Dear Elaine: My mother insists on sending “gifts” for myself and my 2-year-old daughter without asking whether I am interested in having them.
It wouldn’t bother me so much if she and I had a positive relationship. The relationship is already strained but feels more strained by her sending large boxes of clothes and shoes (often in the wrong sizes; I am convinced she sends oversized things to me as a dig). She also sends trinkets and things we have no use for. I have requested that she stop sending them. I made a gift registry but she ignores it. Ninety-nine percent of what she sends winds up at Goodwill or on a resale site. Even if I make a little extra money, it feels like an extra chore (which I definitely don’t need with a small child and limited child care). She insists I should just be grateful.
