other people, that have gone down like a lead balloon? You always get threads about what Mumsnetters have received that they didn't appreciate, but what about when the boot's on the other foot?
I bought my dad a telescope. A proper hugely expensive professional one. I thought he'd like it as he's always going on about the moon etc. He's never used it.
My mum plants a tonne of bulbs in pots each year and heaves them about all over the garden, first to scrub them, then to fill them, then moving them from the rabbit-proof area to where she wants to place them. She always strains herself and moans about how hard work it is so I bought her a Handimoova (a sort of trolley for moving these things as effortlessly as possible) and she hated it on sight. She's abandoned it in her store room. Ditto the gorgeous hanging basket brackets I bought her as she was upset about the rabbits ruining her containers.
My brother I bought a murder mystery gangster game and some props when he moved into his new house, thinking he might like to have a murder mystery night as his housewarming. No, was the answer to that.
My sister, when she was about 17 I bought her a Hippity Hop (designed for teens/playful adults, it wasn't a kids' one) and she never had it out of the box. With hindsight I see that it wasn't really 'her'.
I bought a friend of mine a book I had enjoyed and she wasn't backwards about coming forwards telling me she didn't like reading. Another time she freaked out when I gave her some fancy chocolates and our mutual best friend a cushion. She would have preferred a similar cushion apparently.
What about you lot?