[Trakadon]

Ah yes... Now anyone that knows me on this site has realized that I haven't been online for awhile and there are reasons for that. But for Christmas I had to go to North Carolina with my mother to go see my grandma who was getting ready for surgery because of a tumor growing near or on her heart. I don't recall the actual location of the tumor but I knew it was near her heart. But that isn't the issue I am here to rant about. ( And my grandma is doing fine if anyone wanted to know )

The problem is with my Aunt and her daughter aka my cousin. Now I don't have a good relationship with my family outside of my Mom, dad, and my sister. Hell I can't even remember most of their names other then my grandma's. So seeing them was a bit of an issue for me. Even more so when my Aunt kept asking me what I had gotten my cousin for Christmas. I told her a few times that it wasn't the right time to ask that because most of the times she asked we had just left the hospital. But one day she asked and I snapped at her telling her that I have not once received a single gift from either her nor my cousin which is true. She went on to say things like it is better to give then to receive and some other things about god... Now if you have ever had a conversation about god with an atheist you'd know how pointless it is to threaten them with god.

Now these arguments went on and on and I was pretty adamant about not getting either of them a gift because of... Well I'm stubborn like that. One day though I decided to play my Legend of Zelda edition 3DS which I had just bought a week before going to North Carolina, but it was missing. I looked around for it and asked if anyone had seen it. My uncle told me that he saw his wife ( my aunt ) give his daughter ( my cousin ) a leather case which I had my 3DS in. After an hour trying to bloody find my cousin I found her and she gave me my case back with my 3DS. ALTHOUGH she had utterly failed to mention that she had broken the top screen~! I confronted her about breaking my 3DS and demanded she give me 220$ to replace it. She on the other hand brought her mother ( my aunt ) into the argument. Words were exchanged and before they walked away my aunt said that this should just count as my cousin's Christmas present and that we should just drop the subject... I was ready to lay into both of them but my mom was getting upset about the whole thing so I decided it would be best to not pursue the matter with her around.

Later on my Uncle gave me the money and apologized for what happened. I ended up refusing the money on principles that it was my aunt and cousin that owed me the money and the apology not him.

Later on I went out and luckily found another LoZ edition 3DS and bought it. Though I have yet to get a single apology from my Aunt and cousin... I doubt I ever will.

[Daring Scylla]

That's really awful and i hate it when family is overbearing and demanding.
I don't think there's a lot i can tell you to do - you're stubborn ( i don't mean this as a bad thing ) and you laid out your issues against your aunt and cousin. Your aunt had no right to demand a gift or take your stuff, since you don't get on well with them. But there's not a lot you can do.
I refused to see any of my family this christmas with the exception of my brother because the last time I saw any of my aunts or uncles we all had a big row and now things are uncomfortable. I think from now on you may just want to avoid seeing them, like I do.
Sorry to hear your christmas wasn't spectacular, hope it's better next year, mate.

[Trakadon]

I more so stubborn to buy someone something if the continuously ask for it.

Not all to stubborn on other things.

And after finally being home and getting to sleep in my own bed I don't so much want them to pay me back but more so to just admit their fault and apologize.

[Daring Scylla]

That can be the biggest problem and there are some people where hell will freeze over before they break down and say "I'm sorry"
that's the way people are sometimes
Just refuse to visit them anymore or have any contact with them, if it makes you more comfortable. Except maybe your uncle, he sounds like a good sort.

[Trakadon]

Ah yeah he is a nice guy but we don't really talk much... All I know is that he races and even then I'm not sure what he races...

[Tiva]

I am sorry that happened, and I understand why you wouldn't take the money from him. I have a large family and I only get gifts for my parents and my nieces and nephews. My siblings don't get anything from me, and when my younger sister got pissy because I hadn't gotten her daughter anything I told her flat out that unless I saw her more often I wouldn't. This child is almost a year old and I have yet to meet her. So i understand the problems of overbearing people.

[Quiet Man Cometh]

Christmas can get tricky with relatives. I suppose I'm lucky in that my family is big enough that there's always someone around who each person gets along with so while we all make appearances, we all grin and bear it when it comes to being around people we don't like.

On the gift end, we used to all get each other presents but it's been a while since the family has been too large to make it financially comfortable. Presents tend to be something people don't like to talk about, I think, because no one wants to feel cheap or look like they are being scroogy, but as of a couple years ago my cousin who is married with two kids has decided that she just isn't going to indescriminately buy gifts anymore and sent a family e-mail around saying flat out to let her know if anyone wanted to exchange gifts and overall not to get her anything.

That has caught on and has helped a lot with some of the christmas tenstion as now people don't feel obligated to get gifts and they don't worry about not having a gift for someone if they get one unexpectedly. Now each of us just announces who we get gifts for (often it will be things like "only the kids" or "only my immediate family/household." I only bought small gifts for my mother and siblings. My dad doesn't care about getting stuff and would rather I spend money on something more productive.

[DoubleBarrel]

wow, that sounded like a really stressful situation, especially surrounding an ill family member. I'm glad your grandmother is alright. In my opinion, i think it is really inappropriate for people who a) you never see/talk to and b) never buy you presents to demand presents. In my family, we are religious, but not shove-it-down-your-throat religious. we put the emphasis with being with close family and enjoying that time together. it really isn't about gifts to us. We get a lot of the gifts for the little kids, b/c christmas is magical to them, lol. We might buy some gifts for each other (my parents, my sisters and their families), but it's not a lot. I totally agree with you. When you step back from a situation like that, all you want is an apology and for them to acknowledge that what they did was wrong (idk about you, but i would call taking your 3DS without you knowing stealing).

[Serra Britt]

Aww Trak, I'm sorry to hear this :/ Looks like most everyone covered what I might have said, but I sure hope you'll get an apology from them.