Crazy 1st Birthday Mom: Who's the Real Jerk?

I’m a fan of the gift giving experience. I love selecting them, wrapping them and presenting them to their intended recipients.

Watching people open gifts (that have been thoughtfully selected by me) really is my idea of fun times.

I also love receiving gifts and can honestly say, I’m easy to please. There is something about the surprise-factor that still excites me, despite being an almost-40-year-old, full grown woman. If you’ve chosen it for me, I will be grateful to receive it.

I know that not everyone shares in my gifting enthusiasm. In fact, more often than not I have noticed friends and family taking a practical approach to gift-giving by asking specifically what I, my husband, and the kids would like for our birthdays and Christmas. Which is fine with me; I don’t mind sending them in the right direction. I know that not everyone enjoys, has time for, or feels like they know our tastes well enough to make selections on their own.

In fact, some people actually find the idea of choosing presents for others… stressful. These practical-natured folks like to be certain that a gift will be used and appreciated.

These peeps are precisely the type who would appreciate being sent a list of pre-selected gift ideas, with handy links to websites from which to order these requested products. Have you seen the email making the rounds on Social Media this past week?

As it turns out, one of the email’s recipients didn’t appreciate the practical (and yes, over-the-top protective & micro-managed) nature of the email’s contents. And, unfortunately, despite being a member of her immediate family, this recipient didn’t have enough respect for the mom who’d sent it, to keep it private.

So she is now known as: “Crazy 1st Birthday Mom,” and is being insulted in a variety of ways ranging from tacky to psychotic.

Is “Crazy 1st Birthday Mom” a bit over the-top with her military operation of the gift giving process? Sure. But, this is clearly her first child she’s catering to here. For those of us who have been there, as a new mom, we all had an area or two that we were overly-something about. But, lucky for us, nobody was taking notes, quoting us, or tossing proof of our irrational behaviour out to the sharks of the internet world.

Does “Crazy 1st Birthday Mom” take the “fun times” out of the gift selecting process? Yeah. She does. Where there are rules, fun is inevitably hindered! You’ve got to admit, though, the woman is thorough and, dare I say she’d be a fab Personal Assistant. She is extremely practical and proactive. She makes reference to not wanting to waste money and is obviously quite frugal with the cash of others, as well as her own. Another perspective to consider is that perhaps she and her husband have limited space in their home and she’s concerned about where she’ll put all the gifts (hence the two gift limit). She could work on her delivery but she has reasons and worries and, in my opinion, her family should do their best to respect her wishes no matter how they feel about her rule-laden approach.

Does “Crazy 1st Birthday Mom” need to take a chill pill? She absolutely does. And I am sure, in her own time, she will. Unfortunately, her family members (who could’ve just had a little chuckle or uttered a simple “yikes” and moved on) chose to drag her through the trenches, instead.

So, on behalf of “Crazy 1st Birthday Mom,” I feel compelled to send out this message to the email sharing family member: You’re a dick! And, somehow I have the feeling you are a long way from being forgiven. And all for an email’s five minutes of fame.

Shannon Day is wife to one gorgeous, yet slightly overbearing Brit, and mom to three little ladies. Once a teacher, now a story maker and occasional cocktail shaker, she shares her tales, martini recipes and her shenanigans over at Martinis & Motherhood. Shannon is a regular contributor for BLUNTmoms and is co-founder of Tipsy Squirrel Press. You can also find her on Scary Mommy, Mamalode, Facebook, and Twitter.