My sister married into a “now family.” She and I come from a family that wasn’t too keen on the gift-giving thing, so when she and her partner’s family entered this new world, she was completely caught off guard when the gift-giving experience became an Olympic sport. We do Secret Santa! A gift. Fifty dollar budget. It’s done, it’s done.
So, what exactly is a family today?
What is family now?
Podcaster and comedian Heather McMahan shared her own experience on the podcast, Absolutely not, Joking about how strange it felt to be entering a prestigious family from the other side.
“We’re not a family now, I get that. But, man, it’s weird when you… just wait until you grow up and maybe marry into your current family,” Heather told her guest Logan Crosby explained. “Some people only express their feelings through material things, and that’s a crazy experience.”
Logan responded, “Yeah, that’s it, I mean, maybe one day, you see, if I married into a family that they wanted to buy me out of…”
Then Heather interrupted and joked, “Wait a minute, look, I just want to say, I never received this gift. I haven’t received it yet.
The two burst into laughter.
The current family is in a league, and as Heather said, sadly, this is a way for emotionally disturbed families to show they care. All in all, you buy gifts for every member of the family – parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, etc. Then on the day they get together, everyone walks around and opens their gifts. it takes Hour.
What is an absentee family?
After the clip circulated, TikTok users weighed in on the differences between present and absent families, debating which was better.
“I didn’t know there were families who weren’t here,” one user said.
“I come from a now big family. Married into a lowly family. Feels cheap,” another commented.
Another said: “No, I love buying gifts! It’s not a materialistic thing=sentiment, but buying something because you know someone well is really special. You will definitely receive a gift at our house”
One TikToker admitted, “I grew up in a non-conventional family and then married into a secular family. It does make me uncomfortable to receive tons of gifts. I feel like it’s a deal, like I owe They are the same.
“Absent family here. Family is so exciting to me right now 😂,” said another.
One user questioned, “Do families with no gifts really have zero gifts???”
One user responded, “My family likes experiences not gifts so you get gifts like tickets or vacations”
“My wife and I give each other zero gifts all year long. We do buy a few Christmas gifts so the kids don’t see us with nothing. But overall, this is not a gift-giving couple.
I guess the debate continues as to which is the better gift to give during the holidays!
