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As much as we’d like the cursed year of 2020 to end without leaving it the opportunity to raise our cortisol levels from stress even further, it doesn’t mean that the Christmas holidays are canceled.
In fact, if you’re reading the post, I must give you a big round of applause for surviving it, ‘cause at this point, no one can be sure about virtually anything. Like whether or not we won’t choke on a turkey breast covered in gravy, or whether or not you might enter a warzone with your in-laws for making fun of Covid deniers.
But that doesn’t mean there were no fails. On the contrary, Christmas makes everyone super vulnerable to all kinds of failure. Like, receiving the worst Santa gifts, finding the perfume bottle you gifted to your loved one next to the toilet fresheners, or simply realizing your Christmas hasn’t been very merry—no one is immune to their fair share of festive breakdown.
I leave the stage to this merry Bored Panda compilation of all the what-ifs and oh-my-gods turned reality that just reminds us once again that this is not your usual Christmas. It’s Christmas: 2020 edition.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
There Was An Attempt To Wrap A Gift For Christmas
RELATED:
#2
My 81-Year-Old Grandma Didn't Look Close Enough At The Jumper She Bought For Xmas This Year
#3
My Sister Rented A Flat Here In North Of Iceland For Christmas, This Is Her View
The average British household spends around £500 on gifts during the traditional holiday season, equaling Americans who spend about $650, according to BBC. Let these numbers sink in for a moment. Gifting is a quintessential part of the Christmas season, the act which makes us all somehow happier, and even helps to make our relationships stronger.
Equally, choosing the wrong gift to your loved one or a family member can have a negative toll on your relationship with them. Elizabeth Dunn, a psychology professor at the University of British Columbia in Canada told BBC that “choosing the wrong gift can be kind of risky for relationships because it says you don’t have anything in common.”
A similar 2008 study looked at how good and bad gifts can influence relationships. The results published in Social Cognition magazine showed that “males, as opposed to females, reported less similarity to their new romantic partner after receiving an undesirable gift, suggesting that males are more likely to react unfavorably to receiving gifts they do not want.”
#4
One Sprout For Christmas Dinner
#6
Watched My Friends Dogs Today While They Were Gone, Tried To Get A Cute Picture For Them And Ended Up With Accidental Gem/Nightmare. Merry Christmas!
Other studies have shown that while shopping for gifts, we tend to focus on the person’s unique traits. As a result, gifts become very specific, but it may lead us to “ignore other aspects of their wants and needs, which may make us buy them an inferior gift.” As an alternative, gifting the same things to multiple people won’t make them compare who got what, and they also may be happy with the same thing.
The question remains whether we, as a society, put too much importance on the vain side of Christmas. Stressing out about gifting and receiving gifts causes the danger of forgetting what we all gather for in the first place. After all, these unprecedented times that we live in now urge us to rethink our values and priorities and turn to increasingly everlasting things.
#7
Most Of My Gifts Are Stuck In A Distribution Center, And Have Been For Over 2 Weeks. Guess My Brother In Law Gets This
#8
My 6-Year-Old Got Tattoo Markers For Christmas And Disappeared For Half An Hour. Bonus: We Can't Get It To Come Off
#9
That Is How You Know Your Mom Listens To Everything You Say
#10
For Christmas, My Dad Received The Exact Outfit That He Was Wearing
#11
Cat Ruins Christmas Photo
#12
Sister-In-Law Orders A Japanese Whiskey For Me Every Christmas. I Don’t Think She Read The Description This Time When She Shipped Me A $50 Bottle Of Soy Sauce
Láďa Durchánek 4 years ago
Or maybe it’s a subtle hint you should stop drinking and start eating sushi?
#13
My Girlfriend And I Bought Each Other The Exact Same Present. I've Never Laughed So Hard In My Life
#14
Well, Back To Video Games And Beer
#15
I Ordered A 6ft Tall Rainbow Tree From A Facebook Ad And This Is What Showed Up. I'm Crying From Laughing So Hard, I've Never Had This Happen In Real Life
#16
I Got My 80 Yr Old Father This As A Gag Gift. When He Opened It, He Got All Embarrassed And Immediately Tucked It Away. Later, I Privately Asked Him Why He Got All Weird About It, And I Found Out That He Was Under The Impression That It Was A Sex Toy
#17
My Parents (Late 70s) Got Me A PS5 Controller For Christmas. I Do Not Own A Playstation 5
#18
I Know It’s Supposed To Be A Soldier Kneeling But I Don’t See That
#19
12-Year-Old Set His Lawn On Fire After Getting Magnifying Glass For Christmas
Christmas Day was memorable to say the least! My twelve-year-old son Cayden, who is an avid reader, an honor student, and interested in science, asked for a magnifying glass for Christmas. (It’s like a basketball player asking for basketball shoes.) We thought it was for reading, but instead, he tried to see if he could light a fire with it! We discovered that he and his two brothers went out on the driveway to see if they could burn a couple holes in some newspaper. Everything was under control until the boys came running into the house telling us that a corner of the lawn was on fire and the Christmas lights were melting! Justin and I rushed outside to see the entire front lawn turning black! We grabbed buckets, turned on the hose and sprinklers, and I grabbed blankets to smother and trap it - before it could spread any more into the neighbors' yard! What a sight to see - a bunch of people running around crazy trying to put a front lawn fire out while wearing matching Christmas jammies!
I want to reiterate this was an accident. It could have been worse but it wasn’t. So instead of a tragedy, it will now be a Christmas to remember! 2019 - The Christmas lawn lit on fire. Oh and never buy a magnifying glass for your son!
#20
The Letters On My Holiday Bathroom Towel Wore Off
#21
Every Year My In-Laws Have A Gingerbread House Competition And Every Year I’m Still A Disappointment
#22
I’m A 23-Year-Old Man That Can Rebuild An Engine, Fabricate My Own Parts, And Drive Anything With A Steering Wheel. But For The Life Of Me Cannot Wrap An X-Mas Gift
#23
What I Ordered vs. What I Got
#24
My Wife Started Painting Ornaments For Christmas, And Only Realized After She Finished This Bird That She Did It Upside Down
Capelli rosa e patate 4 years ago
Still beautiful! Paint another on the other side facing the right direction and it looks intentional 😁
#25
Nailed It.
#26
Wasn't On, Nobody Standing Near It, And My Oven Just Shattered. Just In Time For The Holidays
#27
My Brother Got A Shirt For Christmas
#28
Got This For Christmas Because I Always Lose My Keys, But Now I Can’t Find My Keys To Put It On The Keychain
#29
Walked Outside To Leave For Work Today, And Some Kind Individual Stole All My Wheels. Happy Holidays
#30
Bought My Wife's Christmas Gift On 12/10 And Was So Proud Of Myself When I Paid Extra For Two-Day FedEx Shipping
It's been from WI to IL to NE to CO to NV to UT and is now in CA. I live on the East Coast.
#31
After Buying Christmas Decorations For My House, I Was Biking Home And Was Hit By A Car (Hit And Run) Causing Me To Black Out From Massive Head Trauma. This Is How Much I Owe For My Ambulance Bill
#32
When The Perfume You Bought Your Wife For Christmas Ends Up In The Toilet As 'Air Freshener'
#33
Dad's Christmas Hasn’t Been Very Merry
#34
This 'Bottle Of Scotch' At My Office's White Elephant Gift Exchange Was Stolen Twice Before Anyone Opened It
Dave In MD 4 years ago
Stolen means someone claimed it. The first person picks a gift, the next person and pick one or "steal: the one the first person got and then that person gets to pick another gift. The last person to pick has the best deal since they can "steal" gift from anyone or take the last remaining gift.
#35
Apparently One Of Our Present From Family Was A Box Of Fudge. Dogs Figured It Out And Now There Is Puke All Over My House
Becca Gizmo the Squirrel 4 years ago
One of my cats sat in a Christmas bag under the tree that contained a blanket for my mom. And peed. I washed it good, kept it, and bought my mom a new one and moved all the presents to my son's room where the kitties don't go. Its funny because out if the 4 blankets I bought for gifts, the cat peed on the exact one that I wanted for myself but was giving it to mom instead. So it worked out.
#36
Ordered An Ortament That Was Described As Ceramic In The Description (Top Pic), What I Got Was The Other 2 Pics
#37
My Friends In The Sky Decided To Leave Me A Christmas Present While I Was Away. Thanks, Guys
Simon Clarke 4 years ago
There's a guy a dozen posts up with a black biohazard suit he might lend you.
#38
When Your Puppy Chews Your Son’s Big Gift On Christmas Eve
#39
Happy Christmas
#40
Sibling Gift Exchange
#41
My 4-Year-Old Daughter Brought Home This Gingerbread Man From Daycare. It’s Already Startled My Wife And Me A Few Times
Katharine Rudden 4 years ago
This is my favorite so far, and there are so many ‘good ones’ and I use that term loosely. Because frankly, some of these are terrible and traumatic for the people involved!
#42
Been Waiting 2 Months For My Gas Range To Be Shipped From Italy Only To Have Them Drop And Smash It 20ft From My House. No More Xmas At House
#43
I Asked The Kids To Check On How Many Eggs We Had Left, Quote "We Have Plenty"
#44
The Most Terrifying Christmas Cookie That I Accidentally Made
#45
I Got My Dad A Christmas Sweater. Didn't Notice The 2nd Carrot Until The Family Photo
#46
Heard Something During The Christmas Dinner, Came Back To This
#47
Opening A Brand New Xbox One S On Christmas Morning To Find A Used VHS Player
#48
Dad Is Fired From Christmas Card Duty
Claire Armstrong 4 years ago
Lol, I was looking at it and thinking "what's the problem" lol! I thought the arrow was being used to point out what was wrong, until it dawned on me that it was the arrow that WAS the bloody problem lol!
#49
My First Apple Pie I Made Last Night Got Left On The Roof Of My Car Never To Be Seen Again. Pour One Out For The Homie
#50
This Is What Happens When You Forget To Poke A Hole In Spaghetti Squash And Then Attempt To Cut It After It’s Baked. It Explodes In Your Face
#51
We Had A Ton Of Rain And Lost Power Early Christmas Morning, Things Got Worse From There
There is a stream that runs underneath a bridge bypass. We had so much rain, it overflowed and eroded.
#52
Someone Got To The Presents First
#53
Christmas Lunch Ruined For A Few Extra $ On Weigh-In
#54
Ordered A Blanket W Photos Of Our Deceased Dog For Christmas. Received A Very Nice Blanket -- With Someone Else's Dog In It
#55
Got My Positive Corona Results On Sunday, Today My Cupboard All Of A Sudden Decided To Ejaculate All Of Its Glasses Into The Christmas Tree. 2021 Here We Come
#56
28 Years Ago I Had To “Share” My Nintendo With My Sister
#57
My Daughter's Christmas List I Just Read. I Almost Choked On My Burger
Nami Tantrum 4 years ago
nah...the last part has a diffrerent handwriting .. and yes, i'm fun at parties :D
#58
They Probably Should Have Coordinated
#59
My Secret Santa Gift That I Got Last Year. I Wanted An Animation Book
#60
My Parents Got Me A Beautiful New Guitar For Christmas That Broke In The Case
#61
My ‘Hotel Chocolat Hamper’ That I Won In The Staff Raffle. The Raffle Was In Place Of Staff Bonuses This Year
#62
Christmas AirPods Turn Out To Be A Chewy Toy
#63
Accidentally Put Christmas Breakfast On An Active Burner
#64
Long Distance Girlfriend Sent Me A Christmas Present. Raccoons Decided It Was Theirs
#65
Guess Who Got A Call Yesterday Saying He Had Work On Christmas Day
Emily 4 years ago
I feel this! I got asked to work Christmas after picking up a Christmas Eve shift as an acute care nurse. It was my first week coming back from having COVID. It would make five 13 hour shifts in a row. Thank goodness someone else filled in before I had time to accept. I hope you still made the most out of the season!
#66
At Least It's Something
#67
My Annual Christmas Cookie Fail Ladies And Gentleman. Note To Self: Don’t Feed Baby Yoda/Grogu Cookies After Midnight
#68
Merry Christmas To The Ground
#69
Just Plugged In The New Monitor I Got For Christmas, 144 Hz Never Looked So Good
#70
My 70-Year-Old Grandma Gifted Me “Anime” Underwear For Christmas. Had To Explain That It’s Not Anime
#71
I Ordered A Sweater For My Roommate And I Think They Sent Me The Wrong One. Poor Grampy
#72
My Mom's Christmas Cookies Before And After Baking
#73
If You Don't Succeed, Try Again
#74
After Weeks Of Waiting, My Son’s Stocking Arrived. It's December 29th
#75
Husband Grabbed His Gift From The Front Porch This Morning, He'll Never Guess What It Is
Colin Mochrie At Its Finest 4 years ago
We have had this problem. Once it was a TV for me. We just tell each other don't get the gifts that day. You can have it go to someone else's house if itnis that big of a surprise.
#76
Spent Two Days Making Christmas Cookies. Put Them In The Freezer. Open The Freezer For Something Else, And The Container Slips Out And Lands Face Down
#77
A Family Friend Of Ours Son Opened Every Gift In Their House While They Were Sleeping Last Night
Steve Barnett 4 years ago
I did the same thing when I was young. 'Mum, these won't fit me?' (Holding up trousers intended for dad).
#78
Auntie Sure Has A Sense Of Humor
#79
My Christmas Present
#80
My Wife And 5-Year-Old Surprised Me With Homemade Christmas Cookies Tonight
#81
One Of My Cats Gave Me A Fantastic Christmas Present Today
Katharine Rudden 4 years ago
I almost downvoted this bc of how much it totally sucks but I know that’s not the point of all these. But that really sucks.
#82
Trying To Pop Out My Xmas Ice Cubes
V Martinez 4 years ago
I've done this before too. Lol! I've found running water on the back side to soften/loosen helps me push the ice out easier.
#83
Tried To Take A Nice Picture With My Dog For Xmas. She Objected By Clawing My Nip
#84
I Got My Girl A Switch, Headphones, And A Book On Toasts. She Got Me A Shirt That Says “I Lose Weight” In Japanese. Merry Xmas Everyone
#85
What I Ordered vs. What I Got
#86
My Niece’s Reaction To Getting Clothes For Christmas Is A Whole Mood
HalfShelli 4 years ago
I have seen plenty of kids her age be gracious and genuinely appreciative when receiving clothing gifts. Even if a kid’s not a burgeoning fashionista, they should still be raised not to act like greedy brats, IMHO.
#87
So Just A Few Days Before Christmas The Middle Strand Of Lights Broke Down In Our Fully Ornamented Tree
Gwenn Kuhns 4 years ago
That's happening to us before. We just got a cheap set of light and put them on. Couldn't tell at night.
#88
My Brother Ordered This For My Boyfriend For Christmas. We Live Together, And Guess Who Opened The Door When The Mail Came?
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What do you think ?
Obi Wang Kenobi 4 years ago
made in china is actually good. It's facebook ads that you shouldn't trust.
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Katharine Rudden 4 years ago
Those made me feel solidarity with so many people around the country. Thanks for sharing. God bless everyone; let’s hope we all have better luck in the future.
BusLady 4 years ago
I got just what I wanted this year: a telescope. Thankfully, it arrived undamaged.
TheHolyFatherOfToast 4 years ago
Oh wow. That's awesome. I've always wanted a telescope. That's a pretty awesome gift.
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Obi Wang Kenobi 4 years ago
made in china is actually good. It's facebook ads that you shouldn't trust.
Load More Replies... Katharine Rudden 4 years ago
Those made me feel solidarity with so many people around the country. Thanks for sharing. God bless everyone; let’s hope we all have better luck in the future.
BusLady 4 years ago
I got just what I wanted this year: a telescope. Thankfully, it arrived undamaged.
TheHolyFatherOfToast 4 years ago
Oh wow. That's awesome. I've always wanted a telescope. That's a pretty awesome gift.
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