Christmas present moans

[Sea]

I miss receiving lots of Christmas cards nowadays, i love them even though the clutter also stresses me out!

I hate secret Santas.

I hate opening presents Infront of the gifter!

Worst present given a Christmas novelty dressing gown and Christmas PJs. I'm a feckin grown up I'm not going to wear Grinch PJs.

 

[Hodgies]

My MIL always gets us a calendar, I always hate it She keeps getting twee family organiser type which I never use as the calendar in my phone has everything, same for H so I never write anything on an actual calendar, it's just useful for looking at occasionally.

Plus, being really shallow, I want something nice to look at I.e. One Direction not drawings of lifeboats or cartoons about women drinking wine which have been the last 2 years offering.

They're actually not here for Christmas and we've done our get-together already. There was no calendar so hopefully we've missed out this year.....I did get oven gloves, teatowels, cloths and scourers though!

 

[Samf2020]

I had a friend who I spent both a lot of time and money on her birthday with lots of things that she liked in there. Then I went on holiday later that year, brought her back a few things that again I spent a lot of time and money on.
About a month before Christmas she was talking about her 12 year old niece having her bag stolen at a school thing and how upset she was, she gave so many details I realised it was one I had given her. It clicked something in my head and I realised she had been using the gifts I bought her to give to her family for birthdays, mothers day etc.
Come time to go shopping for that Christmas I grabbed the first pair of pjs in her size that were under 20 quid and called it a day. Only so many times I was willing to finance her gift buying for a year.

 

[Geranium]

I sincerely hope you told her.

I didn’t have the guts!
Instead I’ve fumed about it for 42 years

I’ve just remembered how in my last year of school this girl I knew a bit gave me a Christmas present on the last school day before Christmas.I felt awful as I’d not got her anything. I knew where she lived so I rushed out bought her a nice little gift and left it on her doorstep.
When I opened her gift on Christmas Day it was a battered, half full tin of talc, really old fashioned. I was really cross.
But my mum told me it was a good lesson on it being the thought that counts!
When we went back to school the girl thanked me and told me mine was one of her nicest presents.
So although the talc was a bit tit it all turned out well in the end!

 

[Lipgoss]

I used to be a PA and one of the other PAs got a bangle from her (female) boss...it was engraved on the inside with the boss' initials. We assume she hadn't noticed that detail before she regifted it.

 

[Lolly505]

Just found a gift from firmly ex-friend group languishing in my cupboard It was a tote bag with art of one of my favourite bands. Not bad but the design is just not quite my style and it's defo of the 'stolen fan art mass sold on eBay' variety (the matching t-shirt barely survived one wash) Actually ended up feeling grateful for it at the time because they initially were only getting me a bunch of Fifty Shades themed novelty gifts because I'd mentioned how much I didn't like the series

I wouldn't have minded if they'd done jokey gifts for everyone but when it came to another girl, the rest of them decided we should all chip in a not-shy amount and get her a bottle of Viktor and Rolf perfume! While I'm sitting with my 'Grow-Your-Own Mr Grey' like

 

[Clickbait]

I had an ex friend who only ever bought me one nice and thoughtful gift which I still have. Most the time I got a random assortment of things that I’m pretty sure were regifted including a partially used bath bomb that she tried to claim must have “disintegrated in the post” but the other half was not in the box.

I caught her out once as she gave me a purse which I thought was weird as she’d given me a one the year before that (it was truly weird: made up of laminated pieces of newspaper weaved together with a zip that didn’t close so also pointless).

The second purse was a really old fashioned looking thing and had a strange smell - musty but floral like it had been kept in the back of a wardrobe and then febreezed! When I unzipped it there was a Christmas tag inside saying “Merry Christmas (her name) got you this as you said you liked mine love Nanny (her maiden name) xxx” and then in brackets (Christmas 1994). Imagine regifting someone a present from your dead Nan that was (at this point) over 20 years old!

That wasn’t the reason we are no longer friends but I am sure you can see why we might not be given behaviour like that.

 

[JoeBloggs]

I had an ex friend who only ever bought me one nice and thoughtful gift which I still have. Most the time I got a random assortment of things that I’m pretty sure were regifted including a partially used bath bomb that she tried to claim must have “disintegrated in the post” but the other half was not in the box.

I caught her out once as she gave me a purse which I thought was weird as she’d given me a one the year before that (it was truly weird: made up of laminated pieces of newspaper weaved together with a zip that didn’t close so also pointless).

The second purse was a really old fashioned looking thing and had a strange smell - musty but floral like it had been kept in the back of a wardrobe and then febreezed! When I unzipped it there was a Christmas tag inside saying “Merry Christmas (her name) got you this as you said you liked mine love Nanny (her maiden name) xxx” and then in brackets (Christmas 1994). Imagine regifting someone a present from your dead Nan that was (at this point) over 20 years old!

That wasn’t the reason we are no longer friends but I am sure you can see why we might not be given behaviour like that.

This reminds me when I sold an old bag of my grandmas on eBay, nothing special or rare but it had obviously been gifted as the man was a bit disgruntled that the recipient had found an old shopping list in one of the pockets. Felt rather sorry for the person to be gifted it.

 

[Hinchhater1442]

I love my mum, but she’s the worst gift giver. There’s a lot of us to buy for - although we tell her not to bother. But rather than buying for us, it’s like she mooches around the shops and finds pleasant things, then later divides them up. Like nothing ever seems specifically for the individual? They’re not awful presents, just not suited to us personally. So we end up with a lot of stuff we don’t want or won’t use and regift it to those that will, so ultimately can feel like a waste

 

[Rainbow1]

I always feel bad for my Mum who puts lots of effort into gifts which I sometimes feel is misplaced
I.e she likes buying gifts so they ‘have something to open’ rather than just give money etc, she does this especially for a family member who is 14… no idea what their into so ends up buying them typical make up/bath sets etc she thinks 14 year olds would like
I’ve tried saying don’t bother as I’m sure at 14 they would just prefer the money but no she I insists they need something to open

 

[tortfeasor]

Compared to a lot of people I’ve been very lucky! I think the naffest gift I ever received was a personalised key ring, which had my name and mobile number printed on the bit of paper inside the plastic tag. It looked so cheap and tacky and the font used was Comic Sans to boot, plus what was the bloody point of it?!?

 

[Felix08]

We have stopped doing gifts because it ended in just saying what you would like instead of getting something thoughtful for someone. But this year I already got a expensive skin care box from my brother and gf and my mum already have me bracelets for christmas. I love that they gave me something but it wasnt the plan and now I dont have a gift to give them back…

 

[Ekkwhine]

We’re not doing gifts for each other as it’s been a crap year, but can I just moan about bloody randomly shaped kids toy packing is? Seriously how hard is it to put things in square boxes ffs. I hate wrapping if you can’t tell

 

[Octopies]

I feel awful saying this but I have a baby now who’s first Christmas it will be, nobody has asked if they need or want anything (obvs they don’t, because they’re a baby, but stuff like vests, nappies and wipes wouldn’t go amiss) so I’ve got a pile of presents from family which I know we don’t need and I am dreading finding a home for everything in our already small house

 

[JustmeKC]

I feel awful saying this but I have a baby now who’s first Christmas it will be, nobody has asked if they need or want anything (obvs they don’t, because they’re a baby, but stuff like vests, nappies and wipes wouldn’t go amiss) so I’ve got a pile of presents from family which I know we don’t need and I am dreading finding a home for everything in our already small house

I literally had a conversation with someone recently about the fact that people give tonnes of gifts when a baby is born but it’s not stuff that’s actually needed. I sometimes buy people supermarket vouchers which isn’t very exciting but at least they can buy a box of formula or nappies or clothes or whatever they need.

 

[Rainbow1]

I feel awful saying this but I have a baby now who’s first Christmas it will be, nobody has asked if they need or want anything (obvs they don’t, because they’re a baby, but stuff like vests, nappies and wipes wouldn’t go amiss) so I’ve got a pile of presents from family which I know we don’t need and I am dreading finding a home for everything in our already small house

same, got asked in September what to get for baby I hadn’t even thought about it then apparently I was taking too long so family have gone and bought huge toys which we don’t need/have space for
I know of at least 2 that are ride on toys (we definitely don’t need 2 )

 

[Caffeine Fiend]

My MIL buys so many clothes for our kids however theyre never nice, not to my tastes at all, tags removed and no receipts. Nothing that matches either just random bits and bobs. She buys loads too

My eldest is at the age where they want branded items. Id much rather have 1 or 2 pieces theyd want to wear then 9 or 10 items that will never be used. Or even 1 pair of trainers, theyre so bloody expensive.

Its such a monumental waste of money but I know it would really hurt her feelings if I said anything as she gets such joy out of going out and buying it

 

[no-no]

Its such a monumental waste of money but I know it would really hurt her feelings if I said anything as she gets such joy out of going out and buying it

Would she or is she buying sale items all year round hence it being random and no tags? “Practical” clothes aren’t fun, especially for kids. It’s selfish to buy things you enjoy without thinking of the recipient. Sometimes people do it innocently so no harm in a reality check.

 

[Funnybird123]

My mother in law buys me something for the house every effing year…. We have two completely different tastes in home decor and every single year I tell my husband please ask your mum not to buy us anything for the house but he doesn’t want to hurt her feelings so I end up with yet another thing I have to find room in a cupboard for. WOW that feels good to get that off my chest

 

[Caffeine Fiend]

Would she or is she buying sale items all year round hence it being random and no tags? “Practical” clothes aren’t fun, especially for kids. It’s selfish to buy things you enjoy without thinking of the recipient. Sometimes people do it innocently so no harm in a reality check.

Unfortunately not. She goes out pre Christmas and buys it. Some years she does ask if we need anything and I usually say pjs / pants / socks. Other years like this she just buys whatever she thinks is nice.

My eldest wants nike tracksuits, football tops, branded caps but they are still youngish.i.e primary age. I appreciate they are expensive so wouldnt expect anyone to buy the things outright but I know my MIL is spending a fair bit on both.

She is a lovely person though, as much as we dont always see eye to eye she doesnt have a bad bone in her body. I just cant bring myself to upset her as my partner tells me she gets so much joy out of shopping. They dont live in the same country as us and through lock down she sent the kids a goody bag every month in the post with activities etc in it.

So I just need to suck it up