Mum defends 'Scrooge' behaviour after refusing to buy Christmas presents for her children

A mother has defended herself after family members called her a “Scrooge” for refusing to buy Christmas presents for her children.

The anonymous woman explained that her family members have called her “bullying” and abusive for not buying gifts.

She said she hopes it will help the children grow up in the “real world”, and that instead of taking part in “over-the-top spending” she hopes her kids will try to “spread joy to others”.

Writing in a letter to the Daily Mail, the mum said Christmas always fills her with “a sense of dread” because she always faces “awful judgement and criticism” over her anti-gift policy.

She wrote that she told her children the truth about Santa as early as possible and that he is a “symbol of Christmas” and that she doesn’t want her children to think Christmas is “just about the gifts”.

Instead, she and her husband encourage the children to perform “acts of service” for others over Christmas so they can “spread joy” without spending lots of money.

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She said she puts the money which would have gone on gifts into a savings account that will one day help put the kids through university.

The woman wrote: “Other people seem to find this stance impossible to understand. I've been called a 'Scrooge', told that I'm 'evil', and even my own family members have accused me of 'bullying' and 'abusing' my children by 'banning' them from having a real Christmas.

“I'm not trying to deprive my kids, I'd just rather keep their feet on the ground and their heads out of the clouds so they can understand what it means to live in the real world, rather than one filled with fantasies and over-the-top spending. How can I make my loved ones see that I'm not a Scrooge – just a realist?”

While ditching presents altogether might be a slightly radical approach for children, the woman might have a case when it comes to the consumerist hellscape that Christmas has become.

About 114,000 tonnes of plastic packaging goes through households’ general waste bins rather than recycling at Christmas, according to the organisation Business Waste.

And every year, Brits spend £700m on unwanted gifts. Of all the purchases made for Christmas in the UK, only one percent will remain in use six months after the festivities have ended.

That’s not very Christmassy, is it?

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