My parents stole money from us when we were kids because they were broke. They were 'borrowing' it but never paid us back, so... funnily enough, my mother insists that was all my father's doing, not her.

Unaluna, what your mother did with that stuffed animal sounds like what my mother does. Someone once gave me something handmade that I wanted to give to my aunt. My mother got so mad that I gave it to her. It's been fifteen years and I'm still angry when I think about it. She threatened to kick me out once because my mother's day present wasn't good enough. Now I send flowers and make sure I am out of town on mother's day so I don't have to deal with her.

I don't know if it's better to keep ignoring it or what. It seems pointless to fight over a book I can get from the library. I can't believe that I only recognized this gift thing as a pattern Sunday night.

My mother has bad boundaries. It's interesting to think of the gift problem as another boundary problem. I can't stand being around her and wish I lived far away from her.