Worst present you received as a child

[threetethree]

Hopefully this doesn't offend anyone!

Was just thinking about my birthday when I was about 7. My auntie gave me a present and it was a cross stitch of a spider going up a drainpipe after it had rained
At that age i was TERRIFIED of spiders. I was visibly shaking as I threw it to the floor. It put me off opening any other presents.

So what was the worst present you received as a child?

But did it work?

@maxelly

Not really a terrible present in itself but one that grew in awkwardness over the years - I was a pony mad little girl which was a convenient source of presents for family, not sure if my Great Aunt (a lovely kind lady but a bit deaf) misheard or simply misjudged what I'd like, but she bought me a horse brass one year for Christmas when I was about 7 - I really had no use/liking for it, thought it was a bit ugly but nonetheless politely thanked her as instructed. Unfortunately I must have been a bit too enthusiastic as for every subsequent birthday and Christmas after for a decade or more she bought me more and more horse brasses, the poor lady must have scoured every charity shop, antiques market and jumble sale for miles around to turn up these things, often she would find 'troves' of 20 or more in one lot which she'd proudly present to me and I'd have to act more and more pleased and thankful - my 'collection' soon expanded beyond the one corner of my bedroom to cover all the walls, it honestly looked liked a pub saloon, thank god this was pre-internet days or I think she might honestly have bought me thousands of the things off ebay .

God rest her soul, when she died mum and I couldn't bring ourselves to bin or give away all the horse brasses as it was such a labour of love from her, and so they stayed in situ ugly-fying my childhood bedroom for many many years afterward - I didn't ever bring them to my house mind you

Horse brasses are worth alot of money nowadays!

(Had a collection also.)

@ChristmasRedSpottyScarf

You didn't live near my barmy Aunt did you? In her younger days she had worked at a factory that made sanitary products and got them free/very cheap from work. Any female visiting was likely to be handed a paper bag full as they left. In her more advanced years she was used incontinence pads and received huge packs of them (I assume on prescription or as some sort of care plan) and would try to give them to female visitors too.

Oh! i recall one year I was gifted a box set of sweet Valley high books which I LOVED. My aunt's new husband (who was a supercilious arse who did not last a year) was so rabidly scathing about it and what trash it was. Until i told him HE had gotten a Wilt book for christmas and that was equally as trashy but I was not rude enough to comment on it.

My parents were VERY hot on rudeness. They said nothing, and my dad gave me a wink.

(TBH I do not have an opinion on Wilt books.... but he was tlaking about reading material that is unedifying and rots the brain- so fuck him).

@amusedbush I love that I remember this story from another thread, please buy yourself one for Christmas!

[quote Hesnotlocal]@ChristmasRedSpottyScarf

You didn't live near my barmy Aunt did you? In her younger days she had worked at a factory that made sanitary products and got them free/very cheap from work. Any female visiting was likely to be handed a paper bag full as they left. In her more advanced years she was used incontinence pads and received huge packs of them (I assume on prescription or as some sort of care plan) and would try to give them to female visitors too.[/quote]
No- it would have been acceptable if from your barmy aunt! Our neighbour was a married man in his 50s with two teenage girls about my age and who once looked down my top when I was still in school and suggested I share his bed.

[shudder]

A battery operated, walking, bubble blowing clown 😩

Patchwork animal rucksack. Obviously shabby chic but looked like it was made out of rags and was terrifying. Fortunately I gave it to someone who LOVED it for years, so I'm glad it did get a good home!

I used to hate being given beauty products and socks when younger but they are the things I always run out of now and like receiving!

One Christmas morning my brother and I were opening presents from under the tree and I saw a beautiful animal encyclopaedia that wasn’t wrapped I was absolutely thrilled as I was certain it was for me ( I was a book worm ) any way it was for my brother who didn’t read and played with meccano and Lego , I got a type writer , I was gutted 😮

Make up brushes. When I was going through an ultra feminist phase and vehemently opposed to all make up 😂

A roll of wrapping paper. Auntie thought it was a poster

The worst ones are the big ones where my mum tried so hard to get it "right" and I ended up secretly sobbing I guilt later.

The expensive jacket from M&S that I would never have worn, the camera when I had no interest in taking photos. Left me feeling so horrendous and guilty and so sad that she really wanted to get me something I liked and how sad she would be to know that she hadn't done it.

The random tiny pot of jam from the neighbour or the packet of proper handkerchiefs from Great-Aunt Margaret are fine.

But the risk of it all going so wrong is too much and why I started trying to opt out of all presents from about 15.

My great aunt gave me a feather duster - the handle was the torso and head of an evil witch (plastic) and the feathers were her skirt. I wouldn't have minded, but my brothers got light sabers that actually lit up. They were out in the garden in the night being Jedis, and I was indoors trying not to sound ungrateful.

One year I got an anglepoise lamp (plain white) from my Dad for Christmas. I didn't really mind, but the next year I got another anglepoise lamp exactly the same!

However when I think of the horrible ornaments I bought my parents and forced them to display FOREVER....

I loved dolls when I was little one year my Granny bought me a bottle of matey wrapped up like a baby in a white towel, it was very odd.

Antique glass milk bottles.

I had a distant family member who had a hobby collecting old glass milk bottles. I went to visit them for a family dinner when I was about 10 and, in an attempt to make pleasant conversation, I remarked how lovely their milk bottle collection was (it was literally an entire room of their house and then shelves throughout the rest of the house too).

Thereafter, for every birthday, Christmas, graduation for the next 10 years, I got a milk bottle. I still have them. Somewhere, in storage. Actually, they are probably worth some money now, so maybe not such a bad gift after all, but my 10 year old self was not quite as impressed. I dreaded opening that box every Christmas, birthday...

Mother got me a pair of socks one year. Just that. She really isn’t a pleasant person.

A briefcase from my grandparents when I was about 9. My sister got a bike from then the same year

DappledThings I’ve had a few of those too. Years ago when straighteners first started to come on to the market, I asked for some GHDs for Christmas (I was about 19/20). They got me the Babyliss Steam Shot ones. I was gutted.

According to my DPs someone they knew had them and said “they were just as good” as GHDs. However, this person had trained as a hairdresser at one time and had pretty straight hair naturally. I hadn’t and didn’t. I have NEVER been able to blow mine straight and so needed a decent pair of straighteners. It also goes curly in humidity so I didn’t see how steam would help.

I know the GHDs were expensive, but I’d rather have had the GHDs and nothing else. As it was, they probably spent more in total on things I didn’t really want, as I got the Babyliss ones and lots of ‘bits’. I bought some GHDs myself and ended up hiding them . I still feel guilty now, over 20 years later.

I had a few duds, like a load of desk organiser stuff, talk about boring. (I've also given my share of duds!) But never anything that felt malicious. But I'm an only child so there was no prospect of favourites and not being favourite.

A pair of used legwarmers from the 80s, cool gift if you're in to vintage things but if you're an 8 year old girl in the 2000s not so much

Every year my sisters and I where given 2nd hand Christmas presents from my gm and aunt. Think scent bottles with 1cm of perfume left, or a lipstick ground down to the end.
One year my stepgdad got our presents for us. Bracelets which he had our names engraved so gm couldn’t take them back. Gm was furious.
Our cousins always used to get lovely presents.

Anything shared with dsis.

We were very different in likes, so if one of us loved it, the other would be indifferent.
It inevitably was stored in her room because it was about four times the size of mibe, so if I wanted to use it, I had to ask. Meant I very rarely got any use out of it.

When I was younger I used to hate receiving clothes such as socks and jumpers! Fast forward to now I would love a pack of socks or a JUMPER! They are the most precious gift and most underrated gifts!

My gran had been on bad terms with her son, my dad, for a few years but they reconciled when I was three. We were invited to hers for Christmas day, and my present was a pink toothbrush. My mum was furious, because in the other room was my cousin's present, a little red scooter!

My first bicycle. For some reason Mum thought I would like a bike with Roland rats face on the front and on the frame. I found the TV show slightly terrifying. I'm sure it had something to do with my older sister (6years older) who was an awful bully to me growing up.
Any other motif would have been acceptable. My little sister got a lovely my little pony bike for her first bike. Wonder why she didn't have mine handed down.