Weddingbee boards

So since we've gotten married we get a lot of small gifts from my parents.  Not wedding gifts but 'just because' gifts.  Like I saw a bathmat on sale that doesn't match your bathroom but I still got it for you.  Or I know you just had a wedding and got about 10,000 towels but these towels were on sale and you can never have enough towels.  I feel ungrateful but it's just wasted money even if the things are on sale.  And when she asks how I like it then I feel like the bad daughter when I say well everything else is blue and green in the bathroom so the salmon/burnt orange rug stands out.  She doesn't get mad but sighs and ends the conversation quickly.

We don't have the biggest place to keep stashing all these extra things and I don't want to just toss stuff in the garbage. But telling her hurts her feelings and doesn't stop the gifts.

How do I stop these unwanted gifts and did this happen to anyone else?

I know this might seem really snide, but you can tell her you don't have room for those things now, but maybe in the future and ask her if you can store them at her house. My parents hate me storing anything at their place, so by asking that, it lets her know that you don't have any more room for things like that.

Or you can sit her down sometime when she isn't giving you a gift and flat out tell her that although her gifts are nice gestures, at this point you don't have room for extras or just in case things and ask her to limit her gift giving to holidays and birthdays.

Oh wow. It's like our moms were separated at birth! Boy do I get where you are coming from.

My parents house is filled to the brim with trinkets and other useless items. My mom is the queen of going on sites like Craigslist and Kijiji and buying stuff she thinks other people needs or that she "needs" herself. Therefore, Mom has a difficult time understanding my seemingly "minimalist" lifestyle!

I talked to her about it until I was blue in the face. One Christmas she bought me a flatware storage chest. I don't even have enough silverware for FI and myself, let along extra to put in in a flatware chest! Sometimes its like you are facing a losing battle.

Try and explain to her politely that you have enough of x,y,z right now, and be sure to say how much you appreciate her efforts. Tell her how much you love her :). And honestly, if she doesn't listen to you, give some of the stuff away to Goodwill. It doesn't make you a bad person - especially if you live in a small living space.