A mother is facing huge backlash after posting a picture of her Christmas tree which is swamped with her kids’ presents.
38-year-old Emma Tapping spends thousands of pounds each year on Christmas presents for her three children, and while it might be great fun for the youngsters, other people aren’t so impressed with her habit.
The mum shared a picture of her Christmas tree to social media – though the amount of presents it’s surrounded by mean you can only see the very top branches.
She shouldn’t even bother decorating the rest of it, to be honest.
Take a look at massive mound of gifts in the since-deleted post:
Emma Tapping/InstagramThere’s just so many questions I have after seeing this photo. How long does it take to wrap all of those presents? How long does it take to unwrap them all? How much does she spend on wrapping paper and sellotape?
Where does she hide the gifts to stop the kids seeing them? Also, surely it’s an inconvenience to have a whole room out of use while the presents overtake it?
I don’t even want to think about the amount of paper strewn across the house on Christmas morning. The kids probably lose half of their presents in the aftermath.
Many people seemed to be asking similar questions, so Emma took to Instagram to answer some, writing:
I start wrapping in August. Not every night just a few bits when the mood takes me. I couldn’t guess how many rolls of wrapping paper I use but I tend to buy lots in the Jan sales and use them the following year which is how I can start wrapping in August.
Start shopping as early in the year as possible. Hit as many sales as you can throughout the year.
The 38-year-old works full time and has explained she simply loves seeing how delighted her three children, Mia (16), Ella (12) and youngest child Tatum, are when they get to unwrap their many gifts on Christmas Day.
Emma plans ahead for her Christmas shopping and has explained in the past that her and partner James don’t go into debt over the holidays thanks to her thrifty nature.
The mum of three has set up a Facebook page called ‘Thebossmum Money Saving Specialist’ to share discount codes and updates of her present collecting.
Despite the good intentions behind the excessive gift-buying, Emma’s posts have been met with a lot of criticisms from other social media users, with some calling the mother’s habit ‘selfish’ and ‘disgusting’.
According to the Mirror one person called for the mum to donate some of the presents to those who aren’t so lucky, writing:
So many people have nothing you should donate them.
Personally I think this is ridiculous who needs this many it’s just selfish.
Another agreed, commenting:
Pretty sure you’re losing sight of what Christmas is actually about with all those gifts.
A third wrote:
this is a sickness.
Though many people disagreed with Emma’s pile of presents, others offered support for the mother’s choices.
One encouraging Instagram user commented:
Ignore the haters, if you’ve got the money and want to spoil your kids once a year then do so!!
Whether people agree or not, at least the kids are in for a great Christmas!
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.