence, but our hope is for healing and understanding in the future. Our door and hearts remain open to Eloise, whenever she’s ready to mend fences.
Want more like this? Click here to read about a grandmother who sparked controversy online because she doesn’t bring her grandchildren gifts when she visits.
My Husband Rewrote His Will behind My Back, and I Can’t Forgive Him — Story of the Day
My husband helped me raise my daughters, although he was not their biological father. In the end, he made a huge decision on his own that changed my life and ruined everything.
Advertisement
Years ago, I met Nicholas during the hardest time of my life. I was a single mother and had two daughters to feed. But we fell in love and got married in less than a year. We also moved into the most beautiful home I could imagine.
Nicholas had been divorced in the past and had a son he barely spoke to, Nick Jr. His ex-wife did everything in her power to stop Nicholas from seeing the kid. He hated her attitude and missed his son.
We moved into a beautiful house after our wedding. | Source: Shutterstock
Therefore, he took on a fatherly role with my daughters and became the best dad they ever had. Eventually, they stopped calling him “stepfather.” He was just their dad. But that was more than 20 years ago. My daughters grew up and now have families of their own.
Advertisement
Luckily, my eldest, Darlene, gave us two grandchildren. Nicholas adored those boys, and they visited often. They came for lunch one Sunday, and I wanted to talk to Darlene about something serious. My husband had told me something the night before that I wasn’t sure I could deal with at all.
I thought it was unfair, but I wanted my daughter’s honest opinion. Luckily, Nicholas planned to take the kids to the park. “Ok, Alice, honey. See you later,” he said, giving me a worried look because he knew I had been thinking about last night.
I had to talk to Darlene about what her father did. | Source: Pexels
“Mom, what’s going on?” Darlene asked when we were finally alone.
“Oh, Darlene. I don’t know what I’m going to do now. I don’t know if I’m being selfish or what,” I started.
Advertisement
“Tell me. We’ll figure things out,” she told me.
“Last night, your father revealed something that I’m not sure I can forgive. He willed this big mansion to his son, Nick,” I explained.
“What? I thought he hadn’t spoken to Nick in years,” Darlene said, confused.
“He hasn’t! Ever since that big fight where Nick called him all kinds of names because Nicholas wouldn’t give him money,” I added.
“But then, he’s giving him this house? You live here too. You guys are married,” Darlene continued.
Darlene couldn’t believe Nicholes would do this. | Source: Pexels
“That’s the problem, sweetheart. He just made that decision on his own without telling me anything about it. He showed me the will last night. It has been notarized and everything,” I said. “He is also giving him all the money in his bank account.”
Advertisement
“I can’t believe Dad would do this,” Darlene said. “I mean…I wasn’t expecting anything for my sister or me. But he completely disregarded us…his family for 20 years.”
“That’s how I feel. Like after all this time, we were never his real family! His son has treated him horribly for so long, and I know that his horrible mother influenced him. But still…I don’t know what to do,” I finished and dried the tears running down my face.
We always had a seemingly great relationship. | Source: Pexels
“I’m just in shock. You guys have had the perfect relationship for so long. My husband and I talked about it all the time. I can’t believe Dad would do this,” Darlene muttered. “Let me call Rosaline. Let’s see what she thinks.”
“Dad did what?!” Rosaline yelled through the speakerphone. “I can’t believe it. I don’t want his money, but I can’t believe he wouldn’t want Mom to be set for life if anything happens.”
Advertisement
“Yeah, that’s how I feel,” Darlene told her sister. Meanwhile, I was still crying softly.
“Well, I’m sorry. I consider him my father, but I won’t tolerate this. Mom, you have rights to the house and the money. We are taking legal action NOW!” Rosaline exclaimed and hung up.
I didn’t want to take legal action, but my daughters insisted. | Source: Pexels
“I didn’t want to take this any further. He’s my husband, and I know he wants to take care of Nick Jr. because he wasn’t there most of his life,” I told Darlene, hoping that she would convince her sister to back down.
“No, Mom. That wasn’t Dad’s fault or yours. What are you going to do if something happens? You would be left homeless and penniless. Rosaline is right. We have no option unless he changes his will,” Darlene coaxed.
Advertisement
“I’ll try to talk to him,” I said tentatively. But I knew Nicholas. I knew he wouldn’t change his mind. I talked to him that night after Darlene left with her kids. Nicholas wouldn’t budge, so I packed my things and went to stay at Rosaline’s house.
Our relationship was ruined, but at least, I wasn’t homeless and penniless. | Source: Pexels
We took him to court but gave him many chances to change his mind. In the end, Nicholas decided to sell the big house and give me half the price. I didn’t want to divorce him, but there was no other option. So I received half our savings as well.
He ruined our relationship. My daughters and I never saw him again. In the end, he didn’t consider us family at all.
What can we learn from this story?
Advertisement
- Money troubles can ruin everything. Nicholas disregarded part of his family in favor of his son, and in the end, he ruined his marriage.
- You have to protect yourself. Alice didn’t want to take her husband to court, but her daughters wanted to protect her.
Share this story with your friends. It might brighten their day and inspire them.
Leave a Reply