Buying presents for people can be really tough, especially if those in question are twins. You don't want to buy them the exact same thing when they're a little bit older as they both have their own individual personalities, but you also don't want things to be unequal.
But when one man tried to buy his twin nieces equal presents, he says he was blasted by their mum for being unfair to one of the girls as she had more physical presents - despite the fact he'd spent a similar amount on each of them.
He explained that he'd tried to spend a similar amount on each of the girls - but their mum had been "cold" with him ever since.
He took to Reddit to write: "So, the other day, my (35M) twin nieces (Aria and Nina) had their twelfth birthday. For Aria, I got her an art bag (basically a small tote with hard backing and different sections and pockets) filled with art supplies. Colored pencils, watercolors, markers, sketchbooks, etc. Basically, a young artist's cornucopia.
"For Nina, I bought some new softball supplies. New cleats, a batting helmet, twelve new softballs (she loses hers really easily), and a metal bat.
"When the girls were unwrapping their presents, they both loved them. My sister (the twins' mum) shoots me a weird look, but I think nothing of it. Later, my sister gets me alone and confronts me about getting Aria 'more things' than Nina. I respond that I tried to gear the gifts towards the girl's individual interests. She said that that doesn’t matter, that Aria got more things (she did get more individual items) and that that wasn't fair.
"I actually added up the total costs later because I was feeling unsure, and the two gifts were of similar cost (actually, Nina's gift was $20 more expensive).
"I did inform my sister of this. Still, she's been cold to me since then, which is weird because we're normally quite close. This is having me feeling even more unsure. Am I the a**hole?"
In the comments, people were confused about what the issue was if the twins didn't see an issue.
One woman wrote: "I'm a twin, and I think your sister is full of it. If THEY aren't counting, why should anybody else?"
"Also a twin, and usually relatives would give us the same or similar gifts in different colors. I would be thrilled if we got unique gifts like this, the original poster is a great uncle", someone praised.
Another fumed: "My sister is EIGHT years older than me and we still got the same gifts all the time growing up."
A Redditor added: "When twins are small, buying similar gifts is fine, but once their individual personalities and interests become more and more apparent, buying them personalised gifts is better.
"Now, if the original poster bought one an expensive gaming system, and the other a relatively cheap tablet, I could understand the parent's concern."
Do you think the man has done anything wrong? Let us know in the comments.
