So as the title suggests, my boyfriend of 3 years did not get me a christmas present. We live together but did not spend the holiday together as we are from opposite ends of the country, when we reunited just before NYE – i expected perhaps a card. nothing, absolutely nothing. His birthday is very very close to Christmas, days before and money isn’t exactly flowing right now or this time of year so it was tight but I wanted to make both equally special with what I could do, gifts and a lovely meal out to celebrate. Money is even tighter for him right now and he’s usually an excellent gift giver – not even a card. I asked for one singular thing that genuinely costs no more than £10, you can probably get it for £2.
Do i have the right to bring this up? It’s never about the material things but I’m finding myself so embarrassed when the ‘what did you get?’ conversations come up with my friends and at work. I have bad anxiety anyway, and hate all forms of confrontation. This is just a horrible feeling.
Edit; this is a brand new burner so no one finds it.
TLDR: boyfriend of 3 years got me nothing, not even the cheap gift i asked for.
INFO have you exchanged Christmas gifts previously?
yes. every previous year. this was our 4th christmas as a couple
So ask him why he didn’t bother buying you a gift
NAH
You are allowed to feel upset that your boyfriend didn’t get you anything as a gift if it was a conversation that the two of you had. If money is tighter on his end he might be struggling to make ends meet. I think this needs to be a conversation about expectations and/or how to support each other.
This of course could be different if this is an ongoing issue but it sounds like this is a unique incident.