Dear Abby: regifting you your own stuff

[Van down by the river]

I was reading the Dancing article and checked today's. whole I agree that once you move out, you need to take all your stuff with you or pay for storage, I don't know about the dad giving his kids their stuff for Christmas. I can see stacking their stuff to send home with them along with their gifts, but wrapping it all up under the guise of a gift? It seems, off to me.
http://www.uexpress.com/dearabby/?uc_full_date=20130218

[rose red]

I guess it's a "know your audience" thing.  Some families are just wacky and love it.

[Van down by the river]

Mine is pretty whacky, but I don't know how well this would be received. I might be annoyed personally.

[rose red]

Mine is pretty whacky, but I don't know how well this would be received. I might be annoyed personally.

Which is why you need to know the type of wacky.  Know your audience. 

[Cat-Fu]

Wow, that's pretty passive-aggressive! I'd probably think it was funny if my mom did that to me, but then again we are talking about the woman who has given my father the same golfing equipment every year for the past 10 or so Christmases, no matter how well he hides it.

[fountainsoflettuce]

When I read the story, I assumed that Mom & Dad previously told the kids to get their crap for a while and the kids never did. Otherwise it seemed to mean and the kids would not be joking or reflecting fondly about that particular Christmas.  Which seems fair to me.

[onyonryngs]

Put me in that know your audience group - I would've found it funny.  I do think that sometimes you need to stick to your guns and draw lines when it comes to getting what you need in a family.  If you can do that with a sense of humor, I think that's great!

[Thipu1]

I can see re-gifting one or two items that you treasured as a child but, wrapping up everything for a Holiday gift seems seems a bit mean.  Yes, take your stuff but don't pretend it's a real gift.  That's quite mean.

[LazyDaisy]

There was nothing in the brief blurb that indicated that the adult children only received their own things for Christmas so I would assume that they also received a "real" present as well and then had a good time reminiscing together about the old treasures every time they opened one...a beautiful experience instead of a mean one. The letter writer in that instance called it "a warm Christmas memory." That sounds like a tremendous gift indeed.