From my experience, part of my extended family (via in-laws) have done the grifting bit, stretching every academic/graduation milestone, and other family events... Job change, moving, etc.. It's a thing. I think it's embarrassing and I rationalize that they're not really part of my family. :-)

Senior HS graduation gifts have also come from neighbors... Some of the gag gifts can be funny.

a lot of LOLs in this thread but this is my favourite quote. Money leis? Whatttttt? (Jane i do remember the pics, they were really pretty)

my feeling on this is we're fresh out of a freaking two year pandemic. Let's give the kids some ceremonies, even if they're stupid.

Yeah I don't know how parents do it nowadays:

- You have multiple unnecessary graduations............celebrate graduating high school and that's it.

- When I was in high school, we had junior/senior prom. Now, I see middle school proms, daddy/daughter dances, etc....these cost money. Money that a lot of parents don't have and could spend in other more valuable ways

- School pics are no longer whatever the schools line up for the yearbook. For some, its an all out spread with private professional photographers in multiple settings

- And don't even get started on sports. Not only do you have the school sports but you also have these traveling teams that force the mom to take a child to X city one day, and the dad to take another child to another city (on the same day). And it all cost a ton of money. I've got friends who never see each other because they are always attending separate games, in separate cities, for their children during the week and every weekend.

Preach it brother.

This is kind of my family right now. But all local sports - Each parent is coaching one kid. Schedule is Mon/Wed for the little one and Tues/Thur for the big kid. And on the alternate nights they do tae kwon do. So it's kind of chaotic. BUT - it's only during the week and only for two months, so we are sucking it up.