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The DARK Side of Angel Tree Gifts 😬 (Greedy or Grinchy?)

Tea of the Town

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✨ Countdown to Christmas with our 12 Sips of Christmas Tea series. We're giving you 12 bite-sized episodes packed with Christmas spirit and even juicier tea.

It's day 12 and the final episode of our Christmas countdown! Angel Tree gifts are supposed to be pure Christmas magic… so how did they turn into THIS much drama?

In today’s episode, we sip the tea on the Angel Tree drama all over TikTok and instagram: from parents posting with disappointment in their haul, to donors doing the bare minimum for kids who need love, to that viral “boy mom” who told kids they should just be grateful for whatever they get. Is it generosity… or performative charity? Greedy… or grinchy?

✨ In this episode:
What Angel Tree is actually supposed to be ☕🎄
Moms posting “disappointing” Angel Tree hauls
“Those people don’t owe you anything” reaction & classism
The viral Angel Tree shopper with big boy-mom energy
Reality check: these are kids in need 💔
Ending on a high note: the kitten Angel Tree miracle 🐱

If you’re doing Angel Tree (or any holiday giving) this year, this episode will give you a lot to think about… and hopefully leave you with a little more empathy, and a lot more Christmas spirit. ❤️

☕ Subscribe for new sips of Tea of the Town — every episode, we spill a brand-new story from the wild world of niche drama: Reddit, fandoms, hometown feuds, and beyond.

⚠️ All stories and discussions on Tea of the Town are based on alleged events and shared personal opinions for entertainment purposes only.

#AngelTree #ChristmasTea #HolidayDrama #FosterCare #Charity

20 Comments

@pbub2 3 weeks ago

I've been a recipient of angel tree like programs several times. As a kid I got a bunch of sporting goods that was not on the list instead of the stuff I asked for. It was age appropriate but I am physically disabled and can not play sports so I essentially got nothing. Stuff like this is why its important to stick to the list. As an adult survivor of human trafficking I've also been a part of an adopt a person program. The gifter was clearly on a budget but stuck to the list and I loved everything, even the stuff that wasn't quite me, because they cared enough to listen and try.

@АннаБизяева-ъ4ч 10 days ago (edited)

I really appreciate you saying that people have the right to complain even when someone is helping them! I really don't like the mindset of like "it's charity being done for you, so shut up and don't speak up even if the charity being done objectively sucks".
In general, your discussions are very thoughtful and emotionally nuanced, and I can see and appreciate how you always do your best to look at things from all perspectives ❤️

@Turkeyinthehay 9 months ago

If you're ungrateful for the grace shown to you by strangers, just say nothing. You are not entitled to a free Christmas for your kids - you are blessed that others helped you make a Christmas. Sorry, not sorry. I adopt a senior citizen every year and if I ever found out that they whined and complained that I only spent $200 and it should have been more, I'd never do it again.

@nowyousieme 8 months ago (edited)

the thing about sizing is that you really should follow the sizing requested. the parent may have already asked for a size up because they know the kid is about to size out of their stuff, or clothes might be an immediate need and having stuff that's too big right now doesn't actually meet that need. not to mention, kids' growth is unpredictable! they might pass right by the next size up and then what? they listed the specific size they need, doing the best by them is honoring that specific size.

@EarlGreyAng 9 months ago

Loving all the Christmas Tea! Hannah Alonzo also covered the woman who resented buying for the little girl, and she's got an update at the end of her video that a local woman is stepping in to cover any missed gifts. Keep up your videos - they're such a bright spot!

@shaunnaramirez7385 3 weeks ago

for context i am 45 years old when writing this, i don’t remember many of my childhood christmas’s but, I do y my Christmas at 12 years old because my mother got my brother and I out of an abusive relationship she was in with my brothers father. She was a single mother and Christmas would not have happened for us that year without angel tree! none of theses are the reasons i remember that year, the reason is i asked for a barbie dream car it was the only thing i asked for and at the time it was quite pricey it was about 50 bucks then so that would be comparable to about 125 today give or take. well i didnt get a barbie dream car, i received a sweat outfit, socks and a knock off barbie doll. my mother said she had put our sizes and what i received was a sweat outfit, socks and a knock off barbie doll, while i wasnt ungrateful the sweats didnt fit and i had managed while escaping our old house many many dolls which is why i had asked for the car. anyways i now as an adult, a mother and grandmother i will NEVER let any child that is connected to me in any way shape or form weather family, friends or neighbors, NO child that have knowledge of will ever go without that one special gift they ask for!!! so i agree if you are unable to get exactly what’s on the list just DO NOT participate plain and simple!!! ❤❤❤love all y’all’s videos!!

@heyitsashley1983 9 months ago

My local library does an Angel Tree every year. But we put one gift per ornament, so people can take one or as many as they want. The gifts are usually also very vague, "Winter Boots, size X". I'm unfamiliar with the full list idea.

@StillAn80sGirl 9 months ago

We are all crying together! I have been following a lot of the Angel Tree drama and have the same thoughts and feelings as you two. I have never participated in this but will definitely do it next year. One thing another creator suggested is to take tags for all the children in the same family so that one child doesn’t get more or less than another child on Christmas Day. 💙

@iamanniej 7 months ago

I am so glad y'all ended on a high note - the cat adoption story was simply the best! :')

@lilyt5855 9 months ago

Thanks for the Christmas gift of a long video! You can't help but think that all of this drama could be avoided if people just stayed off the internet with this mess, but that would be pretty hypocritical of me since I've enjoyed the tea!

@janesisco 2 weeks ago

The Angel Tree woman always annoyed me bc it is so very clear that she was mad at her husband and to a degree I can almost give her empathy. This was his idea, he thought it'd be fun, his wife will love it bc then they get to make content, it'll be cute. She's mad bc she doesn't want to and if she says no he'll nag her about it so now she's taking it out on him.

Both people in the relationship are at fault and dragged us into it. However, I will say, the woman is genuinely evil and I hope it scared the husband enough to have some sort of a reaction other than, "Oh........."

@cree_VI 4 weeks ago

The worst thing is what US people made out of Christmas. Christmas become about spending money and buying stuff... In first video that mom didn't explained what was asked... IDK but i grow up in environment where you were taught gratefulness for every small thing you get, for nice gesture, for even small help... What i see in US it's a big black hole of nuts

@elizabethlockhart8044 3 months ago

Great video! Reminds me of the Baby2Baby "Baby of the Year" drama and people reselling the Baby2Baby diapers online....

@manen2391 9 months ago

In the second on the clothes front I can kinda understand where she's coming from, because when I was a kid I was the same size for years in 6th grade I was still the same size I was in 3rd, so having somewhat bigger clothes that I would grow into wasn't really an option because by the time I did i wouldn't have been interested in them or i would be too tall or differently shaped to use them, you and if you always buy things that fits for the future they would be uncomfortable wearing it in the present, especially what if that person had already sized up? So they were getting clothing 2 sizes up instead, the people buying wouldn't know if they needed them right at that time so it's kinda sucky on the buyers part to size up no matter the intent behind it, its why you stick with what's listed with sizes because you don't know the situation on the other end, the toys they could go either way, because it was meant to be their kids Christmas presents so while they can gift it to others it's a waste for them because their kids won't or aren't going to use it so it's no longer functional as a Christmas present, it's really a matter of perspective, can it be ungrateful yes, but it depends on the situation of the receiver if it truly is

@perfumepixie2237 1 month ago

What i can say is buying dollar store items is risky. Some items will be okay. Others not so . Some of the toys will easily snap , the quality control is poor from these places. Id rather donate items from a better store. Even a toy section at the supermarket is better quality and you dont have to spend a lot. Some toys are dangerous . My ex friend got my son an trainset from god knows where and im not kidding within 10 minutes it was smoking. Literal smoke coming of the train. This was not meant to, so it was not the funnel. It was smoking from the battery compartment.

@Jameescorner 9 months ago

I hate to say, a lot of these are rage bait for clicks and likes. Unfortunately, even fake videos hurt the whole ideal of people giving to the Angel Tree.

@mlaff28 3 weeks ago

I don’t think it’s OK if you only have $30 go donate that $30 to something or someone if you are going to buy Christmas for children $30 is not enough.

@Lucy-pug 9 months ago

Shouldn’t the kids be bought up to appreciate family time instead of ‘stuff’….

@Arche_de_noe 1 month ago

I know this video is a bit old, but may I had that for the first tiktoks, the receivers complaining about what they got, it may be an attempt to make money out of the views 🤷‍♂ Because if they receive an angel tree, it means they need money, views on tiktok makes money, and what makes views if not engagement from people responding / interacting massively with the video because they're mad at it. Like, saying "it's too big for my kid so I will throw it away" is just too dumb, even if you really don't want to wait until it fits, you can gift it, or sell it, or anything but saying on the internet that you will throw a gift away ? Views farming in my opinion
And like, I'm not mad at that because you gotta do what you gotta do to make money when you're struggling, but no one mentioned that possibility so I wanted to

@LibbyJoDoesStuff 3 weeks ago

I did angel tree once. Spent as much for them as i did on my own kids. I wish the tags said if they were siblings with other angel tree tags. Cuz i did right by the one i picked but i couldn’t guarantee an equal Christmas for any siblings.