I was always like especially careful to read the card, but if I opened it and there was no money I was thinking in the back of my mind cheapskate I was just careful not to show it.
Mostly because I reacted badly to a money-less card from my grandparents when at my aunt’s house when I was five turning six. First she was pissed, then later she cried. a little more than six months after that my little sister was born but I never connected those dots as a kid I just remembered her reaction to my reaction and was careful from that point forward.
If I’m honest I still feel the same way about birthday cards, even though it’s not exactly rational to expect people to be sending me money at my age. And I can recognize that thought was put into me and feel grateful now, I never thought that way as a kid.