Poll: Is it the wife's responsibility to buy the father's day gift for the husband's father?

[stella]

Just because she stays home and is esponsible for "all things household?"

Just asking!!!

[Momof3Labs]

Not in this household!

[C99]

Somehow, it became my responsibility to buy my husband's parents birthday, Christmas and ____ Day gifts. I think it's b/c he never bothered and they are the type of people who expect a tangible. When we were first married, I wanted to make a good impression on them. Now, I'm getting to the point where I don't care: they are his parents and I have enough to worry about.

[MartiesMom2B]

Unfortunately in this household it has become my duty to buy gifts, cards, etc. for everyone in dh's family on top of mine. And the worse, writing thank you cards. Ugh. I know its impolite to not properly thank people with cards, but I come from a family where no one cared about thank you cards or giving greeting cards. DH didn't send anything to his one sister and her husband one year and of course I was the one who was frowned upon. I think that's bull$**t. Now off to write some thank you cards to dear Aunt Dottie, who I've never met in my life and probably never will.

Sonia
Proud Mommy to Martie 4/6/03

[Marisa6826]

Fortunately, we don't really "do " gifts in this family unless it's a really specific occasion (HS graduation, Bar/Bas Mitzvah, etc.) We kind of did away with birthday presents for the nieces and nephews as they got older. Husband's family is Jewish, so we don't do Christmas presents...

As far as Father's/Mother's Day and Birthdays go, everybody gets a phone call and that's it in Jonathan's family (although I send MY mother a birthday/Mother's Day present).

I'm quite the stickler about Thank You notes. I send them all the time. I'm quite appalled that I have sent gifts (and quite expensive ones) to good friends of Jonathan's and they haven't so much as made a call. How do I even know whether they received the gift?! I plan on starting Sophie VERY early in the education of Thank Yous!

I understand that people are very busy in this day and age, but a phone call or an email isn't a lot to ask when I've taken time out of MY schedule to make sure a gift was sent for a new baby/first birthday etc.

Sorry! I will get off my soap box now! :)

-m

[C99]

>I'm quite the stickler about Thank You notes. I send them
>all the time. I'm quite appalled that I have sent gifts
>(and quite expensive ones) to good friends of Jonathan's and
>they haven't so much as made a call. How do I even know
>whether they received the gift?! I plan on starting Sophie
>VERY early in the education of Thank Yous!

Marisa, ITA! This is one of my biggest pet peeves about gift giving

[Momof3Labs]

Marisa,

I have to agree with you on the thank you note issue!! I have mailed handmade gifts and never received an acknowledgement - how rude! I spend hours making a gift for a new baby and don't even get a lousy little thank you note so I know that they received the package?

Needless to say, perhaps, I usually cross people off my list when they don't bother to thank us. Maybe I'm too much of a stickler, but I don't care when I get it or what it looks like (preprinted card with name signed), but I think that it is rude to not acknowledge gifts.

Someone please push me off of the soapbox, now!

[egoldber]

Not here either! DH asks me occasionally, "when is my mom's birthday?" and my response is "why is it MY job to keep track of YOUR mother's birthday?" !!!!

And today I said to him "I have to call my dad now before it gets too late" and he snuck off and called his father after I did, hoping I wouldn't notice that he had almost forgtten to call HIS father on Father's Day!!! Ah, the things you can't change even after 11 years of marriage...

[muskiesusan]

DH is responsible for his gift buying, but I will offer suggestions if he asks!!

I, too, am anal about thank you notes. I have always sent them and now write them for Nick until he can do it himself. I made my sisters look bad by doing this, and now I receive thank you's from their kids as well!!! Now if I can figure out how to get some of my friends to do this so I know if they got my wedding presents or not....


Susan
WAHM to Nicholas 10/01/01

[deenass]

I have a rule that i try very hard to stick to and will try to teach my son about thank you notes ... you don't wear it, eat it, play with it or spend it until you've thanked someone for it .... I am NUTS about thank you notes. I find that the above method usually inspires me to GET THEM DONE ..

[flagger]

We buy our own cards for our own family.

As far as thank-you notes. I wrote them to my family and friends, and she wrote them to hers.

I do think some understand with a new baby that thank you notes may not be immediately coming, but we do do our best.