DEAR ABBY: My sister-in-law wants to choose the gifts we give them. She doesn't have enough manners to smile, accept a gift and say "thank you" as we were raised to do. She told us, "All those educational toys you gave my son, I donated them!" I have donated much of what she has given us, but I would never tell her that.
She's now ordering toys and having them delivered to our home for us to wrap and give to her son. I had already bought a kaleidoscope, books, racetrack and a huge jar of little cars to use as rewards since he's 4 and still not potty-trained. She sent us a thank-you note (the first one ever) for the gifts they sent us to give my nephew, but did not mention the eight items I bought! Please help me cope with this extremely rude sister-in-law. -- TRYING TO COPE IN TEXAS
DEAR TRYING: I'll try. As I see it, you have two choices: The first is to decide to "go along with the program." The second would be to tell her she has taken all the joy out of gift-giving and, in the future, you will not be participating in the charade.