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Pandas, What Was The Worst Christmas Gift You’ve Ever Received?
Gifts are tricky. That's why we've probably all been in an awkward position when we got a crappy present and had to smile and pretend to like it. But even if it was not a joyful experience at the time, we can all have a good laugh about it now, right? So, share your awful gifts, and who knows - maybe we will stop somebody's terrible gift idea this year and save Christmas.
#1
Growing up, we were VERY poor. Many times didnt even have food. Most years in my early childhood were the worst. Every Christmas...nothing. Ever after, I enjoy ANY Christmas present I get!
#2
My grandma got me a subscription to Nicklodeon magazine when I was 10. She kept renewing it every Christmas until I was 17. After that she switched it to golf digest. I don't even like golf and I still get them every month.
EDIT: She has not forgotten she’s paying for them. She prints off the 12 month order confirmation and wraps it up in a box. She gets the biggest smile when it’s my turn to open gifts. If I tell her I don’t like it she’ll think I’ve hated my gift for the last 8 years. Which is true, but I can’t do that to her. I just put on the biggest fake smile and act surprised.
#3
For a secret Santa I received two of those free promotional tickets to the science museum that had already expired.
#4
A calendar with half nude pictures of my father and stepmother
#5
There was a gift under the tree when I was 13 which was a big box with my name on it. True to my nature, I never touched it. When it was passed out to me by my father(Dad always handed out the gifts) I started unwrapping it only to find another wrapped box. I unwrapped that to find yet another wrapped box. Suffice it to say that not only did the boxes get smaller and smaller but were also wrapped in black tape, then duct tape, packing tape and stuff until I ended up with a little 2" by 8" box. When I finally got that open, there was a carrot in it.And it was fresh. I being the type of kid asked first..... Dad. How is this so fresh when it's been under the tree for a month. He answered that they had replaced the original box with this one last night. Next question...Dad, why did you give me a carrot. The doc says my eyes are 20-20. I was feeling more than a little hurt by now. Worst Christmas joke ever in my opinion. Dad told me that it was for my new pet and I would have to give it to it and meet it. I thought to myself, oh great. Now I gotta rabbit along with all the cats, dogs, chickens, cows, pigs, ponies and a couple of others. We had two sheep and a stupid goat too. I was wrong. Dad took me out to the barn where I was greeted with a nicker and introduced to Sadie. A big beautiful Palomino mare. WOW! My own horse. All I can say without writing a whole story. The carrot I got turned into gold and many years of companionship and pleasure. Thanks Dad!
The post is meant to be about your worst Christmas gift, not your best. :-)
#6
For a secret Santa I received a stone, a S-T-O-N-E!
#7
In my senior year of high school, my parents got into a huge fight while we were opening presents, two hours later my parents told me they were getting divorced. Worst present ever. Haven't enjoyed Christmas since.
#8
My ex-wife's grandmother once gave this little toy video slot machine game that she got from the dollar store, because she knew "I liked playing all them video games". When she handed it to me, and before I opened it, her words were, "Merry Christmas, you'll have to buy your own batteries for it."
#9
Honey. A lot of it. I'm allergic to honey.
#11
I told my aunt that I liked Jack Daniels and instead of buying me a bottle of it like most people, for 3 years straight at Christmas, I've had Jack Daniels related presents and they're all as bad as each other. The first year I was given a Jack Daniels lamp. Well when I say lamp, it was an empty Jack Daniels bottle with fairy lights inside. The second year I was given yet another empty Jack Daniels bottle with glitter and water inside which I had no idea what to do with. Last year I got a pair of Jack Daniels sunglasses which broke within a week. Fingers crossed I actually get a bottle with Jack Daniels in it this year.
Be ready with your own bottle this year so that if it is another clunker, you can pull it out and immediately take a shot straight from the bottle.
#12
I have received so many that it is hard to narrow it down. Like last year I got kitchen decorations shaped like eggplants from my sister in law, I will be using it as my white elephant gift for this year.
But one year I did get an outfit from my sister in law for Christmas and decided i wanted to wear it that day, went to put it on and it didnt fit. I stayed in the bathroom for almost an hour crying. But it turned out great because it motivated me and I lost over a 100 pounds the following year.
My MIL would get me clothes that were several sizes too big. On purpose
#13
For Christmas one year my brother gave me a giant box, and I unwrapped it and found a smaller box inside. I continued to unwrap and got down to a box that was like 4 inches across and inside was a piece of paper saying Happy Birthday. It was Christmas. And I got a birthday card.
#14
As a kid I always tried to make as many presents as I could...and some of them were not very good. I'll admit that. One year I had the great idea of painting rocks for Christmas and giving them to my family. Now this sounds nice right? Well minus the fact that it was literally a rock, painted a single colour. I figured each rock was 1 present, and that each family member...including myself..needed about 10 of them. I put them in an empty wrapping paper roll and had everyone take one and pass it around. I think I was 7, haha. My family still laughs at that story to this day.
#15
My grandma was raised during the Great Depression so she saves EVERYTHING. Things like expired butter packets and the mints that you'd find at the hostess desk of a restaurant are continuously being gifted to the whole family. One year I even got a cheap Frisbee still in sealed plastic from the 1970s. She's my Babczi though so it's cute =)
#16
When I was 11 or 12 I got 3 separate cheap travel shaving kits from one Christmas gathering. I didn't have any facial hair or anything.
So the third one was my worst gift ever.
It's a present where the givers think they are giving something you could use but didn't really put in enough time to realize it didn't make sense (yet).
#17
My cousin gave me a rhino made out of a breeze block he’d made in craft class at school. Not so bad? He’d bought it home at the end of the summer term, given it to my MUM. It then sat out in the garden for the summer and autumn months to be bought in and wrapped for my Christmas present. There was a dead woodlouse in the horn hole.....
i think he really worked hard on making that rhino he just want someone to appreciate that
#18
My mother bought me hard copies of the first 4 Harry Potter books. I was thrilled but then she said she would keep them at her house for me. I didnt get to take them home ever.
That is not just Bad, that is simply mean, and i know there are so many Parents who do smth. like that( Grandma of my kids is doing that a lot with them). "Here you have a gift but it stays with mom/dad." I undestand that in some cases it is neccesary, because there are Parents who take everything their kids are gifted. But man oh man just another Reminder why Kds who grow up with Parents that are for whatever Reason not together anymore and not working together as a Team just can not have anything nice without it beeing spoiled.
#19
I gave my sister in law a necklace for Christmas. The next year, she re-gifted it back to me. I said in a really excited voice, "Thanks, Shirley! Now we can wear our matching necklaces!" She excused herself immediately.
#20
Soaps and bath salts. It is the worst present(maybe just very boring) that I do not really use. Do not give soap to kids for Christmas or birthdays, please.
#21
A taxidermy rooster. No explanation.
#22
During one family Christmas when I was in my 20's, I opened a gift in front of everyone from my sister. It was 5 pairs of thong underwear from Victoria Secret. She told me that I needed big girl panties. I hate thongs.
#23
Last year my Nana bought me some Barbie branded perfume and hair curlers from the car boot sales. I'm well known in my family for having a very tomboyish personality and my hair is like a Cousin It but after being hit with a Taser (which means it is very curly if you didn't pick up on that). She means well, I'm sure...
She probably thought they would inspire you to change your style, but I'm sure she loves you.
#24
I once gave my favorite scent to all the ladies, now I'm getting it back, every year, from everyone, can't stand that smell anymore!
#25
My mom wanted me to have more gifts to open on Christmas Day, so she started wrapping up all the practical stuff I needed for my college apartment. I got a jar of coffee creamer, toilet paper and trash bags.
#26
Since I were 2 (!) years old, for about 3 years in a row I've got ice skates for Christmas. It was a nice idea since we have snow in winters in our country. The problem was... that we lived in a very small town with no place to skate so I've never even had a chance to wear them.
#27
One yr. my stepmother was mad at me for spending my lunch money on cassette tapes (music was my escape). So she decided I wasn't going to have a Christmas and put a lump of coal in my stocking instead of giving me any presents. Not a funny story but it was the worst present a teenager could get!
#28
I wouldn't say it's the worst. More like the oddest. I was at a friend's house yesterday. When I went to leave, she goes "Hey, I got you a Christmas present. It's dog cologne." She then hands me a freaking gallon of dog cologne (yes, there is such a thing). So, strange gift, but hey, My dog has never smelled better. Made his coat shiny too.
#29
My other grandma (different from the one who bought me the tapes) knew that I collected comic books so she bought me one, rolled it up nice and tight, wrapped it and put it in my stocking. Fortunately, it wasn't a title I collected so I didn't care about the permanent curl that was now in it. I did keep it and put it in a sleeve but I don't think I ever read it. I did appreciate that she tried to get me something I liked.
It sounds like you were raised the right way. Gratitude can go a long way and is much appreciated when it is used. Good for you!
#30
Mom gave me a tin of dried lentils with the sale sticker still on the side.
#31
Ever since I was a kid, I've HATED the smell of cigarettes. My parents and Nana were chain smokers and everything I owned was dingy, stained, and smelled really bad. I believe I was around 9 or 10 this year my uncle and his blob of a wife came up for Christmas. I opened my gift and it was a cigarette case with a lighter holder. Blob said "I wasn't sure if you're smoking yet. But when you start you'll need that". The next year she bought me a copy of The Newlywed game. What makes anyone think that those are good gifts for a child?
"I wasn't sure if you're smoking yet. But when you start you'll need that" WTF!!! O__o
#32
My grandma heard that I liked making mix tapes (back in the '80s) and bought me a multi pack of blank cassette tapes, which was a fabulous idea and I love that she came up with it. However, the tapes were the cheapest quality tapes (I hadn't heard of the brand) and didn't even come with cases.
My cousin helped wrap them. She individually wrapped each one and put them in a bigger box. She later confided in me that she knew I wouldn't be able to use them. Of course, neither of us could tell her this.
You have a good heart. Grandma wanted to get you something about you, and you understand that.
#33
I was about 10, and for Secret Santa I received... a pack of white socks. All the kids were happy with toys and I... I had a pack of white socks. And no, my family wasn't struggling with money. We were financially ok and I had plenty of white socks, thank you very much.
#34
The Boy's Club at the Church had a Secret Santa thing, and we were supposed to spend five dollars on the present. The night of the Secret Santa I overheard the pastor's son laughingly tell his friend that he spent only 25 cents on the present and just put a sticker over the real price.
Of course I drew that present, which was not only cheap, but broken. It was one of those puzzles that you slide the squares around to make a picture. I was only eight at the time, and that was the start for me hating church.
#35
I used to live in an intentional community, where we would share meals, living space, support each others familys, etc. We had decided to have a Christmas gift exchange as part of the household.
After spending weeks getting good and thoughtful gifts for my housemates (vintage books, sci-fi movies, gift cards for everyone) Christmas morning comes and they had given me....
An orange.
That I bought for our produce.
The *whole* community forgot me.
When I was abt 8 the family got together. Abt 12 kids there. Each child went forward when their name was called to get their gift. There was no gift for me! To their credit, the adults "found" my gift in the other room. The first grownup gift I ever got. But I loved it. Someone gave up their gift for me.
#36
My mom knew that I loved the Harry Potter Series so, she thought it would be a good idea to get a present related to it.... Guess what I received??? A tissue and a toothpick...the gift that the Dursley’s give harry most holidays!!!As a joke. No other presents. Just that. Oh well!!! At least she gave it a thought. We still laugh about it!! (:
#37
When I was about 7, my mom told the family that I needed clothes (among other things). All of my aunts, uncles, and grandparents decided independently to get me clothes. So while my younger cousin was opening Barbie toys and accessories, I was left with an ugly dress and a few pairs of socks.
#38
From a friend: some old stuff that she found around her house including an old Xbox control that didn't work, a birthday card with her name on it, one lone earring, and a slightly moldy, empty old blush container.
#39
A single banana. That was overripe.
#40
My grandma got me a Barbie doll every year from when I was 4 until I was 10 or 11. This might not sound so bad, but I told her, ”nana, I don’t like Barbie dolls.” And she still bought them. I do appreciate the thought though. And even though she’s not the greatest listener, she’s still awesome.
#41
ex husband bought me lingerie in a size small. i am a xl easily just with breast area alone. never been a small ever.
Ah, passive aggressive exes. I feel like there should be a book of stories we can pass on to their current love interests...
#42
My mother gave everyone a box of chocolates for xmas one year except for one of my sisters whom she gave a giant jar of weight loss tablets. She meant well but it didnt go down too well with my sister
#43
A couple years ago I moved in with my gma to take care of her. When Christmas came around, I cleaned top to bottom, decorated the whole house, made most of dinner. After I passed out all the presents, Gma had her load, aunt had her few, cousin had his corner piled up, and me? I had one small box. Inside that box, was a necklace, a chunky ugly (for me) necklace that had remnants of a clearance sticker.
It's hard not to be appreciated, but you were doing the right thing.
#44
My ex girlfriend's Mum gave me a first aid box for Christmas, which would've been weird if had first aid equipment in it. However, it contained a pair of boxer shorts, and 2 single service jars of English mustard!
#45
A secret santa - home made christmas tree ornament with the stupid face of my sisters stupid ex-boyfriend on it- wich now that they have broken it off will give 2 minutes warmth in the oven while burning. Thats for breaking her heart stupid.
#46
Five scarves from five different people. The prior year, I received four. The only other thing I received was a pair of socks that particular year. The most unfortunate thing, other than the fact that I don’t care for scarves, is that they are all unusual patterns or colors. If I were to ever wear one I would have to purchase something to wear with it.
I probably should have stated in the post that I ended up piecing all nine into a quilt with other materials. It's hanging on the wall as what I call "old-country modern art." We all get a chuckle out of it and I haven't received another scarf to date. All in all, I won't complain because it makes me smile every time I see it.
#47
My aunt gave me a gift that she'd forgotten I'd given to her the previous year. She clearly never liked it!
My grandmother used to regift gifts we'd given her back to us, or worse, to her friends, so we got smart (finally!) and started doing things like paining her NAME on it, (if it was say, a photo frame), or making it personalized somehow, so she was not able to regift those items. I don't know WHY she did it, she had plenty of money to buy us and her friends gifts, and while she DID buy us stuff, it always burned our asses to see a gift we'd given her get regifted until we got smart.
#48
My grandma is notoriously cheap. Not a single Christmas goes by where I don't get socks. So last year I was ecstatic to see a very not-sock shaped box under the tree. It was giant, and my grandma was really excited about it. So I unwrapped it, and there was a slightly smaller box. And then another.
Ten boxes later I got from a refrigerator box to a single pair of socks.
Thanks Grammie.
Yeah, some people think this matrioska style box prank is so funny, but they don't consider the feelings of the other person. If it's just a prank prior to another box with a real present in it, then I understand. But why create a huge expectation when in reality the person is receiving just socks? I know it's still a present, the person put his/her money and time in it, but still I don't understand what's the point... It seems a bit cruel to me
#49
Any present my mother gave me and some my family did. Explanation- my mother loved to get things for herself. She'd buy stupid stuff, and it wasn't that we were poor she just spent what she had. However whenever she got gifts for my brother and i. she would let us have them for christmas but then come to us and tell us she needed to return, sometimes even the ones my grandparents got us, them because she hadn't paid a bill...
so i finally got where i hated gifts because i never got them to keep
#50
Not the worst, but I got those summer sausages and cheese boxes one year. Well the sausage was spoiled and cheese was moldy and crackers stale as cement. I am sure someone forgot about last year, found it that year and re-wrapped it. We had a good laugh.
#51
Toilet Paper from my grandma. Then some butt wipes. And also a new shower head that we really didn't need. Lets just say, I love my Nana.
How come no one has said what kind of crappy gifts their GRANDPA'S have given them? Why does all of the blame to go the grandma's? LOL (Maybe grandpa's just gave money--that is what mine did.)
#52
At about 8 years old. I was not a small kid, but not overly large. My parents decided to get me the Jane Fonda workout collection for Christmas.
#53
My parents once got me a tent and some socks, and told me it was time to move out.
#54
Not a gift for me but I was there when my future brother-in-law opened a gift from his great aunt. It was pens. Not nice pens, but a plastic wrapped pack of 10 Bic Round Stics. She was a practical lady.
#55
Many years ago my stepmother took nearly-empty bottles of hand lotion and put the contents of them all together in one bottle. They were different colors, so it looked strange when they all blended together...sort of a weird yellow color. She put that all together right in front of me and then gave it to me as a present. She was only 7 years older than I. She was 20, I was 13.
#56
One year, my grandmother got me this fleece sweater/jacket thing, which was possibly the ugliest garment I have ever seen. It had photographic kittens all over it, and was about 3 sizes too big. I still accepted it graciously, of course. She always puts a lot of thought into these things.
Last year my niece and her family was over for a visit. I was comfortable in sweats and a sweater. My niece told me she was going to hold an ugliest sweater contest until she realized I had already won.
#57
One year my mom asked what I wanted, and as an independent single mom with stuff to fix, I told her tools. I got electric hair curlers, the kind you plug in and they heat up.
Maybe she thought... "I'd use these as tools for lookin' good. So that counts."
#58
My mother owned a toy and gift boutique. You might think what a lucky child I was to have the pick of whatever I wanted. Well, if you did, you would be wrong. She would wrap up the broken defective returns or wait to see what hadn't sold very well (aka dud toys) and give me one of them.
Awful :( And I am not being sarcastic, kids are so impressionable. No, they shouldn't expect to get things willy nilly, but my god how can you give the kid a SHIT toy?
#59
In 2007, I got a single pair of socks from my uncle, they were previously worn because the soles were dirty and the cuff was stretched out.
The same year, I also got a birthstone angel statue for the month of October from my grandmother, my birthday is in June and the angel had been opened and was covered in what I can only guess was roach poop.
And last but not least, I also received a gigantic three-foot ceramic cross from my sister ... I'm atheist.
#60
Mine is a bit of a series. When I was about 5 I asked for a puppy for Christmas, that year I received a stuffed puppy. The next year I asked for a puppy that barked and moved, thinking this way I could out think Santa. Nope I got a bloody robot puppy. After this I decided to be very specific the next Christmas and asked for a puppy that pooped. Finally, I got it!!! Poor thing died of diarrhea 3 days later. I am 30 now and needless to say, I still feel the disappointment to this day.
#61
My grandmother remarried when i was in my late teens. He had twin granddaughters that were within the same age range as us cousins. For Christmas that year, the twins got real, good quality acoustic guitars from the two grandparents. The rest of us got tambourines that were 4 inches across and didn't really make any noise.
#62
My husband gave me a cask of wine that his mother liked and I didn't like. He said I could share it with her (160 lbs of fat but no fun) so she got to drink all of it (cask was 1/2gallon) and I got water from the tap in the kitchen. Wonder why we aren't together anymore???
#63
I have already submitted, but, Ive decided to re-visit. Bring everyone back down to earth a bit! I spoke in my other submission of how my family was very poor growing up and that most years we got nothing! I would like to add, as a 54 year adult...for me, personally, its not ever been about the gift. The gift is really that someone thought enough of me to get me ANYTHING! THAT is the gift!
I think the gift you are trying to tell us about is the SOMEONE THOUGH ENOUGH OF YOU part. Merry Christmas.
#64
Not me but my vegetarian cousin received a giant ham (brought by our gram) in our white elephant exchange. The look on her face when she realized she was holding a giant hunk of meat was priceless! Luckily for her our white elephant rules allow people to "steal" already opened gifts, so someone else kindly took it off of her hands.
#65
I’ve always liked vegetables (yes I know, I’m a weirdo) an when I was 6 I got a single plastic carrot and a small container of super hot wasabi peas. The peas were to hot even for my parents.
no offense to your parents, but i'd say they're the weirdos for getting you wasabi peas
#66
My grandmother's hobby was ceramics, rhe kind you pick out already made, rhen paint it. One year my little brother got a lamp with a ceramic elf (maybe it was a gnome?) on it. He was so scared of the creepy elf, he turned it around to face the wall every night before he went to bed.
#67
A hunting vest and metal detector...I was a 14yo girl into makeup and girly stuff. My Dad bought whatever was on sale in December.
#68
Fraternal grandmother gave me a pair of nylons (I don't wear them) in taupe (taupe makes me look dead), from the sales rack at her local drug store. They had been opened at least twice and closed with tape, we're covered with greasy dust, and had been marked down three times.
How do you have a fraternal grandmother? Not possible. Paternal, maybe?
#69
A pair of socks that didn't match
#70
A toy poodle, that bit me, constantly. I wanted a dress. I got a poodle. I had an awesome dog already. Some one gave the reject to mom cause no one wanted it.cause it bit. I was ten. Every day I ran in terror from that thing till it got my face and my dad took it away.
#71
The boss gave the entire company a free weekend in a nice resort. The problem? The resort was several states away and you had to supply your air fair, and the entire company had a 2 week window to use the "free" weekend. Boss didn't have to pay for the weekends that weren't used. Every one just threw the vouchers in the garbage.
I would have sent them to the salvation army - local to the resort, and congratulate the boss on his heart of giving.
#72
When I was about 11 or 12, I got a family size container of spray deodorant...
#73
When I was thirteen I got a training bra from my grandma. I still remember it was blue and pink with monkeys on it.
Which wouldn't have been so bad except I opened it in front of my whole extended family -- which included many of my uncles and male cousins. Plus, I was already wearing regular bras by that point. I would have busted out of that training bra!
#74
My grandpa bought me and my brother a gift, it was a huge box so we were really excited... it was a cash register. A brand-new real cash register. Not the most exciting gift for 6 and 8 year olds
Should have taken that REAL cash register and got creative and smart by building your very own lemonade stand and making good use of that real cash register! Believe me, your little cohorts around the neighborhood would have been impressed AND jealous with your business and MONEY making operation!
#75
This was a gift I gave. As cousins we picked names and bought a present for that person. I got my cousin who was two years older than me. I'm a girl; he's a boy. Not that it matters much. A certain kind of sock was very popular in my school. You wore two different colors - one on top of the other with the two colors showing. They were expensive and I couldn't afford them. This was fifty some years ago and they were $5. The perfect present. Something I wanted so badly. When he opened his present he went - "Ugh. Sweat socks." I have never forgotten that experience. LOL
#76
When I was 9-10 ish, I was opening a Christmas gift from my Great Grandmother, and mind you, I've received some horrifying things from her before. However, this gift is something I will never forget. As I was opening the package, I was trying to be cheerful and not give away my inner cringe. I wanted to giver her the benefit of a doubt, but to my dismay, that benefit was wasted on a bright red Mickey Mouse sweater. That's right folks, you heard me. I've never been the biggest fan of Micky Mouse, and to have a bright red sweater with his face ironed onto every inch of it was not thrilling. Thankfully, I was able to keep a smile on that fooled the likes of many in that house. My Mother could see the despair in my eyes easily, because I had expressed to her my worries beforehand. As soon as we got home that night I stuffed it in the very back corner of my closet, only to find it again six months later. Since it was in such a good condition I was able to donate it to Goodwill (sorry for the long-ish read).
#77
When I was about 10 years old, about half the presents I received in my stocking were sewing related and the big present under the tree was a sewing kit. I hate sewing. It was the only time I've ever cried after opening gifts.
That is a bit sad. Kids look forward to Christmas so much. Fair enough, give them something related to a new hobby you think they could try, but don't make every gift relate to it.
#78
One summer my aunt asked to borrow my bottle of Blue Curacao for a cocktail party she was having. For Christmas, guess what I got: a bottle of Blue Curacao.
#79
A relative gave me a stuffed gorilla that was wearing a vest and had a cigarette dangling from it's mouth
#80
One year I got a gym bag with aqua net hair spray, a box of tampons, and some other stupid things like socks I think. My sister got a stereo and a cool light up phone. (This was about 1989 I think) It sucked. Like I was a second thought. Oh here, let’s grab this, and this. Other part of it wa star bag from the office at the bank where my mom worked so it was a freebie and fell apart.
#81
One year my ex got me a fridge magnet with my last name on it, which was slightly better than the two previous years where I got a set of coasters and he emptied the christmas account to buy new tires for his truck. My sister in law once got half a bag of cotton balls and a half full bottle of her sister's RX zit cream from her own mother.
#82
An eye cup, used for emergencies to wash out your eye(s). My friends and I laughed so hard at this and turned it into a shot glass!
#83
My grandma would give me these huge, furry socks that were like ugly sweaters for your feet... and only those.
#84
Not me personally but once a boy in my class received a pair of socks and a tennis ball for Kris Kringle.
I'm sorry if I upset you, but you simply don't understand how harmful your religion actually is. I am willing to discuss this if you like, and I will try not to offend you. However, you must realize that most religions are very offensive to its non-adherents, especially since there was likely a lot of blood spilled on its behalf.
#85
We have an ongoing tradition in our family that each year someone gets something they don't like. The first year it was my 9 year old son , my sister in law gave him a Diego Cartoon bath set, his response "why did you even get me this?" The next year my 11 year old niece received a giftset of nailpolish (ugly colors) she looked sad and asked if anybody else wanted the set. The following year my mother in law received a walker, when she saw it she said "oh I'm not ready for that yet"! Good Times!!
Did they know it was a tradition or did they think no one liked them?
#86
my birthday
It was a great present if you were given life that day :) The only bad is that you probably got the "one gift for both occasions" thing ^__^'
#87
When I was 13 years old, my great Aunt gave all of us kids these rocking Santa's (think of the singing Bass fish) that sang "Feliz Navid", and that was it!! Then disclosed later, after a few glasses of wine, that she bought them the previous year after Christmas when they were on sale! She's so thrifty, it's humorous!
#88
I had spent one Christmas with a extended part of my "family" (not related by blood). They we a very tight knit group that I did NOT fit in with at all and honestly made me want to run out and jump off the roof. Anyway, since they did not know me very well, they went to the Dollar store and filled up a bag of the junkiest crap from "all of them". There was a 4 in 1 DVD of old terrible rom-coms (I hate rom-coms), a plug in speaker for my phone with only one volume setting that actually made the sound quieter, lotion that smelled like cheese, and a bunch of expired chocolate stuffed into an iPhone box. That was by far the weirdest Christmas. I had only known them for a short while and now we don't talk anymore. Everything happens for a reason. Honestly I do not miss it. Never again hill billies, never again.
This is meant to be silly. It is always important to be grateful for gifts because it is the thought that counts after all. :)
#89
When I was 10 my mom got me a meatloaf pan for Christmas. I cried. Then she and my grandma explained it was tradition to get a pan related to your favorite dish. My mom got a waffle maker when she was a kid. I still thought it was sad.
My mom gave me a meatloaf pan for Christmas when I was 10. After i stopped crying she explained she got it for me because meatloaf was my favorite meal.
#90
When I was five, ALL I wanted for Christmas was a Care Bear. Nothing more. My Mother knew this. When the Christmas Tree was put up and presents put under it, I spied with huge excitement a package the right size and feel as a soft teddy bear so I REALLY couldn't wait for Christmas morning to see which Care Bear I had be blessed with. Christmas morning duly arrived and I immediately chose that present to unwrap first....
It was not a Care Bear. It was a beach towel. We didn't live near the sea. I still want my Care Bear....
I could understand an alternative stuffed toy if this Carebear were difficult to obtain, but a TOWEL for a five year old???
#91
I’ve already submitted, but I have another story. I really like typewriters. And last year for Christmas, I got a typewriter! But, it wasn’t I proper typewriter. It was I tiny one about the size of my thumbnail, bright pink with a really terrible paint job. Half of it was covered by a clearance sticker (10 cents) and when the sticker came off, it took half of the paint with it. I had to chuck it away, because our cats could’ve accidentally eaten and choked on it
#92
When I was teenager my dad remarried, I was invited to a Christmas market by my Step-mom. Think of it as a bonding experience. I trailed around various stalls being overly enthusiastic in an attempt to make a good impression. Came across a clothes stall, my step-mom really liked the clothes on offer so in an attempt to 'bond', I picked up the most colorful and hideous sweater I could find and said how nice it was and she agreed! Christmas day arrives and I'm super excited because my Dad had hyped up saying how they'd got me what I really wanted...hoping it's the camera I'd been wishing for? Cue my horror when I unwrap the very same hideous knitted sweater I'd 'admired'. My heart sank, the following year She gave me a lottery ticket.
#94
I suppose the worst Christmas gift I ever received, rather did not receive, was a pair of blue moccasins. This gift was wrapped and under the tree with MY name on it, when I opened it my brother grabbed them, put them on and told me it was a mistake.
Well, needless to say my parents never said one word to him, I was about 8 or 9 at the time, now 72, but I never forgot this. I still want a pair of blue moccasins, with all the bead work on the top of the toes.
this is sad. I hate when parents dont rectify this type of behaviour. I hope someone gifts you moccasins this year :)
#95
When I was a kid I loved to read books and I drew all the time. Hence my dad deduced that I like books and artsy stuff. He is oblivious pretty much about everything (except for cars and maths). So he got me a book about INFOGRAPHICS!!! For a kid! Next christmas he gave me THE SAME BOOK! As I opened the package I just burst out laughing.
My dad's sent me the same book several times, usually with a couple years between. I just laugh now! It's not QUITE as weird as the time he gave me an author-signed copy of a book (that he was really excited for me to read) that featured father-son incest in it.
#96
My aunt, who regularly gave extremely disproportionate gifts to my brother and I on alternating years. No rhyme or reason as to who got what, or when. I believe there may have been stimulants involved during the decision making process. This One Year in particular was especially funny. She walked in the door and promptly as she always did, dispensed her gifts. One kid always hoping to get the big prize. My brother having received a small card. I thought Yes! I Won! He then opened it to see a whopping 100 dollar bill. A lot for a 12 year old back then. Heck even now. I then knew I had lost the game of fate. I slowly opened the McDonald to-go bag and looked in side. Of course as my aunt watched. I slowly pulled out one by one, the myriad of tiny things that had simply been put in a bag as if she had cleared out her junk drawer. A place where people put their stuff when they are too lazy to walk to the trash can. The list is as follows;
Thee white votive candles
A small 2 pack of AA batteries (Not two sets of two, just two total batteries)
Some small temporary tattoos from a 25 cent machine
Rubber bands
Two Walmart watches (Neither of them actually worked)
A mechanical pencil with no lead
And finally a few napkins that I had to assume were from the lunch she had eaten earlier from the To-go bag she just had not thrown away.
To be fair, the following year I got a nice RC car and my brother got a toothbrush. Even Steven.
And no there was nothing for the AA batteries to go to.
I kind of wish people wouldn't do this. 730 days is a long time to go without a decent Christmas.
#97
about a year ago when it was christams i was about 10 -no the its two years ago[im bad at math] my grandma got a big bag and filled it with random things. she took a video of us opening them i got an empty toilet role , a half cut sponge a half full bottle of bleach and an onion-turns out the real presents were right at the bottom. to be honest i remember everybody laughing and me sitting there with my onion thinking what the fuck had just happened
#98
Fans of the model Twiggy, my parents knew I was too fat as a child: I was put on the old Mayo Clinic Diet, you know the one where you live on boiled eggs, grapefruit and coffee? I was nine.
The boarding school I was sent to later, did not follow that regime. I arrived in the States weighing around 10 Stone, or 140 lbs.
"The Woman Doctor's Diet For Teenage Girls" was my worst Christmas present ever. I had worked hard to lose weight, and was around 115 lbs, 5'6" and 15 years old, when my parents gave this to me.
I never cracked the cover, because my take home message was that I would never be thin enough to please them: They wanted me to disappear.
I'm so sorry to hear that. What an awful message to send to a young girl.
#99
This wasn't a gift exactly but it did happen on Christmas. My parents were seated on the couch in their bathrobes, my sister and I on the floor, all of us watching a movie. My dad asked me something and when I turned around to reply, I realized his bathrobe was open and he wasn't wearing his Christmas jammies underneath like the rest of us. Pretty much the worst thing to view as a child....
#100
I got a stapler and a box of Oreos when I was 23 or so.
The first year my large family decided to exchange names, my brother-in-law picked mine. Being poor, I had a lot of household items on my christmas list. Stapler was one of them. I was hoping for 10 $2 items or perhaps one little item and one big one.
However, I got a $20 stapler. I did not need or want a heavy, fancy $20 stapler. But I got one. Plus a package of Oreos. I hate oreos.
I never did the gift exchange again.
I see in the comments below that you hate this person, but if it was anyone else, I think you might see that if you give someone a list, they might assume that you were giving suggestions and only expected one item off of it. So rather than get you a cheap stapler, he got you one which was more expensive and thus more like the cost of most gifts. Also you said you wanted one big item and one little one. Well, it terms of money, a expensive stapler and a package of oreos ARE a big item and a little item (also, side note: If anyone gives you oreos in the future and you don't want them, feel free to give them to me).
#101
My mom knows I like X-Men so she got me a Wolverine on a trigger handle. You pull one trigger and his legs come up you pull the other and his arms come up and he growls. It was well used and a bit dirty. I was in my 30’s. It beats the glass head and hand she gave my Aunt b
#102
My dad hates animals. Pets especially. One year for Christmas, the cousin that got his name in the family drawing gave him a donation to her local animal shelter in his name.
That's kind of funny, but only because I really like animals. I actually think it's really rude to donate to a charity in someone else's name unless you know that's what the would want.
#103
My step-grandmother gifted me some hand lotion, that was opened previously. And anti-wrinkle-lotion (I was about 20 yrs old then). And tea-sets she received from her local pharmacists as christmas present. And an diet cookbook. She is known for re-gifting notoriously. Once she gave an silk scarf my real grandmother painted her as a gift to some lady of her congregation. Sadly enough she has enough money to buy some real stuff (my half-sister, her "true" grandchild always gets money - no small amounts even). No nobody gets anything because she has dementia and doesn´t even know its christmas soon.
About socks an scarves: My grandmother and mother both are knitting and I always appreciate the socks they make for me. And scarves. You can never have enough of them! They even ask, which colour I prefer :D
#104
Last year I got my first box LEGO from my boyfriend... I'm 26 years old. My boyfreid act like he bought a bracelet for me - measured my wrist, etc. so I just look like WTF before opened it. It was an engagement themed mini box, inside the LEGO and a REAL ring too. I was so confused and happy, I cried all day. (Of course, I said yes!)
#105
My "significant other" gave me a chia pet donkey head. From Shrek. The donkey. Wow. So meaningful.
#106
Ex-hubby,, gave me a bowling ball, yes I bowled in a league but I wasn't going to continue for health reasons. And an air-popper for popcorn. I don't eat popcorn, and he took it with him in the divorce.
#107
As a school bus driver I get LOTS of gifts, especially gift cards!
But one gift from a family new to the country and do not celebrate Christmas gave me a bag of potpourri in a gift bag. No card, no ribbon just a bag of potpourri that came from a room freshener refill. As they say, it was the thought that counts.
#108
So, my younger step-siblings are 10 and 15 years younger than me, and the first year after my middle brother was born (I was 11), Christmas was a nightmare. There was a HUGE tree with PILES of gifts under it, including one that I had very carefully helped to make for my little brother. I was always a good kid and I didn't look at any of the tags on the gifts. Christmas Eve came, and when I got up to go to the bathroom I saw Mom and Stepdad putting even more gifts under the tree. I was pretty excited; I had asked for a couple of things for my room and a video game, because prior to getting together with my stepdad, my mom was always pretty thoughtful in what she got me. Christmas morning came! Mom and Stepdad proudly presented me with my ONE (1) gift. It was a fish tank. My brother unwrapped gifts for hours and hours while my step dad took pictures and Mom doted on him. I couldn't even go in my room and play the video games I already had, I had to 'spend christmas with my family'. Needless to say that was the day it lost all of it's magic and to this day I don't get excited.
Ladies and gentlemen, Christmas is supposed to be a magical time for young boys and girls. There is no faster way to murder that magic than doing shit like THIS...
#109
One year I got wart remover from my soon to be ex-husband. I didn't have any warts but if I did, it still would have been the meanest thing I have ever heard of to give as your "big" Christmas gift. When I told someone what he had done, he got defensive and said, "You act like that was the only thing I got for you!" He was right, He had also gotten me one of the tiny squares from the dollar store that turns into a wash rag when you put it in water, and some dental floss. He is a millionaire and continues to feign innocence and confusion saying that he doesn't understand why I didn't like the gift.
#110
Not the worst gift received but the worst given. Someone said in the early 1950s that my grandma liked Eau de Cologne perfume. So that's what I gave her, every Christmas. When she passed away in the late 1960s the family opened for the first time a cupboard at her home. Apparently just about everyone had heard that she liked Eau de Cologne; the shelves were packed with it.
#111
My now ex-husband was looking forward to opening his gift in my family gift draw. It had been built up to great expectation by the spouse of the person whose name he had, for whom he had found a specialty sized all cotton shirt in a very small town. When my ex opened his gift, it was a set of bath towels in a color that did not go with our decor. That is One set: bath, face, washcloth. My ex happily washed our very used car with it.
#112
This was about 20 years ago. My then husband, whom I had produced a son with, given up my job and joined him in his dream job and worked alongside him gave me.... nothing! He said he forgot it was christmas!
#113
We had secret santa once and had to spend 5 bucks on something. Someone got 3 small and cheap chinese novels and he didn't even understand mandarin hahaha.
#114
I live alone in a different country from my family and I recently got divorced. Don't get me wrong, I am a happy person, but I would be grateful with a warm hug or any gift this year.
#115
Large foam letter stickers. By large, I mean about a foot tall. They were supposed to spell my name, but one letter was missing.
#116
I remember when I was little, maybe 10, and I asked for just a few things, a magic kit, some fun pillows to decorate my room with, and some warm, fuzzy socks. I got a doll I was too old for, and a few other cheap things that were pretty useless. My brother, however, got a really cool expensive magic kit and some awesome Pokemon ball pillows among other things.
Needless to say, I was very disappointed, especially when my brother, after I expressed how much I loved the magic kit, sold it for half of what it was worth.
#117
My teacher decided to do a class gift exchange, with a $15 dollar limit. I remember picking out a really nice toy and wrapping it as nicely as I could. I picked a random gift, opened it, and I got an epic mug filled with hot chocolatte mix-ins, toppings, etc. Someone "stole" the gift and I got a hack-y sack.
#119
My grandma once gave me my dad's old cowboy belt that he used when he was my age. I was confused about what I was supposed to do it.
#120
I love my mother in law to bits, I really do. But I have never been the kind of person that understood the whole 'practical gifts' thing. My MIL works at a pharmacy, so every year we get toiletries like shampoo or deodorant. I am grateful for the thought, really, but if I needed any of those things I would have bought them myself when I do the monthly groceries shopping. Also, its never the brand I would use; always the really overpowering sweet smelling stuff teenage girls like to wear.
#121
When i was about 13, my aunt would buy my older sisters great gifts, like great perfume or nice clothes, jewelry, make up and she got me socks. Pink (i hate pink), childlish barbie socks.
#122
Every Christmas some of my relatives gives me a bag of coffee as a present even though I don't drink coffee. If someone remembers that I drink tea they will probably give me a really awful tasting tea that is mix of plenty of different fruits, flowers and other weird stuff. Or then they give rooibos or some other fake caffeine free 'tea'. Just a regular cheap black tea would be wonderful gift for me.
#123
So once my mom told all of my family that I like art. I told them other things I like. Guess what I got. Art supply's. About 3 or 4 sketchbooks, like 2 art kits, paper, paint , charcoal, canvas's, and my brother got cool games and toys and things that I wanted.
#124
The worst present I ever received would have to be a scale from my mom . At the time I thought she was insinuating I needed to lose weight but In the end I’m actually happy she got me it as it’s now one of my favorite things
#125
My MIL asked me what magazine I liked and I said Vanity Fair thinking she was going to get that for me for Christmas. No, she got me Oprah Magazine (she worshipped Oprah). I hated it and no one I knew wanted it either. I finally cancelled it. Sadly my mother in law was just showing the beginning signs of dementia and she passed this year. She really could not remember and just thought I would enjoy it as much as she did.
#126
When I was in my fourties, I had a boyfriend that gave me a blank video tape.
I have to stop reading these, I'm liking people less and less as they continue to disappoint the people they say they love more and more.
#127
A woman I know received a scratch-it in a card from her friend . As she was opening the card her friend said 'You didn't win anything '. She'd already scratched it!
#128
The last Christmas my ex and I celebrated together I got him a camcorder... the one he had been drooling over for months... usually I didn't receive anything from him or if I did it was something like a purse or a blender but usually it was nothing... that year for week he went on and on about what he was getting me for xmas and that he'd ordered it and it was finally in.. I was getting a bit excited since this was very out of character for him. Anyway he brings whatever it was home and spends an hour wrapping it... on xmas morning he unwraps his camcorder and is actually crying he's so happy about it. Then he very proudly picks up a pile of 3 boxes for me from him... the first one was a gym bag, the next 2 were almost identical blouses in beige. THIS is what he ORDERED for me. He worked at a sporting goods store and the gym bag as a freebie... the 2 blouses were on sale for 75% off... and were something I'd never wear... they were both the exact same shade of beige; round neck with a single button closure in back one with a plain from and short sleeves and one with 3 pleats down the front also with short sleeves...To this day ?????????????????????????? Sorry this is so long...it's been festering for many years... it wouldn't have been so bad except he kept going on and on about the perfect gift he had planned for me....
#129
I wished for a pair of Yamaha speakers when i was 15. Got a big heavy box that I started ripping apart and in my excitement I read "YAMAHA" across the top of the box. When all of the paper was gone i stared at the box and then it hit me: it was a YamaTA Sewing machine..... I do not like to sew.
#130
Two years ago on Christmas, my dad gave me the biggest present ever! I opened it and found a box, opened that box and found other box, I keep going until all that was left was an earring box o opened that box and found a cat feces. After I opened that box and was crying my mom came out of her bedroom with all my presents. Let me just say that was the worst Christmas ever.
#131
Both my grandmother and later my mother frequently tried to give me things that technically already belonged to me. I got my 8th grade junior high school yearbook as a Christmas gift in my late 30s. It felt at that gift-receiving moment like I was expected to shed nostalgic tears of sentimental joy. But I got bullied every day of junior high and thought I had thrown that yearbook out for good when I left for college.
#132
A Justin Bieber CD from my parents as a joke because they know I hate him.
#133
The worst Christmas present I ever got was a couple years ago, my family of 8 decided that we where going to do a secret santa. Christmas Day we all opened all of our presents except the secret santas (those were in a separate pile). Everyone opened their secret santas before me, it finally was my turn I was 12 at the time and I had begged my mom for an iPhone all year. I opened the present AND...
it was one of those toddler toy phones that you drag around with a string. Turns out my 1 year old brother was my secret santa.
#134
Literally, my brother turned around one Christmas with a gift he just got and tried to give it to me because he didn’t like it
#135
I also got a Birthday/Christmas gift from my brother,(December baby) He had one of his buddies staying with who was a traveling tattoo artist. Needless to say I got tat on my shoulder that is very colorful and regrettable.
#136
Body wash, girly deodorant, and a pube trimmer.
Trying to feminize a trans kid makes for bad times.
#137
When I was around six, my favorite things ever were deer. My tomboy self told my grandma this repeatedly, I never shut up about deer.
That Christmas, I got a kit to make FIFTY flippin' tiaras. FIFTY! No, she didn't have a brain/memory problem then, I know that for sure.
I stuck out my tongue when I got the tiara kit.
Then proceeded to return it for three stuffed elk.
#138
My dad gave me a coffee machine. In all the 27 years he has known me, I never ever drank coffee.
Well that's settled. Breanny doesn't drink coffee/doesn't have a coffee maker. They do now!
#139
One year after saving up all year and spending nothing on extras at all. (no movies, no games, nothing but what was necessary for life) I got my cousins, aunt, and uncle really expensive gifts. like $80+ per person and they were very personalized as well. This was the first year I was really able to show my thanks for being my family. All of them, gave me dollar store gifts. Mom and brother got about $40 worth and I got like .99c things. >.>
I know christmas is about giving and not recieving. but when you scraped and saved so hard, eating cheap food and everything to make someone else happy you would think you might get more than a "thats cool" from my aunt, and NO acknowledgment from any one else. I mean a "THANK YOU" would have been wonderful, a hug even better. But yeah worst chrismas ever.... (oh one of them gave me a box of expired chocolates that were growing mold because they opened it a month ago, didn't like them. and saved them for me)
#140
This one still bothers me. In a high school vocational class, we had a gift exchange. Barely knew anyone in the class, including the girl I needed to get the gift for. I had little money, and couldn't find anything decent. I ended up giving her a small plastic "trash can" full of "trash candies". She seemed like a nice girl.
#141
Underwear. Every year mom would buy me and my brothers underwear. As if 5-10 year old boys care about that. She's lucky we bothered to wear it.
How ungrateful. You fail to realize that every extra pair of underwear that you got that you and your brother wore, until it had skid marks, no doubt, was ONE MORE PAIR that your MOTHER had to WASH!!!
#142
Hmmm, well I once got a unwanted baby sister on Christmas.
#143
This didn't happen to me, but to my cousin. She was three at the time, Christmas Day. Her father Roy is sitting with his best friend who is showing Roy how to use the new hunting rifle Roy got for Christmas. Nobody knows how it happened, but the best friend accidentally shoots Roy, killing him instantly. My cousin has hated Christmas ever since.
#144
I got a hand-knit sweater with a puppy dog design! Seems fine, huh? It was full of holes. Holes literally EVERYWHERE. Not even small, they were huge holes. And I had to be TOLD that it was a puppy. It looked more like a mixed up ball of Play-Doh. Well, it's the thought that counts...
What could the thought have been? I'm pretty sure it didn't really count at all.
#145
I have gotten beer making kit (i don't drink) a pizza pan for fresh pizza (i didn't have an oven at the time) a blue ray movie of whatever the last bourne movie was (i neither like that series nor have a blue ray player) and also wooden puzzles, usually 1 every year(the kind you give to kids on a short trip to keep them busy, also since i was 20) all from my father.... good man, good heart......doesn't to know me too well.
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I think I was 15 when I was suffering from depression. Still do,even at 20, but it's calming down. Mom bought me several pairs of Christmas panties and I didn't find out until I lifted it in front of my entire family. She even encouraged me to show everyone as a joke. I knew she meant well, but I don't think she realized how much it hurt embarrassing me in front of a bunch of people. There was also another time where I mustered up the courage to record an album with me singing and give it to my dad for Christmas because he always complained that I gave up singing even though I had a really nice voice. Since I had low self-esteem and all that jazz I told him specifically to only listen for himself and no one else. For my sake. Instead he blasted it in front of my family and I ended up crying for the rest of my night in my room. I know he's proud of me, but sometimes it's difficult to explain to your family how hard it is living with depression. These are small things, but they can hurt.
same
It's not about a present. But... Around every single Christmas I'm dancing in National Theatre in "Nutcracker" ballet, and my family is proudly watching. And EVERY SINGLE YEAR, my grandpa is shouting like in a football game "That's my baby girl! That one in a first row! There she is, jumping around like a little monkey! Whoa, WE are so proud!!!" (everyone else's hiding behind the people)
My ex-husband got me one of those jewellery gift sets. One of those with earrings, necklace, watch, bracelet, everything. It would've been nice if he didn't force me to wear EVERYTHING all at once ALL THE TIME! It was really shiny and made me feel like a christmas tree. I know I might sound ungrateful, but it was a bribe present. For showing me how sorry he was after physically assaulting me because I had a private conversation with my mother that I wouldn't share the details of with him. We were discussing a surprise gift for him and he thought I was up to something devious and maybe discussing leaving him or something.
I think I was 15 when I was suffering from depression. Still do,even at 20, but it's calming down. Mom bought me several pairs of Christmas panties and I didn't find out until I lifted it in front of my entire family. She even encouraged me to show everyone as a joke. I knew she meant well, but I don't think she realized how much it hurt embarrassing me in front of a bunch of people. There was also another time where I mustered up the courage to record an album with me singing and give it to my dad for Christmas because he always complained that I gave up singing even though I had a really nice voice. Since I had low self-esteem and all that jazz I told him specifically to only listen for himself and no one else. For my sake. Instead he blasted it in front of my family and I ended up crying for the rest of my night in my room. I know he's proud of me, but sometimes it's difficult to explain to your family how hard it is living with depression. These are small things, but they can hurt.
same
It's not about a present. But... Around every single Christmas I'm dancing in National Theatre in "Nutcracker" ballet, and my family is proudly watching. And EVERY SINGLE YEAR, my grandpa is shouting like in a football game "That's my baby girl! That one in a first row! There she is, jumping around like a little monkey! Whoa, WE are so proud!!!" (everyone else's hiding behind the people)
My ex-husband got me one of those jewellery gift sets. One of those with earrings, necklace, watch, bracelet, everything. It would've been nice if he didn't force me to wear EVERYTHING all at once ALL THE TIME! It was really shiny and made me feel like a christmas tree. I know I might sound ungrateful, but it was a bribe present. For showing me how sorry he was after physically assaulting me because I had a private conversation with my mother that I wouldn't share the details of with him. We were discussing a surprise gift for him and he thought I was up to something devious and maybe discussing leaving him or something.