Reciprocation is the key to any relationship, showing that you’re capable of paying attention to someone’s basic wants and needs and have considered their best interests is really the barest of requirements for establishing a bond.

Gift-giving is a time when entitlement, selfishness, and narcissism rears its ugly head and it becomes all the more apparent to parties involved when someone just doesn’t care about them. It really shows how much someone thinks of themself and how little they think of others when they’re suddenly expected to go out of their way to do something for someone else.

Now, don’t get me wrong, giving gifts to nieces and nephews is something that’s completely up for debate. Most families, especially larger ones, don’t do this. I had 13 cousins when I was a kid from my mother’s side alone, and let me tell you there was no way each of us was getting gifts every year from every one of my mom’s 6 siblings. Maybe it’s easier in smaller families for aunts and uncles to give gifts every year, but in my family that was certainly not the case.

For some reason, this aunt thought that her kids should still be getting gifts from extended family even though she didn’t repay that or reciprocate by giving gifts to her own nieces and nephews the mind-boggling reasoning behind it drove her sister to this online community looking for advice.

How much do gifts for small kids really cost in comparison to gifts for teenagers anyways?