My korean mother declines or returns gifts that others want to give to me
As a kid and even as an adult, when a family friend or relative wants to give me a birthday gift or just a gift in general (for graduation or a milestone), my mom would vehemently reject it. These are usually people who have my mom's contact and don't have my number so I wouldn't know about it unless my mom mentions it.
I always thought it was weird she would do this. My mom's sister bought me a Gameboy when I was 7 and the next day my mom took me to the store to return it. There were similar moments growing up where she would return gifts given to me. The most recent was for my wedding. Our family friend for 30+ years wanted to give me a gift but my mom rejected it. I confronted her and she said I would owe all these people and would need to pay them back. I don't understand how someone can think like that about a gift. Can someone relate and help me understand her transactional thinking? It's not like my mom grew up poor. My grandparents were kind and nurturing and didn't show weird behavior.