This is something that occurred at least 15 years ago, and it still gets me mad when I think about it ...
When our daughter was very small (just over a year old), we were invited to spend Christmas at my in-laws' place, which was a 2.5 hour drive away. MIL had asked that we be there for Christmas Eve and stay overnight. Christmas Eve happened to fall on a weekday that year, so my husband and I both had to work until 5:00. We knew how tricky it would be driving with a baby for 2.5 hours in the late afternoon/early evening, since she was sure to get hungry or bored, plus the road conditions weren't the greatest (we live in a wintry climate). So, we said "Thanks anyway, but we'd rather come Christmas morning." MIL wasn't pleased, saying only "Fine, but make sure you get here by 10:00 a.m. That's when we're going to open presents."
So, on Christmas morning we hurriedly opened our gifts to each other, got some food into the three of us, and piled into the car. We pulled up in front of my in-laws' house at 9:58 a.m. and grinned at each other in triumph - we had made it, with a couple of minutes to spare!
Well, we entered the house - and that's when we saw torn wrapping paper and unwrapped gifts everywhere. My husband, who normally wouldn't say boo to a goose, was furious and asked his mother why they hadn't waited for us. She said airily "Oh, the kids got so excited; they couldn't wait."
I should mention that the "kids" in question were my husband's brother and sister, who were 22 and 27 at the time.
The reason I'm posting this story in this thread is that it just occurred to me, after all these years, that I'm pretty sure that was a passive-aggressive move on MIL's part to punish us for not coming out on Christmas Eve like she'd wanted.