Is it okay to throw out gifts from proud parents?

Question

My cousins are 6 and 9 years old.

My aunt gives me gifts with my cousins pictures on it. Like she gave me magnets with pictures of their faces on it. And the next year I got a cheap plastic mug with pictures of them on it. Every year its something new.

I am not close with these cousins, and I honestly don't want to have their pictures on all my stuff at my house. They are really homely kids at their best too.

I just say thank you when my aunt gives me all this stuff, and I have kept it all for at least a year, can I throw it away?

How do you deal with people giving you stuff like this all of the time. I appreciate the gifts, but I don't want to keep them.

I don't have any children, but when I do have a baby I will not be passing out stuff like this unless its to grandparents. My wife has two little brothers my cousins' ages and her mom is never giving me stuff like my aunt does.

What about pictures of your friends' kids that they send in the mail to you?

Any advice

Answer 1

being a proud parent is one thing....giving gifts away with their pictures is obsession.....and all it is going to accomplish is to make people not want to see these kids!!!! Throw the stuff out and don't give it a second thought!!!

Answer 2

I'd keep all that stuff in a box and then just bring a few things out if your aunt or cousins ever come to visit ;-)

My friends don't send me too much and most of it's electronic these days, so no big deal. I don't do that either, in fact I get people asking me why I'm not always flashing my kids' pictures around. My children are beautiful, but I don't really believe anyone else is as captivated by them as I am.

Answer 3

Absolutely toss out the gifts - I mean honestly, do you still have that Christmas sweater or the bugs bunny tie that everybody has received at one point and time? Just don't be malicious about it when asked if you use them. As for the actual photos, maybe buy a cheap photo album for miscellaneous pics, it doesn't take up a lot of space like the other stuff and is easy to stow away.

Answer 4

That is definitly a bit much, I am sure your Aunt is proud of her children but a small picture in the Christmas card each year would be plenty. I would keep it around for a little while and then toss it. I feel sorry for your cousins when they get out into the real world and realize they are not the center of everyones universe.

Answer 5

That is good you keep it for at least a year since it is a gift that doesn't necessarily mean you need to flaunt it in your house cause I don't do it when I get stuff like that I stick it all in a box, but if you don't want to do that I guess it would be fine to throw the old stuff away but the stuff you barely get I would save for a little bit just in case they do a surprise visit, you could pull it out real quick.

Answer 6

First of all how close to this aunt are you?
Next Holiday gather up all those nice gifts she gave you pack them up and wrap them up and give them back! Or yes, throw away or better yet give to a Thrift store, maybe one your aunt shops at!
I have 4 kids I am very proud of. I would never send relatives those types of gifts. I have sent out pictures and I have received pictures.
If you are not comfortable throwing out or returning or giving away to charity, then pack up and put in a box and return to the kids when they grow up.
Right or wrong it's your choice to keep or not!

Answer 7

Have you tried taking the pictures off anything so that you can actually use the items? LOL...I would just keep them all in a box and then when and if they ever ask if you still have them (which they WILL ask that sooner or later) you can say yes you do and bring it out with a smile on your face. Just get a box and label it gross gifts or something like that and stick it in a corner in the closet then tape it up after each Christmas. Good luck, I hate relatives like that!

Answer 8

If we kept all the crap that people give us, our homes would be piled up with junk. Dispose of all the things that you do not care for. Then, if they are ever so rude to ask about it, let them know that it didn't go with the other stuff in your home and you had to dispose of it. Maybe they'll get the point. My mother's house is so cluttered with junk (and I do mean JUNK) that people give her as a gift, and she doesn't want to get rid of in case it hurts their feelings. GIve me a break, a gift is given with the knowledge that it is the person's to do with what they please. Hopefully they like it and use it, otherwise it just wasn't in accordance with their tastes, likes, and needs. Oh well. I would never be hurt if something I gave ended in the rubbish bin, we have too much material junk as it is. And these gifts you have been given are not thoughtful, they are actually bordering on rude.

Answer 9

You are more polite than I to have kept them this long. In general guys are less sentimental than girls. I rarely kept cards until I got married. Why would you want a magnet of a cousin you barely know on your fridge? Why would you want a T-shirt (god forbid) or a mug with their faces. You are under no obligation to keep these items. Just because someone gives them to you does not mean you need to keep it. Be nice, be polite, say thanks (which it looks like you do). But it is more rude of them to give this stuff to you than it is for you to get rid of them. Why should you have to worry about finding a place for them. Why should you worry about having to keep them when moving or sorting. I do not know a person who has more room in their house than they know what to do with (unless they just moved). And if you did, why woudl you want to fill it up with tacky trash. Throw it out, give it away, do what you want with it and be guilt free.

Answer 10

You are under no obligation to keep all that junk, and display it in your house. It sounds like you are being polite when you get the gifts. That's all you need to do. As far as pictures of friend's kids go - they don't expect you to frame them and display them. They just want to show you how the kids are growing. Do whatever you want with them.