What is the worst present you get to look forward to this year?

[youthere]

Every year, my mother buys me a bottle of Mogan David wine and a box of chocolate covered cherries. I despise both. For some reason she thinks this is a "classy" gift, as she has actually suggested that I buy the same for other people when I am stumped for a gift for them (my boss for instance). Yuck.

So do you have any bad gifts you know you're going to get this year? Fruitcake? Musical toilet paper holder? Desk Blotter?

ETA: Just list any gift that makes you go WTF?

[Broken_Hero]

1. The gift

I get from my mother/father in law, is always an eye opener...last year, I got a little porcelian moose antler with an eagle/mountain on it...I didn't know why, they thought I would like it, but I played it off well, and thanked them for it...

[Midlodemocrat]

2. Now that both my inlaws are dead, I don't have to look forward to

that fiasco anymore. Oy. Some of the stuff they gave me... flannel nightgown three sizes too big, car seat, towels that didn't match anything in this century, let alone my house...I could go on and on.

[youthere]

39. Perhaps they thought you had plans to erect your own flannel tent?

[bleedingheart]

3. I got jello molds that normally are given away for free

those were sweet....

that and the "big lady" statue along with the comment that they thought I would appreciate it because the big lady had a big ass like me....Oh those precious moments.

[youthere]

40. ROFL...

sorry..the "Big ass" thing struck me funny.:rofl:

[bleedingheart]

64. you have to laugh...otherwise you would get mad or cry..

I choose to laugh too....

:rofl:

[youthere]

82. That's right...

laughter is a MUCH better option.

[ScreamingMeemie]

4. I get chocolate covered cherries too...and I hate them.

But, I'm happy to get them all the same because they're from my Dad.

[youthere]

25. Do you always choke down the obligatory cherry?

My mom pesters me "Aren't you going to eat them" until I finally eat "just one..I don't want to spoil my dinner" just to shut her the hell up.

[ScreamingMeemie]

51. You got that exactly right. It's a choke down...and then, for some reason,

my hands always get sticky. :(

[MonkeyFunk]

52. That's the right attitude

My Mom sends me stuff every christmas that I would NEVER think to buy... or steal... or pick up off the sidewalk.

But I know some day I'll miss the cheesy presents from Mom.

BTW, my grandmother LOVED chocolate-covered cherries, and I used to buy them for her every year for christmas. Then she'd share them with me.

Hrmm... maybe she didn't love them. But I did, and she always acted super-happy to receive them.

[ScreamingMeemie]

53. Hi MonkeyFunk!

That is a sweet story.

It's become a ritual with my Dad. He always buys me a box of Queen Anne's Cherries. I eat one or two while he's there and the children gobble them up in the days following.

These are the things that will be missed when they don't happen anymore. :hi:

[youthere]

59. You're right MonkeyFunk...

I know my mom isn't going to be around forever, that's why I'd never DREAM of telling her how much I hate the wine and the candy she buys me. I'd rather just choke it down with a big smile on my face. I know it gives her great joy to give me something she thinks I love. I know she wouldn't rest until she searched every pharmacy in the world to buy that Mogen David and that box of cherries just for me...and that's pretty special.

[libodem]

5. Mom's special 'crappy ' Christmas presents

In her defense she is older and getting a little 'goofy' but she has always called them the 'crappy Christmas presents' and she thinks it's funny. She wraps up anything from around her house, that she no longer wants and gives them away as gifts. She garage sales around town in the summer, with her friends. She must have a hundred coffee mugs on the shelves behind the dinner table. Oh gawd, the junk that woman has. Yes, we get it for Christmas. At least it's something and it's the thought that counts....but. Yee gads it's awful what the Great Depression did to those poor unfortunate souls of yesteryear. Don't get me wrong I do love my silly mama and she is a good Democrat and she taught me well. :) Ho Ho Ho

[Mad_Dem_X]

6. Last year, my mother gave me fake dog doo

No joke. It was wrapped in plastic w/a bow on it and everything. I took a picture, but I got rid of it (the picture - I think I still have the poo lying around somewhere).

My mother is insane.

[youthere]

17. But I'll bet it was something you didn't already have!

Fake dog poo...for the person who has everything.

[Mad_Dem_X]

56. LOL - well, that's true. n/t

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

7. My one aunt gave me cat food last year.

I mean, it came in handy, but Jesus, that takes practical gift to a whole new level. And for the record, she has a six-figure salary, she's just a crazy cat lady.

[skygazer]

8. I think I have a lock on the most practical gift award

That was also the most bizarre. When I was 16, my step-mother (one of several) got me a bottle of shampoo, one of conditioner, a box of Tampax and a douche. That is what I got to open up under the tree on Christmas, 1977.

I will never forget that day. :banghead:

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

9. Wow.

I'd rather get the catfood I think. It was pretty funny actually, because my sister knew she got me cat food. I picked up the box and was like, "Hey, it's a heavy one, and my sister mumbles to me, "Don't get excited. Trust me..."

[AllegroRondo]

54. I'm sure that looked great for the photo album

"hold up your presents for the camera!"

[youthere]

80. Tampons? No shit, honestly? Tampons?!?

Well I guess its...er.....useful?
What the hell point was she trying to make with that?

[Roon]

10. My Mother still stuffs a stocking for me

and she stuffs it with very unhealthy candy and sweets. I always "accidently" leave it behind when I go home.

[youthere]

23. That's so sweet that your mom still does that!

Awwww!

[Roon]

42. She does it for all three of us

My sister is married with four kids, but she still gets her stocking from my Mother..lol

[Ariana Celeste]

11. Anything other than cash.

I've told everybody, to just send me cash. No gift cards. Cash. Because I want to fly out to WA and see them, and that's a lot more important to me than any gift. So don't waste time shopping- just send cash.

[alarimer]

12. My grandmother always gives me the weirdest presents

Last year my mother, sister and I all received these weirdest appliqued t-shirts. They had some sort of lace-like structure attached around the collar. It looked like something you would find at Wal-Mart. I said that I didn't have big enough hair to wear it.

[youthere]

22. I have an aunt who used to make me stuff like that..

She once gave me a handpainted sweatshirt that said "I'd rather be playing bingo", and my name across the back. It had all these weird doily things sewn on it with buttons placed here and there. It was just weird as hell..and even weirder is that I've never played Bingo in my life. I knew she worked hard on it, but all I could say was "I don't deserve this... really."

[Kali]

31. ...

:spray:

[trof]

13. Mogen David? Are you series?

Sorry, you remind me of a story.

In our 20s, my buddy and I considered ourselves to be sophisticated and cool.
He had a country cousin who was coming into town for a party we were throwing.
"What can I bring?"
"I dunno. Bottle of wine, I guess."

He brought a jug of Mogen David and we've never let him live it down.
mean
;-)

[youthere]

16. Dead serious..

my mother actually believes it's refined and sophisticated..the $1.99 price and the screw cap don't seem to tip her off. LOL

[InternalDialogue]

14. I'll trade you the cherries for any of the wacky cooking utensils I get.

My sister, God love her, gives down cooking tools I'll never use.

Last year: bear-claw pasta servers.

Previous year: recipe holder made of Sculpy clay.

[youthere]

18. How about I just give you the cherries and you get to keep the weird utensils?

the recipe holder..that's too funny.:rofl:

[tinfoil tiaras]

15. See what kind of stupid shit my dad picks out for me

I tell him what I want EVERY year, yet he purposefully ignores me and basically goes to the $1 Bin at Wal-Mart and picks out my Christmas presents.

I'm not being selfish. He has enough money. He's a lawyer and is able to pay half of my private school tuition. He can afford to give me better gifts.

And I know I should appreciate what I get from him...but blue lepaord print earmuffs? When in the hell am I gonna use that? :shrug:

[WritingIsMyReligion]

26. Earmuffs in Mississippi!

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

:P

[WritingIsMyReligion]

27. Earmuffs in Mississippi!

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

:P

[WritingIsMyReligion]

28. See? It's so hot I posted it twice!

:P

[youthere]

33. that's pretty crappy...

I'll send you some chocolate covered cherries if you like.:crazy:

[Kali]

19. Too many dates. As in the fruit of palm trees.

I can eat a few, but basically they are like zucchini in your garden - just too damn much. One person in my family thinks he is carrying on a tradition. Nobody has the huevos to tell him this was NOT a tradition and that a couple pounds is MORE THAN ENOUGH. No one can use 25 lbs of dates, especially the chocolate dipped or coconut covered :puke:

[youthere]

30. I love dates...

but, yeah..that's way too many. Even if you COULD eat that many..my god! :hurts:

[Kali]

36. trad you some for the cherries - I find those really repulsive, but the husband likes them

He and my Grandmother are the only two people I have ever met that actually like them. Husband is Mikey - he will eat anything. He likes fruitcake too.

[youthere]

41. I call bullshit!

NO ONE likes fruitcake!:rofl:

[Kali]

46. I know - I should enroll him in some kind of freak show, charge money for people to watch

him eat fruitcake - wonder how long he could eat a slice every day.....

[youthere]

55. LOL..I'd pay to see that-Fruitcake Freak Show!

[swag]

20. I've already received six cookies in a box from my brother.

What more could I want?

[youthere]

37. Now see, my brother would take a bite out of each one.

LOL. He did that one year with fudge. His wife makes the world's best fudge and they sent us a huge box one year..my brother took a nibble off the corner of each piece.

[ghostsofgiants]

21. Clothes from relatives who hardly know me, probably.

[crim son]

24. My MIL has terrorized me for years with her gifts.

One Christmas I received the free travel alarm clock that came with her Time magazine subscription. I've also received pieces of cloth that she finds while housecleaning. When my first child was born, she gave me two yards of stretch terrycloth and suggested I make a sheet out of it. One year my STBE husband received from her a red vest. A woman's vest. A woman's vest size S. :rofl:
edited: spelling

[WritingIsMyReligion]

29. OMG.

WTF?

:wtf:

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

[crim son]

32. Yes.

Early in my marriage, she told my BIL that I had married my piss-poor husband "for the money". There is something seriously wrong with the woman. :rofl:

[WritingIsMyReligion]

35. I'd say so.

Holy fuck.

:rofl:

[youthere]

34. That's when you tactfully suggest..

"Let's not exchange gifts this year..let's just get together and enjoy each other's company"
ROFL..terrycloth? :rofl:

[crim son]

43. Sadly (sort of) she will not be joining us for Christmas this year

because I am a sinner and doomed to hell, a destroyer of families and furthermore she was opposed to my marrying her son from the very start, lol. It's a shame because I think this year Time magazine is giving away pocket portraits of the GWB family :rofl:

[youthere]

60. Well perhaps if you accepted jeebus she'd get you a decent present..

Like a premium membership to Focus on the Family, or a new bible.

NAH..not worth it. LOL. She sounds like a real winner.:eyes:
Happy Christmas anyway...If you were my DIL, I'd shower you with chocolate (fine gourmet chocolates and NOT drizzled over cherries!)just because!

[crim son]

62. That's about the nicest thing anybody has said to me in a year.

Seriously. :loveya:

[youthere]

79. aww crim son...

you need a LOT of these:

:hug: X 1000.

[prole_for_peace]

38. my cousins once got a box of cereal each from their maternal grandmother.

now this woman wasn't old and crazy or anything (well she did drink a lot). she just gave them (3 boys) each a full size box of cereal and they were about in their middle to late teens. (the oldest one may have been 20 or 21). a few years later the middle one was going skiing after xmas and wanted money instead of presents. i drew his name so i purchased one of those multi-packs of cereal, slit a hole in the plastic and slipped in some cash. it was priceless when he opened it.



myself: a few years ago i was going to buy some new bathroom rugs and already knew the ones i wanted just hadn't gotten them yet. on xmas day i open the present from my mom: she got me ONE of the rugs....ONE. i only needed three total and they would be maybe $25 total. and i got ONE of them. she also has a bad habit of, when i am looking at something i want to buy (lets say boots) she will say "if you get them i will pay half and that will be your xmas."

[youthere]

44. Aww geez..

How cheap can you get? (On BOTH accounts)

I know it's supposed to be the thought that counts..but it's hard to be appreciative of such little thought.

[LibDemAlways]

68. How cheap can you get? How's this?

I used to be friendly with a woman whose in-laws had serious money. Yet, every year at Christmas they'd stiff the grandkids in the weirdest possible way. They'd give each of my friend's two little girls something really cheap. They wouldn't bother to wrap it - just hand it to them in the drugstore bag. One year they gave each kid a Pez dispenser. Unbelievable.

[bleedingheart]

65. my aunt did that too...

my mom bought some nice gold earrings for around $50...my aunt gave her $25 to pay for one...

we joked about that for a while.

however my aunt's cheapy behavior along with other problems has cost her the relationship she had with my mom.

[Skittles]

45. I am just curious

why can't you just tell your mother you don't care for those things? I can't think of a much ruder thing to do than allow a person to think they are doing right by you year after year.

[Kali]

47. because that would have much worse repercussions than just accepting them.

Depending on the giver, it could range from beating a dead horse nitpicking for the rest of your life, to actually hurting thier feelings - this is FAMILY, not some kind of logical entity. :rofl:

[Skittles]

49. ?

honesly, that sounds ridiculous....just tell her already

[youthere]

61. I think Monkey Funk said it best above..

because my mother gets a little "thrill" out of buying it for me every year. She would turn the earth upside down to make sure I had that crappy candy and a lousy bottle of wine every year, and she would do it just for me. I would never dream of taking that joy away from her. It's kind of a testament to our love for each other...in a very odd way.
It's kind of like my husband, who makes the world's WORST coffee, but every morning he makes sure there is a hot fresh cup waiting for me when I wake up. As soon as he leaves for work I dump it (on the weekends I have to choke it down). I'd never dream of telling him the coffee sucks because it's such a sweet loving thing he does for me each day.
Just like the macaroni necklaces my children made for me when they were little. I'd be going to work and they'd say "Aren't you going to wear the necklace I made for you mommy?" And of course I would, even though the brightly colored pasta didn't really coordinate with my suit.
I would never in a million years tell my mom I hated her present, and honestly on some level I'd be a little disappointed if she didn't get it for me, nor will I ever tell me husband that I hate his coffee, or my darling children their "work of carbohydrate art" is less than asthetically pleasing.
I'm a daughter, and a wife, and a mother...and that's what we do for those we love.

[LibDemAlways]

69. You said it very well. For years my

aunt sent my dad a bottle of Old Spice aftershave for Christmas. He never used it. He'd just throw it away, but he didn't have the heart to tell her to stop sending it. It made her feel good to get him a gift she was sure he liked, and after so many years she would have been hurt to find out he didn't even wear aftershave.

She died close to 20 years ago, and every so often he'll mention how he misses getting those Old Spice packages at Christmastime.

[idgiehkt]

48. honestly, any

I really hate presents. I feel guilty that people spend their money on things for me. It may sound mercenary but if they are going to give me something I prefer it would be money. Otherwise, the thought of them going out and buying something as a gift that they don't know if I will like or use makes me feel bad; I'd rather they just bought something for themselves with their money. I'm serious about this. I don't like the gift giving thing around any holiday, I think it's a marketing ploy, especially when you figure in the cost of cards and wrapping paper and ribbons and stuff like that. Last Christmas my brother and sister in law got me a peach-colored polyester fleece jacket that was cute but I never wore it because I have other jackets I wear and I tend to tear or stain stuff, especially being around my dogs. I finally took it to goodwill. That's why I wish people wouldn't buy into the gift-giving thing.

[youthere]

63. I agree with you..

I think the best present I've gotten from a family member in the last several years (not including my husband or kids) was a couple of years ago..my MIL gave us $200 in gift certificates for the grocery store we shop at. Noxt to cash, that was probably the best gift.

[gr8dane_daddy]

50. Worst. Christmas. Ever.

[Corgigal]

57. First let me thank you for this thread

I read everyone worst gift and it's nice to know I'm not alone.

My problem are my in-laws. Every year they ask my husband want I want for Christmas. I try to play along and ask for a book or CD, or even a gift card to a book store. Easy and cheap..

Last year I got a glass figurine and right after I opened it and did the proper response was told, and I really don't know why it didn't sell on ebay. When they left I threw that one out.

Oh I'm just so happy I can play this crap again this year.

[LibDemAlways]

70. That takes the cake. They let you know they were

giving you a piece of crap that didn't sell on EBay? That is a major insult.

You should have saved it and given it back to them this Christmas with the explanation that you had enjoyed it for a whole year and now it was their turn.

Seriously, what kind of gifts do you buy them? My mom talks about when she and my dad were still newlyweds and she went out and bought nice Christmas gifts for the in-laws. They had bought nothing for her. My grandmother excused herself, went upstairs, took a scarf out of her drawer and handed it to my mom. My mom said she was mortified. She'd rather have received nothing than an article of clothing out of someone's dresser.

[Corgigal]

76. We purchase them the proper gifts

A nice gift basket of some of their favorite foods. I don't send them things I couldn't sell on ebay.
Actually when the gift box comes from in law, hubby and the kids gather around so we can laugh our butts off.

They are close to 70 years old now. I just try to ignore it. I will be sending them another proper gift this Christmas.

[crim son]

71. OMG, you win the prize!

At least my MIL tries to defend her gifts!

[MorningGlow]

58. Chia pet. Every year.

From my brother, the comedian. Last year I got a Chia Einstein. I have no idea which one he's going to give me this year (although I don't dwell on it much). Not like the litany of cheap-ass gifts in this thread--he's just being funny. Luckily we have the same sense of humor. (And no, I've never grown any of the Chias. They're all still in their original boxes. Any collectors on eBay, ya think? :eyes: )

[hedgehog]

66. This thread is wonderful.

I thought I was the only one with clueless in-laws. The first year I looked at what they gave me and was devastated. I knew my mother-in-law hadn't approved of her son getting married, but I hadn't known things were that bad! It wasn't that the presents were cheap, it was that they were so bad. Over the years I've come to realize that they don't know how to give presents.

[youthere]

78. Some people just don't know...

I have a friend who is like that. For her though, it's about quantity rather than quality. She gives her kids these gaudy stuffed animals and other crap like that (keep in mind, her kids are all in their late 20's to early 30's). Her heart is in the right place, she just doesn't have a clue what makes a good present.

[u4ic]

67. Nothing...

it's something I'll get a lot of, I'm afraid. Be happy someone is thinking of you...

[crim son]

72. u4ic, that's sad.

:hug: And yes, you make me feel grateful.

[u4ic]

73. Thank you

It may not be the entire story...I have met some wonderful friends in the past year. I will pick something up for them. I am not expecting anything, but even if I get some fancy tea or whatever out of it - even an Olive Garden gift card - I'd be thrilled.

One of those friends, hearing of my desire to spend my Christmas alone rather than spend it with a crazy family of origin (I'm not a Christian, but I celebrate the season, rather than a 'birthday'), she offered a space at a condo her and her family is renting in the Rockies, over Christmas, for a week. Now how could I turn that down??

So, out of what I did post earlier, also comes some great generousity. That will be a gift I will be looking forward to, of their friendship and inviting me to share their holiday with them.

No more family of origin bullshit. :woohoo:

[Evoman]

74. Don't really get bad girfts anymore...but my grandma when I was younger..ugh.

For some reason, my grandma seemed to like my cousins better than my siblings and I. When we were younger, she used to get us the cheapest gifts....many years, she would give me a cheap flannel button up shirt. My cousins would get a stereo and nice toys. It made no sense..especially since my parents were too poor to get us anything good (and some years, I got NOTHING), and my cousins' father was quite well off. It happened every year...it was so blatant. But the thing is, my grandma didn't really treat us all that different...okay, maybe slightly different, but overall, she was quite nice to us. And for some reason, now that we are all older, I seem to be the favourite.

My dad is also a cheap bastard. One year he got me this tiny 2 dollar rum cake. It was gross. Another year, he got me a ps2 game... it was kind of shitty, so I checked the price...sure enough, they were selling it for under 10 bucks at the store. One year he gave me a computer game...except, it was just "to borrow" and he wanted it back. But what can I say...I love the guy anyways. Hes hardcore atheist, so I think its just that he doesnt care about christmas and makes only token effort.

[youthere]

77. That kind of sounds like what my mom went through..

with her grandmother. She and her brothers remember one christmas when they went to their grandmother's house and sat while they watched all their cousins open their presents, while she and her brothers got nothing except one sour ball each. Oy.
Like you, my mom and her brothers became the "favorites" later on because when their grandmother sat in the nursing home, they were the only ones who came to visit her..all the favored and "indulged" cousins were always too busy.

[wickerwoman]

75. Hotel soap and shampoo.

My mother steals this stuff compulsively (and she travels a LOT for her job) so every Christmas I get a bag of loot- showercaps, little bars of soap, etc. She also still buys happy meals from McDonalds for the free action figures and then gives them to us for Christmas. I turned 30 this year, BTW.

[LaraMN]

81. I HOPE somebody gets me something ridiculous!

I like amusingly stupid gifts about as much as the good gifts! One year my MIL (who usually buys really nice clothes for us,) gave me a button-up corduroy shirt with an applique of goofy and some other disney characters. It was hideous! I still laugh about it (in private).

[youthere]

83. One year my stepdad's oldest son sent him this..

giant inflatable moose head to hang on the wall. It was the most ridiculous thing I'd ever seen or heard of in my life. It was sent as an absolute joke..I can't imagine anyone would ever purchase one as a legitimate gift. The thing is so ridiculous..my stepdad wrapped it up the next year and gave it to one of my sisters for Christmas, the next year she passed it on, and it's been going like that for about 10 years now. I got it a couple of years ago myself. Now it's this huge joke in the family...no one knows who will wind up with the Christmas Moose.

[ileus]

84. a long sleeved shirt of some kind I'm sure...

My mother never learned in 35 years that I don't wear long sleeved anything except to funerals. And my in-laws are slowly getting trained not to buy long sleeved stuff. I finally had my wife tell her mom not to even bother buyin' shirts.

[NewWaveChick1981]

85. My MIL buys shoes at Talbot's on huge clearance/sale discounts

and then puts them away for years. When she decides to give them as gifts, they're horribly out of style. The sandals I got last year as a Christmas gift were the correct size, but they were orange slides that I wouldn't be caught dead in. :rofl: The flip side is that my FIL usually gives money, so I can forgive the annual shoe faux pas. :P

Before my great aunt passed away, she recycled gifts that she had gotten (and she stored them in mothballs) for everyone on her list. She was a wealthy woman, but she didn't blow her wealth on buying gifts. :rofl: I once got a set of checkers that reeked of mothballs and was missing two pieces. My brother got a calendar from three years before, unopened and also reeking of mothballs. :yoiks: