Christmas is an expensive time of the year. 

With familial obligations and mountains of gifts piling up under the tree, it’s no wonder overused credit cards start to steam in the fresh wintery air. For this aunt, a businesswoman whose husband ran his own company, money wasn’t usually the issue during the holiday season; it was the family’s expectations. Knowing that they had a successful branch in their family tree, the holiday season turned into a generous time of the year, but in a rather one-sided way. While nobody should ever feel the burning heat of guilt and pressure when imagining the gifts underneath the tree, this woman’s sister-in-law felt no shame in it. 

Squeezing out a few crocodile tears over the phone, this mom tried to swindle her sister-in-law into giving an expensive gift to her niece, all because she didn’t feel like forking out the cash to get her own kid something special. As if piggybacking off of her gift for her own daughter wasn’t bad enough, she expected her to front the costs and derail her mother-daughter bonding trip in the process. 

‘Tis the season of giving for some, but for this sister-in-law, ‘twas the season of taking.