DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW TO START YOUR OWN TOPIC ON GARDENWEB? I WOULD LIKE TO START MY OWN FORUM AND RUN A DISCUSSION ON IT

CAN SOMEONE HELP ME?

Beethoven,

Enter the forum you want and go to the bottom of the page. Follow the directions from there.

Sue

Ooh, Sue, that's a hard one. Could you possibly explain what's happened to the nephew's Mom, stressing that your Dad wasn't *expecting* a gift from your nephew but going by the nephew's past generous behaviour he is worried that the nephew's gift may have gone missing and also would hate not to thank the nephew. She could then maybe bring it up with the nephew in a roundabout way without causing guilt trips if the nephew didn't give a gift for whatever reason and let your Dad know the result.
Otherwise I don't know what you might do short of approaching your cousin yourself and telling him what's happened.
You wouldn't want him to be wondering, "I wonder how Uncle John liked the gift certificate I gave him?" and never getting a thankyou.

Or you could say, some of the cards got mixed up. Which gift was from Nephew Joe? I don't want to miss him in my thank you notes.

Then they may say, the fondue pot. You can then say, That's odd, I didn't see a fondue pot. I wonder if it got lost at the restaurant.

And if they say Nephew forgot to bring a gift, then at least you'll know, and you won't seem rude!

I would suggest that your dad ask your cousin about the gift. If anyone else asks, and he did not bring a gift, he will worry that his lack of gift is the subject of family gossip. You said it would be unlike him to not bring something. So if he didn't bring something, he is probably already feeling bad. You don't want him to feel worse. If he did bring something, but it has been lost, there is probably not much that can be done, but the sooner it is known, probably the better. Again, dealing with it quickly and quietly is probably the best route.

Thanks for the suggestions. Dad took care of it by calling his brother. My cousin had planned to take his car, but at the last minute met up with my uncle and commuted with him. He left the gift in his car and put it in the mail the next day.

Dad was pretty uncomfortable calling, but would have been more so if he had to call his nephew. Gossip isn't an issue with our family so we're cool on that front.

Thanks again.

Sue