lol, too real. My parents never gave me presents.

When I was younger, it was because we really were poor. After I turned 8/9 and we were solidly upper-middle class, it was just because they "didn't believe in presents" and "you already have everything you need."

Yet my brother got lots of presents growing up, like $300+ Lego sets every birthday and Christmas. I was lucky if I got them to acknowledge the stupid cardboard Christmas tree I made and taped onto the wall for some Christmas spirit.

I had a birthday party once. All of my gifts (even the ones I cried and held onto as they were taken away) were re-gifted. My friends gave me presents at school for my birthday since I couldn't have parties (besides the one). If my parents found those presents lying around unopened, they would also be taken away. If they were opened, I'd get a earful about how I shouldn't have opened it.

I loved reading and my friends bought me books as presents. I was told to just go to the library. One of the times I recall was when I had to take a book back to Barnes & Noble, return it for store credit, then buy another book to give to a family friend's kid. And then I was chastised for being upset about it, because "books are free at the library."

Since I've gotten older, I think I have a better understanding of where they came from. I would say "you never get me presents" but they would say "yeah, but you live here, and we feed you, and we're paying for college." Since I graduated and moved out, I guess I've just buried it and didn't think about it again until I saw this thread.