Woman makes a strong case for normalizing practical gifts and every adult relates hard

With the holiday season approaching, several people are out to shop for the perfect gifts for their loved ones. However, one might wonder if we've lost sight of what it's all about. The idea of a gift is to express our love and respect for a person by gifting them something they'd appreciate. TikTok user JB (@jaii.bee) drew attention to this subject when she called out parents for undermining their kids' gift requests simply because they were practical or basic. The woman is all for the idea that practical gift requests matter as much as luxury or emotional ones.

Sharing the reminder, especially to parents with adult or teenage children, JB said: “If you ask them what they’d like for Christmas or birthday and they say, ‘Can you pay a bill?’ ‘I’d love gas money, I’d love grocery money, the daily facial cleanser that I use, I’m running low on, if you could buy me one of those?’ And if you go, ‘That’s not a gift.’ You’re wrong.” Emphasizing the point, the woman noted out that those who refuse to honor practical gift requests aren't buying gifts for the other person but are simply attempting to follow a tradition of buying something stereotypically considered a gift.

“You’re buying it to make yourself feel like you’ve done something and that is not how gifts are supposed to work,” she added. “Why would anyone want something nice when they can’t afford necessities?” She further stressed the fact that no adult kid would ask for such basic items from their parents as gifts if they didn’t need them. “If you were in a place where you could just take them out grocery shopping and help them out that way and then buy them a gift, awesome,” JB added.

Sharing another disclaimer, the woman said, “On that note, if you give someone cash as a gift and they don’t use it in the way you want them to, that has nothing to do with you.” She stayed firm on drilling the idea that once the cash is given as a gift, a person is allowed to do whatever they wish with it, even if it’s not what the gifter wanted them to do.

“If someone is specifically asking you for something and you can get them that thing and you choose not to, you’re bad at giving gifts,” she concluded. With over 7k comments, several adults pitched in on how practical gifts are the need of the hour and should be normalized. @moodymercuriealme said, “My mom brought me tires and I literally sobbed. Best gift ever. Peace, safety and a weight off my back.” @ju1es0 said, “My dad fills our freezer with meat every Christmas. Best gift ever!” @cathykitten21 said, “My adult son said he wanted nothing for his birthday. I offered to pay car registration and he gladly accepted.”