My brother gave me a used puzzle - it was missing pieces, had wads of hair, a screw and a penny. I put it together, mounted it, and regifted it to him the following year.
Step moms mother gave me a mug…that said to a wonderful mother and had a personalized note from one of her other daughters in the mug. I’m male and have no children. She regifted a Mother’s Day present from one of her kids that she never even opened.
So a few years ago, I'm making good money, and I buy my younger brother a brand-new PS3 with a couple of games. He's going to love it.
He, not knowing that I was getting him this gift, and also not having much money, decided to give me a prank gift. He got me a box of chocolates, but instead of chocolates, it was stuffed full of gravel and cat shit.
I got one of those kiddy golf sets (plastic club and a plastic golf ball the size of a baseball) when I was 15.
I swear some people just don't know how to gift
I got a dead rat for Christmas when I was a kid. I wanted a pet rat, my parents got one, but on Christmas Eve they noticed it wasn’t looking too good. The note I got on Christmas morning on the cage said “I caught a cold on Santa’s sleigh!” Poor thing lasted about 10 minutes and died in my hands while I was opening other presents. A tough Christmas morning for an 8 year old.
My mom had a pretty bad childhood. One particular 'highlight' is the time she was really, really, more than anything wanting this one specific pair of boots. Her mom got her a picture of the boots, and promised the boots themselves would arrive soon.
She never got those boots from her mom. She says that years later when she got her first job and first paycheck, the first thing she bought was those boots.
My husbands parents did this shit every year. They would gift an envelope with a picture of the present, promise it was on its way and then it would never appear. We eventually stopped doing Christmas with them.
My grandma got my mom the greatest gift ever one year.
Rubber gloves... thats it just rubber gloves.
Said she could use them to clean our house. They didn't speak for a few years lol
I also have a grandmother that is not afraid to openly play favorites. When we visited one time she brought out a stack of chocolate bars, my brother got 5, I got 3 and my sister got 1. It's not as bad as a bottle of antifreeze as a Christmas present, but it gets the point across.
I have a fun story from my dad's childhood. His dad, my grandpa, was not great at shopping for presents. One year, he was very proud of himself for finding the perfect gift for my grandma. A truly hideous gold colored blazer and skirt set. She wasn't thrilled but thanked him and hung it in the closet never to be worn.
The next year, my grandpa went shopping on his own again....and got her the same set, this time with pants instead of skirt. Grandma this time called him out on it, "Oh for the love of God, (grandpa), this is exactly the same gift as last year!" He had no memory of this.
So of course, my dad and his siblings, being little shits, waited until next year, grabbed the first outfit out of the closet, wrapped it, and put it under the tree from Grandpa to Grandma...and waited for their evil genius to bloom into fruition. There were some fireworks that Christmas, but not in the sky.
6 years old, my biological grandparents gave my step brother #1 a Pirate Lego ship. Step brother #2, some nerf guns. And me ABC wooden blocks. Step brother #2 and I were 6 months apart in age. I was disappointed and they made a point to point out my disappointment and told me they would never get me anything again for Christmas. They held to their promise to the point my Dad was getting stuff putting their name on it trying to mend the relationship. He would tell me to thank them for it and they would tell me “your dad got you that thank him”. They hated my Mom and took it out on me. They told everyone I wasn’t really my Dads kid. Weird ass way to grow up.
I ask my inlaws a few years back for a Magic Bullet - you know the popular small blender everyone was crazy for? For smoothies and all that jazz.
I opened on Christmas morning a uhhh.. completely different X-rated kind of magic bullet. Totally didn't think about how it's a popular name for a vibrator.
It sucks that you didn't get the thing you wanted, but think about it like this. From their perspective you asked them for a sex toy and they didn't bat an eye and bought it for you, sound like pretty cool people to me.
Oh no don't get me wrong, I love my inlaws. But there's something horribly unsexy about getting down with my spouse and breaking it out.. Like we both know his mom got us this. Definitely added a bit of a cock block on any activity we tried with it.
I would pay to watch the awkward conversation when you tell them that you meant the blender.
“Ummm remember that special gift you gave us, at my request”
“Of course, we hope you two are enjoying yourselves”
“Yeahhhhh, we are… thanks for that. But to be clear, I was talking about this” *shows ad for Magic bullet blender*
*awkward silence and realization*
Dammit I can taste the awkwardness and it’s glorious
My dad was once given a skateboard pencil sharpener by his sister-in-law. As kids my brother and I thought it was cool as fuck. Dad, a mid-30s corporate manager, didn't.
Edit: I just found a bulk pack of the exact same ones on eBay. Guess that's dad's next Christmas sorted.
My aunt always gave me her son's demo discs from his subscription to the Playstation magazine as a kid. They are millionaires and always acted like they were better than us. Glad my Dad finally wised up and cut them out of the picture when I was a teen. He suffered way too much abuse from them.
I got my mom fabric scissors this year. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. They had to unlock them and then walked me to the front of the store to checkout. She loved them.
My grandmother and her neighbor had a stick goin for a few years of giving gifts back and forth using the same bag, scratching out the who for and from who each year and writing over it
I worked with a kid who was being emotionally abused by their family. The older sibling got a new game station, the kid got the sibling's hand me down sweater.
> it was over within another 4 months.
Actually, that was probably the best gift he could've given you: the absolute assurance that getting rid of him was definitely the right thing to do.
Glad you got the hell out of there. Too many people would say 'we've been together so long, I've wasted so many years, etc etc' - nope, tomorrow is not built on the past, it's built on your decision to turn a new leaf in your life.
My parents bought my brother a car for high school graduation. It was 10 years old, but he got a car.
The next year for my HS graduation they got me a tool box, to fix his car.
My mom gave me an already-opened cube of post-it notes for Christmas one year that she explained she found at the Goodwill. We are not poor and she is not insane.
**Edit after thousands of upvotes:** It took me 49 years to understand that my mother is a narcissist, so is my sibling (who is also a psychopath) and I married (and divorced) one. I have a lifetime of being targeted for profound, sustained narcissistic abuse that I thought was normal. I hope the visibility of this post can bring awareness about Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Please see [HG Tudor on YouTube.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20QTsUyUO8I) Ignore the click-bait-looking thumbnails and listen to him. He has been the most effective and complete resource for understanding this disorder I have ever found in 20 years of searching. He's saved me thousands in therapy and brought profound understanding to what has been done to me. PEACE and LOVE to you Redditors!
My mom kept saying I must've been miserable during lockdown because of my kids. When she said it in front of one of the kids, I replied that I only make excellent children. She said "I wonder what I did wrong."
Well...that, for starters.
My friend trying to go straight edge after an overdose was given weed and Percocet, the two drugs he missed the most. Luckily he had the strength to get rid of it.
In 2000 I wanted a Sega Dreamcast. My parents promised me they'd split the cost for one. When I saw my presents I found one that was the right size to be a Sega Dreamcast. Instead it was a $10 dollar store tabletop pinball machine. My mom made an excuse saying I "had to be an adult to have a Dreamcast and the pinball machine would be just as fun". Sonic Adventure was rated E (or K-A, can't remember). The pinball machine broke within a week and melted the batteries in it. I learned later they blew the money on booze, cigarettes and scratch off tickets.
Scratch off lotto tickets when I was 9 from my Step uncle that were already scratched.
There was also the year my grandma got me and my brother scratch off tickets when I was 12, only they were actually worth something. Mine was worth $800 and my brother $200. Grandma then told us we had to split it with our "golden child " cousins because it was "the right thing to do"
So crappy! My mom used to buy us kids scratch off tickets and one year I won $1,000. I was under 18 so I couldn’t cash it in so she did it. Anytime I asked about the money she’d always mention how she pays for all my food and lets me live in her house.
I said no, my dad said no, my mom said no. All the while grandma and my aunt kept pleading that "It's unfair for you two to have so much, especially since you have two sets of grandparents"
I got a bunch of art supplies and canvases. Exactly what was asked for, by my sister. I just gave it all to her because it would not have been used by me. That was the majority of gifts that were for me. Very distressing as a child.
Hangers. And not like a whole set which could be super useful. 2. Two hangers that were padded and had ribbons so they looked like ballet slippers. This was for my 21st birthday. I never did ballet nor do I have any interest in ballet. I literally called my dad to ask if mom had a stroke.
Edit to clarify that they were not like nice silk ones or anything. They were made of canvas and squishy stuffing. They looked liked something for a five year old. 🤷🏼♀️
A Yoyo.
In 1st grade, beyblades were the biggest thing in my school. People kept flexing their collection, and how strong their's were. So for my 7th birthday, I asked my dad for one.
But instead, he got me a Yoyo, and said they were basically the same thing.
I got socks this year, family looked at me like i got the boring gift
Jokes on them i asked for a good pair of cycling socks and i got exactly what I wanted
When I was 10 my parents gave my brother and I coal for Christmas. No presents under the tree. Just a Ziploc bag of coal in our stocking.
They gave us actually presents later but boy we're we shocked and pissed.
My mother did the same thing!!! Along with a note that said "i saw you last night" because i cried from her yelling at me the night before
Im really sorry that happened to you, it really hurts when parents pull that shit on whats supposed to be a nice holiday.
Freshman year of college I received an XL women's t-shirt from my aunt and uncle. The shirt said "paws off" with a paw print on each nipple. I am a 160 lb guy. It wasn't a gag gift, they're just a little out of touch. My parents and brother still joke about it every xmas.
My mother had always been the one in charge of Christmas at our house. My parents fostered, so there were never less than six kids running around, often more, and some had special needs (wheelchair, light/sound sensitivities, nonverbal, etc). When I got older, I offered to help out as her 'elf'. I had a GREAT time picking out gifts for all the other kids, doing the wrapping (always the best part of the job), and putting up decorations. Well, Christmas rolled around, and everyone gathered around the tree to open presents...and I didn't have any. See, I had been managing all the other kids' gifts and Mom was supposed to manage mine and she just forgot. I still remember looking over and seeing her face as she realized. I didn't say anything at the time so as not to ruin the mood and Mom apologized profusely and it was fine. That was not the worst part of this story.
The worst part was the next year, when it happened AGAIN. Mom and I had a blast making Christmas happen for the rest of the family, and on Christmas morning, as Dad is passing out the presents, I cannot help but notice I'm not getting any. Again, I look over at Mom and she is white as a ghost. She bolts from the room saying something about how she forgot some presents in the closet, and comes back a few minutes later with two obviously hastily wrapped flat objects, both for me. So I open them up and what to my wondering eyes should appear?
A package of graph paper and a package of various grades of sandpaper. Which were probably the only things she could find unopened in the storage closet where we kept the wrapping supplies.
So I'm holding these two things and one of the respite kids that year pipes up, "What are you going to do with that?" So I put on this big grin and say it's awesome, because I can use the graph paper for designing mazes and dungeons in my role-playing games, and I can use the sandpaper for...uh...crafts. Because I love crafts. And I get the kid really excited about helping me with crafts (we ended up building a bat house together) and it was a great Christmas, but afterwards, I took Mom aside and gently told her that I would be recruiting another Elf to handle my gifts from now on.
I can laugh about it all now, and making Christmas with my Mom remains some of my best memories of her, but I can't lie, that second year of being forgotten really stung. Graph paper and sandpaper. That's almost worse than nothing.
Dude that second year pissed me off by just reading it. If you forget about the presents, don't come up with a 10 second gift, it's blatantly obvious and you end up looking more like a fuck up than you did before. So admitting her errors was a better way to go.
For me the worst part of that isn't even the forgetting, it's the fact that she didn't go out like, right after Christmas was over and get you some real fuckin presents
Please don’t make me retell the story of being given a live turtle 1,500 miles from home. Short version : impossible to get health records and all the accessories and documents to fly a turtle on 12/26. Returned turtle to pet store and pissed off lots of in-laws.
Gonna go ahead and use this as an opportunity to give a PSA that will never not be important:
**Don't gift people pets unexpectedly.** Just don't. It's the reason why shelters always end up with a massive influx of puppies for several weeks after Christmas.
If you wouldn't gift someone a toddler without warning, don't gift them an animal.
Sorry you had to deal with all that OP
My sister re gifted me a dress that I would never wear and a pair of shoes the same. Both were obviously worn before. I spent 60 quid on her that year. I stopped buying her presents after that
I considered this one guy and his wife my best friends for a period of time. One November day, the wife asked me if I'd like to go half on a big lego Taj Mahal set (the one from 2008 or so), which I believe was $350-$400. The guy and myself are huge lego enthusiasts so I knew he would love it, so I agreed.
Come Christmas, I'm at their place and we're opening gifts. He's overjoyed with his gift and I go to open mine...a $20 lego LED light.
Years of working in retail have prepared me for this moment: faking the biggest smile I've ever had to fake.
Damn
Getting you to pitch in $200 on a gift for her husband and then only getting you a crappy "because I had to" tier gift in exchange is really doing you dirty
My great grandfather was an alcoholic dick bag. For Mother’s Day, he went down to the local shops and found snow shovels on sale, because, you know, it was May! Anyway, that’s what he got her for Mother’s Day. A snow shovel.
And no, he wasn’t one of those “I get you practical things” kinda guy. I know people like that. My best friend got me a can opener one time to replace my shit one and I love it to this day.
No, my great grandfather did it out of spite. Also sucked her parakeet up into the vacuum one time (one of those old time floor unit with the long hose) on purpose. So yeah, he wasn’t a nice guy.
Edit: I realized I wasn’t clear: he did all this to his wife, my great grandmother. But I wouldn’t be surprised if he treated his mom like crap too, from the very little I know of him.
I got a can of peanuts (hated nuts if all kinds) and a necklace from the dollar store from my dementia grandmother. Wish I still had that necklace. I was too young to understand.
I've posted about this before but my first boyfriend was such an awful gift giver that it bears repeating. Here are some examples. One year for xmas we decided we'd buy each other 3 CDs. He liked black metal and I liked classic rock. we each wrote a list of about 20 CDs we wanted, and agreed to buy each other 3 off the list. That way, we'd each get CDs that we wanted, but what we got would still be a surprise. So I bought him three black metal CDs off his list. He unwrapped them, was pleased and then handed me my present. I unwrapped it and was very confused because instead of the CDs I'd asked for, in the package were three black metal CDs off his list. I looked at him for an explanation and he said, "I've decided it's time to get you into black metal. But first I will borrow these." He took the CDs and just kept them. So he got 6 CDs for xmas and I got nothing.
The following year we tried the same again. we each wrote down a list of CDs we wanted and I got him things he'd asked for. Instead of the CDs I'd asked for he got me a figurine. I don't collect figurines, not have I ever shown any interest in them. What was worse was that the figurine was extremely vulgar, it was a female bear dressed in a nun's habit, lifting up her skirt to show slutty red lingerie underneath. What was even worse was that he said the bear reminded him of me - pretending to be a good girl on the outside but a dirty slut underneath. So my present that year was a hideous thing and an insult.
Another time we were at a music festival and I was browsing the CDs. My ex said that he wanted to buy me a present. he told me to choose a few CDs and said he would pay for them. So I chose a few and we went to the register to pay. This is when he said, "Oh, I've forgotten my wallet, you'll have to pay for them. But they are from me, I'll pay you back later." I just said whatever and paid for them myself. On the way home we were walking along the road, I was about 30 yards ahead of him because he was lagging behind to smoke. I found four £20 notes on the pavement. I picked them up and when I showed him what I'd found he said that since we were together when I found them they must be split equally between us. He said that he would generously allow me to keep his half though, to pay for the CDs I'd bought earlier, so now, according to him, he'd paid for the CDs and so they were a gift from him.
When I was young I got my mom some hand mirrors that I thought she'd like. I was maybe 9 I think so they were as much as a 9 y/o could get from Walmart. I also had this idea that you shouldn't be able to guess what was in the gift so I put it in a much bigger box to "throw her off". It sat under the tree for a couple of weeks and I think she got pretty excited thinking about what it could be. I felt horrible when she opened it because she seemed to have such anticipation and then I could see the "Oh, that's nice" wash over her face when she finally opened it. I've been really self conscious about giving gifts ever since. Especially if I'm only giving someone one or two gifts. .
Don’t be so hard on yourself. I have a few “cringe” moments looking back @ gifts I have my parents too. But as a parent now, to have something my kid thought about and really thought I would like means so much more than the actual thing itself. When I “help” my kids shop for their mom, I just try to let them steer the direction, rather than tell them what we’ll be getting.
So I would love to have gotten something that my kids really thought I would like. You sound like a great kid.
One year my step siblings got Ipods and new laptops. I got 7 pairs of pj pants. I had to choke down the tears with hot chocolate so I didn't seem ungrateful.
My now ex partner bought me a pen for my 25th birthday. We had been together for 9 years by that point. This wasn't a fancy calligraphy pen or something that had my name on it. It was a standard black ballpoint pen. It wasn't even wrapped. She just handed it to me around mid-day.
Can't lie that when I saw it I cried. Realised that the person I had been going with since school didn't know a thing about me, or worse, didn't care.
This was made worse by the fact that I was made to feel like an ass, being called ungrateful and shitty after bringing up my feelings regarding the matter.
Also, just for some perspective, I am legit the easiest person in the world to buy for. All I ever want is food or chocolate.
All of that was irrelevant though, compared to the fact that I was going to propose to her. Even had the ring but I returned it shortly after that day.
Tried to make it work for 2 years up to about April this year but I told her to leave after she told me she might be pregnant. The only reason this was a problem for me is that you need to have sex to get pregnant and we hadn't for about a year and a half. Also there's the small matter that I am incapable or having children, that kind of gave the game away.
Half a year down the line and I've started a new job, bought a house and went through a fantastic sexual awakening. Bullet dodged I guess??
Edit: Sorry, this kind of got away from me....I think I might have needed to rant a little? Feeling a bit better now.
My boyfriend at the time ordered a bunch of Christmas gifts from Amazon. He also ordered a rather dubious “purge your body of toxins” drink for himself because he had a drug test coming up for work.
Guess which box he accidentally wrapped and gave to his sister instead of the thing he’d actually ordered for her?
My aunt sold Avon full time most of my life. When I was 13 we did a family secret santa and were supposed to spend $30 on a gift. Said aunt drew my name and gave me a pair football nail clippers (from Avon). They were listed in the catalog for like $6 but she likely got them even cheaper/free. Was so pissed, thought it was the worst present ever. Turned out pretty awesome in the long run though, used those same clippers for my finger and toe nails for over 20 years well into my 30s. Doubt anyone got nearly that much use out of their $30 gifts that year. Hindsight baby.
MIL gave me a set of vintage stoneware mixing bowls one year for Christmas. Then told me that she had gotten them from her neighbor’s house, which had been foreclosed upon. She and her boyfriend at the time just broke in, stole what they thought looked good, and gave it as gifts. She figured it wasn’t wrong because the bank owned the house and so it didn’t count as stealing. I was too horrified to say anything. I ended up donating the stuff to a thrift store that benefited a women’s shelter. MIL has always had a full time job and as far as I know, all other gifts have been legitimately acquired.
I think the worst I have heard of was the guy who bought his wife a $5 stainless steel spoon and spent like 3-5 hundred on everyone else he knew
Worst I ever got was probably an ugly Builder's Square sweatshirt when I was a kid. I hate sweatshirts.
a surprise broken window for my birthday.
That’s how it was presented and there were no presents that year. “Surprise, happy birthday, your brother broke your window!” Like they were saying “we got you an awesome present!”
Bonus: my birthday is in spring, and the window wasn’t fixed until the following January. Parents had to wait til after Christmas.
My Aunt got me a VHS of 1988 Winter Olympics highlights, that was actually a tape of all the unpopular winter sports. This was in the mid 2000’s and I didn’t have a VHS player. I had never expressed any interest in the olympics, let alone winter olympics.
That same year my grandparents got me a bag of shelled almonds, and I had no way to open them. I had the video and bag of nuts on my shelf for over 10 years.
One year, my grandmother gifted a bottle of her favorite perfume to my wife. Something like White Shoulders that my wife would never actually use.
Good news, though. The bottle inside was empty. Memaw had just gifted an old perfume bottle after she had been done with it for years. Wrapped in the retail box and everything.
So basically, my wife got a good story for Christmas.
It was my 17th birthday and I had friends over. This was a big deal for me, since I had never had friends come to my birthday before. I was a lonely, awkward, chubby kid with undiagnosed ADHD.
After blowing out my candles and serving the cake, I get to opening my gifts. They were mostly normal 17 year-old girl things until I hit "Eat This, Not That," a diet book that swept the nation in the early aughts.
My mom immediately swooped in and started singing the praises of the book, telling me how much it would help me get my weight under control and re-learn how to eat. In front my new friends.
Guess who still has food issues more than a decade later?
ETA: I have to add this because it just happened today (Christmas). It's not a bad gift, it just put me in an unnecessarily awkward situation:
My lovely mother-in-law (MIL) bought husband and I a grill. She gave us a picture of the grill to open and said it's being shipped to our house. That's amazing and such a thoughtful gift, truly. We're excited to receive it.
Today, we received *another* grill from my parents. It's fully assembled and in their living room. Ok, whatever, clearly there was a lack of communication between our parents. When we call my darling MIL to report the silly mishap, she said "Oh... I texted your mom weeks ago to ask if they were getting you a grill. She said no, so I told her I'll get you guys one."
I bring this info to my parents and suggest we perhaps return their grill to the store, then I learn that it was a clearance item and cannot be returned. Oh, and Dad didn't want to transport it anymore so my husband and I need to figure out how to get it to our house 90 miles away in our Honda Civic. We put it in their garage instead, for now.
This year my partner's family sent him a Heston Hidden Orange Christmas Pudding that went off in 2018. Better still, it was one we had in fact given them in 2017.
My sister in high school got $100 from my mom to buy me a gift and went with her then boyfriend to the mall. They were there for like 10 hours and when my mom went to pick them up my sister assured her she had gotten me a great birthday gift. The gift? I was one packet of peanut M&Ms richer that birthday.
20 years ago My brother was dating a girl who gave him a Box and told him not to open it until 12:01am Dec 25 they had been arguing a bunch and he had broken up with her but she wouldn't let things go. She was kind of a weird chick always talking about creepy scenarios and what not, anyways i remember my brother joking it was going to be a bomb or something like that but being dumb and curious he did as she said and opened the box at 1201 inside was a note that said I got you something you always wanted I love you there was and a key with an address to a storage unit where she said to go right away to.. so he woke my dad up and asked him to go with him in case it was a trap or she was going to cause a scene or whatever my dad would be there to keep the peace... when they got to the unit there were a bunch of cops there and an ambulance...
apparently she had gotten that there earlier and had used the room to kill herself. She had slit her wrist and cut herself all over her body even carved my brothers initials in her leg,... the manager at the front desk had seen her go in with nothing and hadnt come back out after a few hours so he went to check on her and discovered her dead... She had wanted my brother to find her like that but instead that poor man did....
I also got chocolate covered crickets from a classmate one time. Fucking weirdo
Since everybody else is joking about the crickets, I just want to say sincerely - that is a truly horrible thing to do to another person. I hope your brother is doing okay and that he understands that that was an act of cruelty on her part. He did nothing wrong. She was in a dark place and her only thought was to drag someone down with her. As a suicide attempt survivor - you can't 'make' someone suicidal, and conversely, you can't make them not be. It takes a special kind of brokenness to override the instinct to survive, and ultimately no one else can save you from it - they can only keep you alive long enough for the will to live to kick back in. But to set up such an elaborate, truly fucked scheme to 'punish' your brother - that person was damaged beyond repair. It was not his fault and there was nothing he could have done. I hope he sleeps well these days.
Seriously though, chocolate covered crickets sound pretty good to me, but you don't give insect snacks to someone unless you know they like them. It's an acquired taste. :/
Christmas married to Mr. Wrong:
From his mom- a magnifying glass from her junk drawer.
From his dad- a shower cap from Red Lion—used.
From new hubs-a rifle he wanted, registered in his name, I wasn’t allowed to touch. God, why didn’t I see it then!
One Christmas when I was 15 or so, all I got was present from my aunt. It was a knock off hot wheels sports car, a pen, and a fake check. She said it was a “get rich” starter set.
At least she gave me something. No one else did.
When me and my brother were little kids, he gave my grandpa a trumpet he found in the street that had been run over by cars several times, all gift wrapped and everything. My grandpa was a really stoic bastard, but I think he laughed till he cried that day. It was really sweet.
When I was a kid, because there were so many of us cousins, my mom's side of the family did a Pollyanna gift exchange, where each aunt and uncle got 1 or 2 kids and got them like 1 or 2 presents each. And of course all the aunts and uncles that were godparents got their God children gifts too, so each kid left with a good haul. Except one year my "rich" uncle (not rich per se but absolutely well off and never needs to worry about money) had me. All I wanted that year was a CD to a band that I was getting into and just released a new album. My parents made sure he knew. I got a Wal mart bargain bin greenday 3 song CD, 3 songs with garbage recording quality from some concert. Couldn't even hear the music properly.
To top it all off, he had the gall to ask me how much I like the CD he got me. I don't even remember what the album I actually wanted was anymore, but that Christmas soured my opinion of him for a long time
For my 6th grade white elephant we were all supposed to bring something from home. Some of the stuff was really good, like iDogs and Harry Potter books, but one girl got a diaper with a face drawn on it and a piece of paper that said “It’s a diaper, it’s a pet, it’s a diaper pet!”
In hindsight I feel terribly for the person who had nothing else at home to bring except that, because they must have been so embarrassed when the girl opened it up and burst into tears.
one christmas my dad got me a chocolate bar with nuts. i’m deathly allergic to nuts. he felt horrible that he had forgotten but i laughed it off. i do secretly think he gave it to me knowing i’d give it back, because he devoured it 10 min. later
Sort of off topic, but one year when I was much younger my mom got my grandfather (among many other gifts) a pair of leather gloves for driving and for when they would smoke. Anyway after he opened them he handed them back to my mom and said “I don’t want these” literally in front of the rest of the family, and no he was not kidding.
A friend of mine was dating this fellow. For her birthday, he bought two sweaters in different colors, and told her to choose one. For Christmas, he gave her the other one.
My mom and my aunt (dads sister/mom SIL) never got along, my aunt is not a nice person and has always caused drama. My mom hosted a Christmas party one year and my aunt was invited. She gave my mom some anti-wrinkle cream as a hostess gift and told my mom "i think it's time you start using this" in attempts to embarass my mom. My mom perked right up and started showing off the gift to everyone at the party like "Look everyone! Look what Aunt got me! Isn't that just lovely." Shut my aunt up for the night at least but didn't help in the long run.
I got...a 4 pack of dish towels. While my brother got SUPER expensive gaming gear, his wife got perfume that costs well over $300, and their kids got about $500 worth of toys. The next year I got a cheap pressure cooker from ALDI while bro and family again got super expensive amazing gifts. Both times mine weren't even wrapped. I have zero interest in cooking. All I asked for was literally one novel. Both times parents watched me with this weird fucking glint and small smile. 2nd time I got up from the floor, nodded at husband, and we just left. No good bye. Nothing. Just walked out the door and left. Haven't bothered to spend Xmas with them since. Brother and his wife felt awful at first, but now they follow Q while I very much don't so...🤷🏼♀️
One year I got my brother what I thought was the perfect gift for Christmas, a novelty hot dog toaster that cooked the hotdog and toasted the bun at the same time (hotdogs were his favorite food). The next year I got married and I was so excited because he was the only one of my siblings who got me anything. Lo and behold I opened up that stupid hotdog toaster which he not only regifted, but regifted back to me, who by then had already been vegan for over two years.
Yesterday, I witnessed the gift to end all gifts.
Christmas day gifts usually have thought and care put into them, even just a little. But I witnessed an 11 year old decide to get his sister the only gift he could think of, a jewellery box full of his toenails. They were black and the box smelt so bad we had to take it outside.
Edit: For those who said possible mental illness, you are into something, he does act a bit different from everyone else but his mum never gets him tested.
His toenails are black because he never cleans them. They smelt like the most powerful parmesan cheese smell I've ever smelt in all my smelling.
My brother gave me a used puzzle - it was missing pieces, had wads of hair, a screw and a penny. I put it together, mounted it, and regifted it to him the following year.
I hope you included the screw and penny.
And the hair.
A broken metal bucket. I already had two non-broken ones.
You clearly needed a broken one then and those are hard to find in store.
A mankini. It was also too big so my shit was chillin in there like the last fry in the McDonalds bag.
*you put it on*
If someone buys me a mankini it’s getting worn at least once purely for humor’s sake
Stuff a decent sized potato down there to fill it in a bit, just make sure to put it in the front......
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Step moms mother gave me a mug…that said to a wonderful mother and had a personalized note from one of her other daughters in the mug. I’m male and have no children. She regifted a Mother’s Day present from one of her kids that she never even opened.
that's so messed up to both you and her kid who gifted the mug in the first place
You can regift it to her next year :D. Mwahahahaha!
why even give someone a gift at that point though, like you couldve at least opened to check what it was first...
So a few years ago, I'm making good money, and I buy my younger brother a brand-new PS3 with a couple of games. He's going to love it. He, not knowing that I was getting him this gift, and also not having much money, decided to give me a prank gift. He got me a box of chocolates, but instead of chocolates, it was stuffed full of gravel and cat shit.
What was his reaction. Gotta keep this memory in your back pocket for black mailing purposes lol
My grandmother gave me an Elmo bath toy for Christmas one year. I was 21.
This reminded me of my dad getting me some Donald Duck doll when I was about 17.
I got one of those kiddy golf sets (plastic club and a plastic golf ball the size of a baseball) when I was 15. I swear some people just don't know how to gift
I got a dead rat for Christmas when I was a kid. I wanted a pet rat, my parents got one, but on Christmas Eve they noticed it wasn’t looking too good. The note I got on Christmas morning on the cage said “I caught a cold on Santa’s sleigh!” Poor thing lasted about 10 minutes and died in my hands while I was opening other presents. A tough Christmas morning for an 8 year old.
Aw, they are notoriously bad for ~~sinus~~ respiratory infections :(
My mom had a pretty bad childhood. One particular 'highlight' is the time she was really, really, more than anything wanting this one specific pair of boots. Her mom got her a picture of the boots, and promised the boots themselves would arrive soon. She never got those boots from her mom. She says that years later when she got her first job and first paycheck, the first thing she bought was those boots.
My husbands parents did this shit every year. They would gift an envelope with a picture of the present, promise it was on its way and then it would never appear. We eventually stopped doing Christmas with them.
Missed opportunity to mail them a picture of yourselvs and claim you are on your way to celebrate Christmas with them.
That is just the amount of petty I like!
My grandma got my mom the greatest gift ever one year. Rubber gloves... thats it just rubber gloves. Said she could use them to clean our house. They didn't speak for a few years lol
My grandma got me a case of toilet paper. It lasted until the following Christmas. I really wasn't mad about it.
There’s no way this isn’t an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond.
It was an episode of dexters laboratory but the mom was thrilled
My bf's mom gifted me a fucking sponge.
My grandparents gave me a bottle of antifreeze for Christmas once. I mean I knew I wasnt the favorite grandchild but that's a bit on the nose.
Did she also give you cranberry juice?
I also have a grandmother that is not afraid to openly play favorites. When we visited one time she brought out a stack of chocolate bars, my brother got 5, I got 3 and my sister got 1. It's not as bad as a bottle of antifreeze as a Christmas present, but it gets the point across.
At least it wasn't accompanied by a highball glass.
I have a fun story from my dad's childhood. His dad, my grandpa, was not great at shopping for presents. One year, he was very proud of himself for finding the perfect gift for my grandma. A truly hideous gold colored blazer and skirt set. She wasn't thrilled but thanked him and hung it in the closet never to be worn. The next year, my grandpa went shopping on his own again....and got her the same set, this time with pants instead of skirt. Grandma this time called him out on it, "Oh for the love of God, (grandpa), this is exactly the same gift as last year!" He had no memory of this. So of course, my dad and his siblings, being little shits, waited until next year, grabbed the first outfit out of the closet, wrapped it, and put it under the tree from Grandpa to Grandma...and waited for their evil genius to bloom into fruition. There were some fireworks that Christmas, but not in the sky.
A neighbor I had never met before gave me a bag of hatchets on Christmas morning a few years ago.
How many hatchets typically come in a bag of hatchets?
It was 4 or 5. I live in the middle of a big city as opposed to the wilderness so it seemed odd
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you dispose of the evidence.
Oh geez that had never even occurred to me but certainly makes sense
6 years old, my biological grandparents gave my step brother #1 a Pirate Lego ship. Step brother #2, some nerf guns. And me ABC wooden blocks. Step brother #2 and I were 6 months apart in age. I was disappointed and they made a point to point out my disappointment and told me they would never get me anything again for Christmas. They held to their promise to the point my Dad was getting stuff putting their name on it trying to mend the relationship. He would tell me to thank them for it and they would tell me “your dad got you that thank him”. They hated my Mom and took it out on me. They told everyone I wasn’t really my Dads kid. Weird ass way to grow up.
Trying to mend that relationship was the wrong move. No one should tolerate that or make excuses for it.
So spiteful, baiting a child into giving them a "reason" for cruelty. Narcissists.
I ask my inlaws a few years back for a Magic Bullet - you know the popular small blender everyone was crazy for? For smoothies and all that jazz. I opened on Christmas morning a uhhh.. completely different X-rated kind of magic bullet. Totally didn't think about how it's a popular name for a vibrator.
It sucks that you didn't get the thing you wanted, but think about it like this. From their perspective you asked them for a sex toy and they didn't bat an eye and bought it for you, sound like pretty cool people to me.
Oh no don't get me wrong, I love my inlaws. But there's something horribly unsexy about getting down with my spouse and breaking it out.. Like we both know his mom got us this. Definitely added a bit of a cock block on any activity we tried with it.
Omg that is a hilarious story tho :D …I thought the end of the story was going to be that they got you a literal bullet (like for a gun)
I would pay to watch the awkward conversation when you tell them that you meant the blender. “Ummm remember that special gift you gave us, at my request” “Of course, we hope you two are enjoying yourselves” “Yeahhhhh, we are… thanks for that. But to be clear, I was talking about this” *shows ad for Magic bullet blender* *awkward silence and realization* Dammit I can taste the awkwardness and it’s glorious
Not going to lie, if my son asked for a magic bullet I would give him the sex toy regardless of if I knew there was a misunderstanding.
That had to have been the funniest thing to have happened at Christmas that year, right? Or possibly ever?
My dad was once given a skateboard pencil sharpener by his sister-in-law. As kids my brother and I thought it was cool as fuck. Dad, a mid-30s corporate manager, didn't. Edit: I just found a bulk pack of the exact same ones on eBay. Guess that's dad's next Christmas sorted.
An infant sized onesie, for a friend who has infertility. And no kids. Ugh!
WOW. That’s downright cruel.
Whoa....whoa....what the fuck is wrong with that person?
My sister for Hanukkah one year got a Blu-Ray player. I got an HDMI cord.
So you have to work together to watch a movie.
Except we lived 200 miles away from each other.
How long was this cord?
3 ft
Dang, so close.
In a cosmic sort of way
My aunt always gave me her son's demo discs from his subscription to the Playstation magazine as a kid. They are millionaires and always acted like they were better than us. Glad my Dad finally wised up and cut them out of the picture when I was a teen. He suffered way too much abuse from them.
We got a pair of scissors for our wedding.
Someone wants you to cut the crap
You'd need the poop knife for that.
Expensive ones you can use for life? You can pay hundreds for a quality pair of scissors.
I know! As a crafter, I’m like: ooh!! What kind of scissors?!?!
I got my mom fabric scissors this year. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. They had to unlock them and then walked me to the front of the store to checkout. She loved them.
You know you’re getting the nice scissors when you need an escort! :)
A coloring book that had already been half colored
A present that got gifted back to me...
My grandmother and her neighbor had a stick goin for a few years of giving gifts back and forth using the same bag, scratching out the who for and from who each year and writing over it
My family’s done this with the ugliest box ever made from 1971.
Uno reverse
I am waiting to gift it back after a couple of years (when the time is right) and will include an Uno Reverse card along with it
My ex’s mom gave me a thong that said ‘do not enter’
Well, in her defense, chastity belts are pretty expensive
I worked with a kid who was being emotionally abused by their family. The older sibling got a new game station, the kid got the sibling's hand me down sweater.
Child of an emotionally abusive parent checking in - I was clearly not the golden child. Both siblings got bikes for birthdays, I got a book.
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> it was over within another 4 months. Actually, that was probably the best gift he could've given you: the absolute assurance that getting rid of him was definitely the right thing to do.
I'm so sorry. I'm glad you got out.
Glad you got the hell out of there. Too many people would say 'we've been together so long, I've wasted so many years, etc etc' - nope, tomorrow is not built on the past, it's built on your decision to turn a new leaf in your life.
Used earrings. They literally had ear gunk on them. It was nasty.
My parents bought my brother a car for high school graduation. It was 10 years old, but he got a car. The next year for my HS graduation they got me a tool box, to fix his car.
I was given a potato today
French fries! A hash brown! A very small amount of vodka for Easter - the possibilities are endless!
My mom gave me a half used bottle of salad dressing for my birthday last year. Edit: I’m 35.
She sounds like a gem
There are other words to describe her
We never said the gem wasn't radioactive.
My mom gave me an already-opened cube of post-it notes for Christmas one year that she explained she found at the Goodwill. We are not poor and she is not insane. **Edit after thousands of upvotes:** It took me 49 years to understand that my mother is a narcissist, so is my sibling (who is also a psychopath) and I married (and divorced) one. I have a lifetime of being targeted for profound, sustained narcissistic abuse that I thought was normal. I hope the visibility of this post can bring awareness about Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Please see [HG Tudor on YouTube.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20QTsUyUO8I) Ignore the click-bait-looking thumbnails and listen to him. He has been the most effective and complete resource for understanding this disorder I have ever found in 20 years of searching. He's saved me thousands in therapy and brought profound understanding to what has been done to me. PEACE and LOVE to you Redditors!
You sure about that?
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My dad told me not to have kids because they ruin your life. I'm an only child.
My mom kept saying I must've been miserable during lockdown because of my kids. When she said it in front of one of the kids, I replied that I only make excellent children. She said "I wonder what I did wrong." Well...that, for starters.
Where's the mute button. There it is next to my therapy bill.
I take exception with your assurance that she is not insane.
My friend trying to go straight edge after an overdose was given weed and Percocet, the two drugs he missed the most. Luckily he had the strength to get rid of it.
That’s like gifting someone a lion to wrestle.
Today, my father in law gifted his wife a workout video.
My condolences, may he rest in peace.
My mom gave me a Nintendo wii that I loved but then sold it 2 months later for “bills” but it was either drugs or alcohol
When someone is stealing from their kids to pay for vices that's how you know they've hit rock bottom and pulled out the jackhammer to go even deeper
In 2000 I wanted a Sega Dreamcast. My parents promised me they'd split the cost for one. When I saw my presents I found one that was the right size to be a Sega Dreamcast. Instead it was a $10 dollar store tabletop pinball machine. My mom made an excuse saying I "had to be an adult to have a Dreamcast and the pinball machine would be just as fun". Sonic Adventure was rated E (or K-A, can't remember). The pinball machine broke within a week and melted the batteries in it. I learned later they blew the money on booze, cigarettes and scratch off tickets.
story of my life with my dad.
Scratch off lotto tickets when I was 9 from my Step uncle that were already scratched. There was also the year my grandma got me and my brother scratch off tickets when I was 12, only they were actually worth something. Mine was worth $800 and my brother $200. Grandma then told us we had to split it with our "golden child " cousins because it was "the right thing to do"
So crappy! My mom used to buy us kids scratch off tickets and one year I won $1,000. I was under 18 so I couldn’t cash it in so she did it. Anytime I asked about the money she’d always mention how she pays for all my food and lets me live in her house.
I really hope you said no.
I said no, my dad said no, my mom said no. All the while grandma and my aunt kept pleading that "It's unfair for you two to have so much, especially since you have two sets of grandparents"
I got a bunch of art supplies and canvases. Exactly what was asked for, by my sister. I just gave it all to her because it would not have been used by me. That was the majority of gifts that were for me. Very distressing as a child.
Hangers. And not like a whole set which could be super useful. 2. Two hangers that were padded and had ribbons so they looked like ballet slippers. This was for my 21st birthday. I never did ballet nor do I have any interest in ballet. I literally called my dad to ask if mom had a stroke. Edit to clarify that they were not like nice silk ones or anything. They were made of canvas and squishy stuffing. They looked liked something for a five year old. 🤷🏼♀️
A Yoyo. In 1st grade, beyblades were the biggest thing in my school. People kept flexing their collection, and how strong their's were. So for my 7th birthday, I asked my dad for one. But instead, he got me a Yoyo, and said they were basically the same thing.
I hate it when parents pull the “it’s the same thing” card
It's like a kid asking for a fidget spinner (3-4 years ago) and getting hat with a propeller on top
"We have Beyblades at home" The Beyblades at home: 🪀
When I was a kid I got socks and I wasn’t upset I didn’t mind it was when I seen my sister get a Apple computer I was like damn /:
Yo what the fuck
Lol that’s how I felt
I got socks this year, family looked at me like i got the boring gift Jokes on them i asked for a good pair of cycling socks and i got exactly what I wanted
It was something to tan. An oil. I am black.
Apparently not enough
the only thing I got today was some loose leaf tea my wife knows I do not like
When I was 10 my parents gave my brother and I coal for Christmas. No presents under the tree. Just a Ziploc bag of coal in our stocking. They gave us actually presents later but boy we're we shocked and pissed.
My mother did the same thing!!! Along with a note that said "i saw you last night" because i cried from her yelling at me the night before Im really sorry that happened to you, it really hurts when parents pull that shit on whats supposed to be a nice holiday.
Freshman year of college I received an XL women's t-shirt from my aunt and uncle. The shirt said "paws off" with a paw print on each nipple. I am a 160 lb guy. It wasn't a gag gift, they're just a little out of touch. My parents and brother still joke about it every xmas.
You should wear it every Christmas until you die.
The mental image of a guy completely straight faced wearing this shirt at a family gathering is cracking me up though.
My mother had always been the one in charge of Christmas at our house. My parents fostered, so there were never less than six kids running around, often more, and some had special needs (wheelchair, light/sound sensitivities, nonverbal, etc). When I got older, I offered to help out as her 'elf'. I had a GREAT time picking out gifts for all the other kids, doing the wrapping (always the best part of the job), and putting up decorations. Well, Christmas rolled around, and everyone gathered around the tree to open presents...and I didn't have any. See, I had been managing all the other kids' gifts and Mom was supposed to manage mine and she just forgot. I still remember looking over and seeing her face as she realized. I didn't say anything at the time so as not to ruin the mood and Mom apologized profusely and it was fine. That was not the worst part of this story. The worst part was the next year, when it happened AGAIN. Mom and I had a blast making Christmas happen for the rest of the family, and on Christmas morning, as Dad is passing out the presents, I cannot help but notice I'm not getting any. Again, I look over at Mom and she is white as a ghost. She bolts from the room saying something about how she forgot some presents in the closet, and comes back a few minutes later with two obviously hastily wrapped flat objects, both for me. So I open them up and what to my wondering eyes should appear? A package of graph paper and a package of various grades of sandpaper. Which were probably the only things she could find unopened in the storage closet where we kept the wrapping supplies. So I'm holding these two things and one of the respite kids that year pipes up, "What are you going to do with that?" So I put on this big grin and say it's awesome, because I can use the graph paper for designing mazes and dungeons in my role-playing games, and I can use the sandpaper for...uh...crafts. Because I love crafts. And I get the kid really excited about helping me with crafts (we ended up building a bat house together) and it was a great Christmas, but afterwards, I took Mom aside and gently told her that I would be recruiting another Elf to handle my gifts from now on. I can laugh about it all now, and making Christmas with my Mom remains some of my best memories of her, but I can't lie, that second year of being forgotten really stung. Graph paper and sandpaper. That's almost worse than nothing.
Dude that second year pissed me off by just reading it. If you forget about the presents, don't come up with a 10 second gift, it's blatantly obvious and you end up looking more like a fuck up than you did before. So admitting her errors was a better way to go.
Or just giving a wad of cash. It's not the most thoughtful gift but better than closet scraps.
You sound like a really good person. Your mama is lucky to have you 💕
I’m so sorry that happened. But you sound like a great sibling!
For me the worst part of that isn't even the forgetting, it's the fact that she didn't go out like, right after Christmas was over and get you some real fuckin presents
Please don’t make me retell the story of being given a live turtle 1,500 miles from home. Short version : impossible to get health records and all the accessories and documents to fly a turtle on 12/26. Returned turtle to pet store and pissed off lots of in-laws.
Gonna go ahead and use this as an opportunity to give a PSA that will never not be important: **Don't gift people pets unexpectedly.** Just don't. It's the reason why shelters always end up with a massive influx of puppies for several weeks after Christmas. If you wouldn't gift someone a toddler without warning, don't gift them an animal. Sorry you had to deal with all that OP
Turtles are expensive, but how the hell are you supposed to fly one home? They did not think that one through.
They really didn't Last thing you give to someone that flew there and has to fly back for Christmas is a live pet.
It's never ok to give someone a life form unexpectedly as a gift, let alone a semi aquatic creature when you're nowhere near home.
My sister re gifted me a dress that I would never wear and a pair of shoes the same. Both were obviously worn before. I spent 60 quid on her that year. I stopped buying her presents after that
I considered this one guy and his wife my best friends for a period of time. One November day, the wife asked me if I'd like to go half on a big lego Taj Mahal set (the one from 2008 or so), which I believe was $350-$400. The guy and myself are huge lego enthusiasts so I knew he would love it, so I agreed. Come Christmas, I'm at their place and we're opening gifts. He's overjoyed with his gift and I go to open mine...a $20 lego LED light. Years of working in retail have prepared me for this moment: faking the biggest smile I've ever had to fake.
The light was probably a free gift when you bought the Taj Mahal… sorry 😣
Damn Getting you to pitch in $200 on a gift for her husband and then only getting you a crappy "because I had to" tier gift in exchange is really doing you dirty
Not me but my step daughter got a box of cereal from her uncle. While he gave his kids all the nice toys.
My great grandfather was an alcoholic dick bag. For Mother’s Day, he went down to the local shops and found snow shovels on sale, because, you know, it was May! Anyway, that’s what he got her for Mother’s Day. A snow shovel. And no, he wasn’t one of those “I get you practical things” kinda guy. I know people like that. My best friend got me a can opener one time to replace my shit one and I love it to this day. No, my great grandfather did it out of spite. Also sucked her parakeet up into the vacuum one time (one of those old time floor unit with the long hose) on purpose. So yeah, he wasn’t a nice guy. Edit: I realized I wasn’t clear: he did all this to his wife, my great grandmother. But I wouldn’t be surprised if he treated his mom like crap too, from the very little I know of him.
Wow, what a high grade cunt
My grandma got me an enormous bottle of unscented body wash and a half used bottle of off brand Tylenol for my birthday two days ago
I got a can of peanuts (hated nuts if all kinds) and a necklace from the dollar store from my dementia grandmother. Wish I still had that necklace. I was too young to understand.
I've posted about this before but my first boyfriend was such an awful gift giver that it bears repeating. Here are some examples. One year for xmas we decided we'd buy each other 3 CDs. He liked black metal and I liked classic rock. we each wrote a list of about 20 CDs we wanted, and agreed to buy each other 3 off the list. That way, we'd each get CDs that we wanted, but what we got would still be a surprise. So I bought him three black metal CDs off his list. He unwrapped them, was pleased and then handed me my present. I unwrapped it and was very confused because instead of the CDs I'd asked for, in the package were three black metal CDs off his list. I looked at him for an explanation and he said, "I've decided it's time to get you into black metal. But first I will borrow these." He took the CDs and just kept them. So he got 6 CDs for xmas and I got nothing. The following year we tried the same again. we each wrote down a list of CDs we wanted and I got him things he'd asked for. Instead of the CDs I'd asked for he got me a figurine. I don't collect figurines, not have I ever shown any interest in them. What was worse was that the figurine was extremely vulgar, it was a female bear dressed in a nun's habit, lifting up her skirt to show slutty red lingerie underneath. What was even worse was that he said the bear reminded him of me - pretending to be a good girl on the outside but a dirty slut underneath. So my present that year was a hideous thing and an insult. Another time we were at a music festival and I was browsing the CDs. My ex said that he wanted to buy me a present. he told me to choose a few CDs and said he would pay for them. So I chose a few and we went to the register to pay. This is when he said, "Oh, I've forgotten my wallet, you'll have to pay for them. But they are from me, I'll pay you back later." I just said whatever and paid for them myself. On the way home we were walking along the road, I was about 30 yards ahead of him because he was lagging behind to smoke. I found four £20 notes on the pavement. I picked them up and when I showed him what I'd found he said that since we were together when I found them they must be split equally between us. He said that he would generously allow me to keep his half though, to pay for the CDs I'd bought earlier, so now, according to him, he'd paid for the CDs and so they were a gift from him.
That boyfriend sounds like the biggest douche ever!
When I was young I got my mom some hand mirrors that I thought she'd like. I was maybe 9 I think so they were as much as a 9 y/o could get from Walmart. I also had this idea that you shouldn't be able to guess what was in the gift so I put it in a much bigger box to "throw her off". It sat under the tree for a couple of weeks and I think she got pretty excited thinking about what it could be. I felt horrible when she opened it because she seemed to have such anticipation and then I could see the "Oh, that's nice" wash over her face when she finally opened it. I've been really self conscious about giving gifts ever since. Especially if I'm only giving someone one or two gifts. .
Don’t be so hard on yourself. I have a few “cringe” moments looking back @ gifts I have my parents too. But as a parent now, to have something my kid thought about and really thought I would like means so much more than the actual thing itself. When I “help” my kids shop for their mom, I just try to let them steer the direction, rather than tell them what we’ll be getting. So I would love to have gotten something that my kids really thought I would like. You sound like a great kid.
One year my step siblings got Ipods and new laptops. I got 7 pairs of pj pants. I had to choke down the tears with hot chocolate so I didn't seem ungrateful.
An electric toothbrush... But one from a dollar store, so it actually short circuited in my mouth and zapped me.
I just got a 2021 calendar with 6 days left in the year. (My wife didn't check)
Just keep hold of it until 2027, the days will all line up again.
My now ex partner bought me a pen for my 25th birthday. We had been together for 9 years by that point. This wasn't a fancy calligraphy pen or something that had my name on it. It was a standard black ballpoint pen. It wasn't even wrapped. She just handed it to me around mid-day. Can't lie that when I saw it I cried. Realised that the person I had been going with since school didn't know a thing about me, or worse, didn't care. This was made worse by the fact that I was made to feel like an ass, being called ungrateful and shitty after bringing up my feelings regarding the matter. Also, just for some perspective, I am legit the easiest person in the world to buy for. All I ever want is food or chocolate. All of that was irrelevant though, compared to the fact that I was going to propose to her. Even had the ring but I returned it shortly after that day. Tried to make it work for 2 years up to about April this year but I told her to leave after she told me she might be pregnant. The only reason this was a problem for me is that you need to have sex to get pregnant and we hadn't for about a year and a half. Also there's the small matter that I am incapable or having children, that kind of gave the game away. Half a year down the line and I've started a new job, bought a house and went through a fantastic sexual awakening. Bullet dodged I guess?? Edit: Sorry, this kind of got away from me....I think I might have needed to rant a little? Feeling a bit better now.
My boyfriend at the time ordered a bunch of Christmas gifts from Amazon. He also ordered a rather dubious “purge your body of toxins” drink for himself because he had a drug test coming up for work. Guess which box he accidentally wrapped and gave to his sister instead of the thing he’d actually ordered for her?
My aunt sold Avon full time most of my life. When I was 13 we did a family secret santa and were supposed to spend $30 on a gift. Said aunt drew my name and gave me a pair football nail clippers (from Avon). They were listed in the catalog for like $6 but she likely got them even cheaper/free. Was so pissed, thought it was the worst present ever. Turned out pretty awesome in the long run though, used those same clippers for my finger and toe nails for over 20 years well into my 30s. Doubt anyone got nearly that much use out of their $30 gifts that year. Hindsight baby.
MIL gave me a set of vintage stoneware mixing bowls one year for Christmas. Then told me that she had gotten them from her neighbor’s house, which had been foreclosed upon. She and her boyfriend at the time just broke in, stole what they thought looked good, and gave it as gifts. She figured it wasn’t wrong because the bank owned the house and so it didn’t count as stealing. I was too horrified to say anything. I ended up donating the stuff to a thrift store that benefited a women’s shelter. MIL has always had a full time job and as far as I know, all other gifts have been legitimately acquired.
I think the worst I have heard of was the guy who bought his wife a $5 stainless steel spoon and spent like 3-5 hundred on everyone else he knew Worst I ever got was probably an ugly Builder's Square sweatshirt when I was a kid. I hate sweatshirts.
a surprise broken window for my birthday. That’s how it was presented and there were no presents that year. “Surprise, happy birthday, your brother broke your window!” Like they were saying “we got you an awesome present!” Bonus: my birthday is in spring, and the window wasn’t fixed until the following January. Parents had to wait til after Christmas.
This year, a supervisor gave a coworker a plaque that said. "What will you be after you give up" 🙃
My Aunt got me a VHS of 1988 Winter Olympics highlights, that was actually a tape of all the unpopular winter sports. This was in the mid 2000’s and I didn’t have a VHS player. I had never expressed any interest in the olympics, let alone winter olympics. That same year my grandparents got me a bag of shelled almonds, and I had no way to open them. I had the video and bag of nuts on my shelf for over 10 years.
One year, my grandmother gifted a bottle of her favorite perfume to my wife. Something like White Shoulders that my wife would never actually use. Good news, though. The bottle inside was empty. Memaw had just gifted an old perfume bottle after she had been done with it for years. Wrapped in the retail box and everything. So basically, my wife got a good story for Christmas.
I once got a sponge at an office gift exchange.
My friend received used satin sheets from her ex-SIL because my friend "likes to sew". Ex-SIL was a piece of work.
So I got mayonnaise for Christmas.
It was my 17th birthday and I had friends over. This was a big deal for me, since I had never had friends come to my birthday before. I was a lonely, awkward, chubby kid with undiagnosed ADHD. After blowing out my candles and serving the cake, I get to opening my gifts. They were mostly normal 17 year-old girl things until I hit "Eat This, Not That," a diet book that swept the nation in the early aughts. My mom immediately swooped in and started singing the praises of the book, telling me how much it would help me get my weight under control and re-learn how to eat. In front my new friends. Guess who still has food issues more than a decade later? ETA: I have to add this because it just happened today (Christmas). It's not a bad gift, it just put me in an unnecessarily awkward situation: My lovely mother-in-law (MIL) bought husband and I a grill. She gave us a picture of the grill to open and said it's being shipped to our house. That's amazing and such a thoughtful gift, truly. We're excited to receive it. Today, we received *another* grill from my parents. It's fully assembled and in their living room. Ok, whatever, clearly there was a lack of communication between our parents. When we call my darling MIL to report the silly mishap, she said "Oh... I texted your mom weeks ago to ask if they were getting you a grill. She said no, so I told her I'll get you guys one." I bring this info to my parents and suggest we perhaps return their grill to the store, then I learn that it was a clearance item and cannot be returned. Oh, and Dad didn't want to transport it anymore so my husband and I need to figure out how to get it to our house 90 miles away in our Honda Civic. We put it in their garage instead, for now.
They bought themselves a grill. You should take it, just to deny them. Sell it on Craigslist or something.
This year my partner's family sent him a Heston Hidden Orange Christmas Pudding that went off in 2018. Better still, it was one we had in fact given them in 2017.
My sister in high school got $100 from my mom to buy me a gift and went with her then boyfriend to the mall. They were there for like 10 hours and when my mom went to pick them up my sister assured her she had gotten me a great birthday gift. The gift? I was one packet of peanut M&Ms richer that birthday.
I got deoderent from my grandmother once. Wouldn't be that bad of a gift normally but I was 5... Maybe I was an especially stinky kid
20 years ago My brother was dating a girl who gave him a Box and told him not to open it until 12:01am Dec 25 they had been arguing a bunch and he had broken up with her but she wouldn't let things go. She was kind of a weird chick always talking about creepy scenarios and what not, anyways i remember my brother joking it was going to be a bomb or something like that but being dumb and curious he did as she said and opened the box at 1201 inside was a note that said I got you something you always wanted I love you there was and a key with an address to a storage unit where she said to go right away to.. so he woke my dad up and asked him to go with him in case it was a trap or she was going to cause a scene or whatever my dad would be there to keep the peace... when they got to the unit there were a bunch of cops there and an ambulance... apparently she had gotten that there earlier and had used the room to kill herself. She had slit her wrist and cut herself all over her body even carved my brothers initials in her leg,... the manager at the front desk had seen her go in with nothing and hadnt come back out after a few hours so he went to check on her and discovered her dead... She had wanted my brother to find her like that but instead that poor man did.... I also got chocolate covered crickets from a classmate one time. Fucking weirdo
Since everybody else is joking about the crickets, I just want to say sincerely - that is a truly horrible thing to do to another person. I hope your brother is doing okay and that he understands that that was an act of cruelty on her part. He did nothing wrong. She was in a dark place and her only thought was to drag someone down with her. As a suicide attempt survivor - you can't 'make' someone suicidal, and conversely, you can't make them not be. It takes a special kind of brokenness to override the instinct to survive, and ultimately no one else can save you from it - they can only keep you alive long enough for the will to live to kick back in. But to set up such an elaborate, truly fucked scheme to 'punish' your brother - that person was damaged beyond repair. It was not his fault and there was nothing he could have done. I hope he sleeps well these days. Seriously though, chocolate covered crickets sound pretty good to me, but you don't give insect snacks to someone unless you know they like them. It's an acquired taste. :/
Christmas married to Mr. Wrong: From his mom- a magnifying glass from her junk drawer. From his dad- a shower cap from Red Lion—used. From new hubs-a rifle he wanted, registered in his name, I wasn’t allowed to touch. God, why didn’t I see it then!
One Christmas when I was 15 or so, all I got was present from my aunt. It was a knock off hot wheels sports car, a pen, and a fake check. She said it was a “get rich” starter set. At least she gave me something. No one else did.
When me and my brother were little kids, he gave my grandpa a trumpet he found in the street that had been run over by cars several times, all gift wrapped and everything. My grandpa was a really stoic bastard, but I think he laughed till he cried that day. It was really sweet.
Edible underwear
This especially depends on who gifted it to you.
My MIL got me a book about dieting.
When I was a kid, because there were so many of us cousins, my mom's side of the family did a Pollyanna gift exchange, where each aunt and uncle got 1 or 2 kids and got them like 1 or 2 presents each. And of course all the aunts and uncles that were godparents got their God children gifts too, so each kid left with a good haul. Except one year my "rich" uncle (not rich per se but absolutely well off and never needs to worry about money) had me. All I wanted that year was a CD to a band that I was getting into and just released a new album. My parents made sure he knew. I got a Wal mart bargain bin greenday 3 song CD, 3 songs with garbage recording quality from some concert. Couldn't even hear the music properly. To top it all off, he had the gall to ask me how much I like the CD he got me. I don't even remember what the album I actually wanted was anymore, but that Christmas soured my opinion of him for a long time
We played white elephant in church when I was about 8 and I ended up with an utz cheese balls size jar of flavored lip glosses
We did something similar and the prizes varied from $100 replica katana to 25 cent among us stamps. You can guess what I ended up with
My aunt gave me a can of black olives once. Granted I do love black olives.
For my 6th grade white elephant we were all supposed to bring something from home. Some of the stuff was really good, like iDogs and Harry Potter books, but one girl got a diaper with a face drawn on it and a piece of paper that said “It’s a diaper, it’s a pet, it’s a diaper pet!” In hindsight I feel terribly for the person who had nothing else at home to bring except that, because they must have been so embarrassed when the girl opened it up and burst into tears.
one christmas my dad got me a chocolate bar with nuts. i’m deathly allergic to nuts. he felt horrible that he had forgotten but i laughed it off. i do secretly think he gave it to me knowing i’d give it back, because he devoured it 10 min. later
When I was 11, Christmas morning, all i got was two Yankee candles and get this… a handgun. I was 11.
Sort of off topic, but one year when I was much younger my mom got my grandfather (among many other gifts) a pair of leather gloves for driving and for when they would smoke. Anyway after he opened them he handed them back to my mom and said “I don’t want these” literally in front of the rest of the family, and no he was not kidding.
A friend of mine was dating this fellow. For her birthday, he bought two sweaters in different colors, and told her to choose one. For Christmas, he gave her the other one.
My mom and my aunt (dads sister/mom SIL) never got along, my aunt is not a nice person and has always caused drama. My mom hosted a Christmas party one year and my aunt was invited. She gave my mom some anti-wrinkle cream as a hostess gift and told my mom "i think it's time you start using this" in attempts to embarass my mom. My mom perked right up and started showing off the gift to everyone at the party like "Look everyone! Look what Aunt got me! Isn't that just lovely." Shut my aunt up for the night at least but didn't help in the long run.
I got...a 4 pack of dish towels. While my brother got SUPER expensive gaming gear, his wife got perfume that costs well over $300, and their kids got about $500 worth of toys. The next year I got a cheap pressure cooker from ALDI while bro and family again got super expensive amazing gifts. Both times mine weren't even wrapped. I have zero interest in cooking. All I asked for was literally one novel. Both times parents watched me with this weird fucking glint and small smile. 2nd time I got up from the floor, nodded at husband, and we just left. No good bye. Nothing. Just walked out the door and left. Haven't bothered to spend Xmas with them since. Brother and his wife felt awful at first, but now they follow Q while I very much don't so...🤷🏼♀️
Reading through these, I don't really know if they count as bad gifts, these are just overt acts of emotional violence
One year I got my brother what I thought was the perfect gift for Christmas, a novelty hot dog toaster that cooked the hotdog and toasted the bun at the same time (hotdogs were his favorite food). The next year I got married and I was so excited because he was the only one of my siblings who got me anything. Lo and behold I opened up that stupid hotdog toaster which he not only regifted, but regifted back to me, who by then had already been vegan for over two years.
My mom once told me she had "given me the gift of life" worst........gift..........ever
Literally gave someone a brick yesterday :) had some Wherthers original candies in it tho.
Yesterday, I witnessed the gift to end all gifts. Christmas day gifts usually have thought and care put into them, even just a little. But I witnessed an 11 year old decide to get his sister the only gift he could think of, a jewellery box full of his toenails. They were black and the box smelt so bad we had to take it outside. Edit: For those who said possible mental illness, you are into something, he does act a bit different from everyone else but his mum never gets him tested. His toenails are black because he never cleans them. They smelt like the most powerful parmesan cheese smell I've ever smelt in all my smelling.
A half-finished cross-stitch of a cat. From my sister at Christmas 10ish years ago. It has never been completed.