Being the proud grandmother of five kids, I’ve always been there for them, both mentally and financially. Every year, my husband and I buy a small wedding gift from the registry and present a large cheque for $40,000 the day before the wedding. It’s their choice, but we hope this gift will help them find a place to live.
Eloise, our youngest child, just got married. She asked for a cheap air fryer, so that’s what we sent her. We were going to give her the $40,000 cheque the next day. But Eloise called us and was very angry. She said we were cheap.
She wouldn’t listen when I told her about our ritual. She said, “You just don’t love me enough,” and then that was it. We were shocked, so we didn’t give her the $40,000 because we thought she hadn’t earned it.
Eloise later found out from her brother and cousins the truth about the money. She called us again and said we were biassed. We told her what we thought, but she begged, almost crying, saying she was upset and didn’t mean to hurt us.
I stood my ground and told her that what she said and did had results. “We hope you’ll understand the value of family and love over material things.” When Eloise didn’t want to celebrate Christmas, her mother agreed with her and said we were being unfair.
Eloise is financially stable because we paid for her schooling and helped pay for her wedding. The air fryer gift shouldn’t have made them act so badly. We’re not going to change our minds because we think our choice was the right one.
Even though things are crazy, our hearts and doors are still open to Eloise. We hope that this will teach her how important it is to love, respect, and be thankful. It might be quieter around the holidays, but we’re looking forward to getting better and understanding in the coming months.
As grandparents, we want our grandchildren to value their ties more than their things. After what we did, it’s now Eloise’s turn to think about what she did and make things right. We will always love her, but we won’t give up respect for her.
We learnt that love and respect are very important in our family through this tough situation. We will stick to our beliefs, even if it means the holidays will be less busy.
