All presents are shite

[singmoon]

Not really! But anytime I read a thread on Mumsnet about a present someone is thinking of giving, be it home made food, cosy hot chocolate set, national trust voucher, wine, candles, jewellery, whatever, half the thread says they'd hate it. They're allergic, don't eat sugar, never go on a day out, it's just tat, they only wear platinum and diamonds. To be honest, I've found it kind of freeing. I now know you really can't please all the people all the time, so I pick something I think someone will like and forget about it. And in real life, people are pleased with the thought, or I am. But the big lesson is, don't ask Mumsnet what they think of your present ideas. P.s I'd love some home made biscuits!

I don't usually get presents so I would be happy with a pair of gloves or socks, it really is just the thought and gift giving in itself

That's why we do wish lists in my family.

I kind of know what you mean. I tie myself in knots every year for one particular person and always barely get a smile of acknowledgment! this year I’m giving them a boots set and a gift receipt! They can please themselves.

I am so glad I don't do Xmas, honestly. I would have no idea what to buy.

Mumsnet would say about the homemade biscuits “EEEEWWW they would go straight in the bin as I don’t know their kitchen hygiene standards 🤮 “
Normal people “yum! Thank you!!”

We don’t do present giving anymore, now that the kids are adults. If I want something I’ll get it. They do the same. It avoids all the unnecessary and unwanted tat cluttering the house.

At Christmas we just focus on enjoying each other’s company and enjoying good food.

To be honest it was that reaction on another thread about home made cookies that prompted me to post.

Bit happy to eat something from takeaways and restaurants which is in no way quality hygiene assurance😂

I always wonder if their own standards are so low that they think everyone's are tbh

We do the same as @Ffififofum . We don't spend November and December agonising over presents and tearing around shopping and we don't spend January worrying about our bank balances or trying to find somewhere to put the 76 new items we don't want.

It's just fun, relaxing, spending time together and good food.

Am on that thread too. Mad!

I don’t really get gifts so I’d be made up with anything at all.

I am pathetic at IT. I don't have my own Amazon account but just ask DH if I want something. I can just about send him a link. He was working away and I wanted something on Black Friday so I thought I'd go on and order it. I wasn't really sure what I was doing and somehow got on to a purchased list. I now know DH has bought me a whippy ice cream maker, the power to put in it, a huge box of flakes and waffle cones. I will love it but I wish I hadn't found out before Xmas. He's got other stuff I expect is for me too and I feel really bad I've seen it. He always gets me great gifts and I feel under pressure to find things he'd like. He's having a new DeWalt power tool jigsaw but it's just replacing an old one. Im not sure if he can tell from his Amazon account that I've seen the purchased list. I feel a bit guilty.

But actually, it wouldn't matter what you planned on giving, there'd be dozens lining up to say it was a rubbish present, I've noticed this a lot.

I've got germ OCD so I struggle with this. I will eat from reputable restaurants but when other people make food I don't like to eat it. I just try to avoid it but sometimes I have to and I hate it

I've mainly bought animal adoptions at a wildlife centre for difficult people this year 😌
If they choose not to go and see their adopted animal and it's little plaque with the complementary entry ticket then so be it. There's no tat, no plastic, not homemade and it does good.

I absolutely love Christmas shopping. I enjoy browsing around for just the right thing for a particular person because it gives me joy. Whether or not they feel the same way about their gift is not up to me - I try! Am more than happy to receive anything from anyone - home baked to diamonds!

In my culture, there is no gift better than home made food. It's considered the best way, and for some of the older generation, the only way.

It does depend on context! When I worked in a school, there were definitely some homemade biscuit gifts that went straight out for the birds as soon as I got home. Sorry, but if the parent and kids aren't clean, I don't give much chance that the kitchen will be!

Haha, I saw that thread and so many people just couldn't wait to say 'Ew, no, you might have a house where a cat might have walked over the worktops in 1997' or 'No, we simply don't eat horrid sugary sweet things in our house, we'd be much happier with a basket of dried pulses' or 'They wouldn't get eaten, we already have far too much food at Christmas and none of us could manage a biscuit until February if we'd already eaten two satsumas and a walnut on Boxing Day'.

I think people just wanted to take the OP down peg or two because they were envious of her obvious baking talent. Mumsnet is so unpleasant like that.

I don't think there's any one gift that everyone likes to receive* so all you can do is pick something you think is appropriate based on what you know of the other person and hope for the best. If they like it, great. If they don't, well, you've fulfilled your obligation to buy a gift and they can donate it or re-gift it, so don't sweat it.

*Except perhaps a wad of cash. Although I've noticed that Mumsnet is also full of people who think giving cash is unacceptable and that anyone who dares to suggest it might be a good idea is 'grabby'.

Which is a good idea, in my opinion.

But there's always a few posters who respond to a 'Christmas wish list' thread to say it's tacky and grabby for adults to have a list of things they'd like. Honestly, nobody can win.