for taking DH's absolute inabilty to choose me a nice present so bloody personally and not faking gratitude

[halohasslipped]

Dh has just landed after being away for a while. Beautiful clothes for DC's and a travel toiletry bag for me. Having told him about a month ago that i hate his toiletry bag as it's so cumbersome to pack i feel so gutted. I REALLY wasn't expecting anything, so knowing he went out and then got something so wrong really upsets me. You still have to put stuff in plastic bags anyway before you put it in so it renders it all pretty useless and it was quite expensive.

He's upset and i'm upset and i feel like such a bitch because i failed to lie and pretend i like it.

zipzap and karma, Thank you for caring!

Sadly my mother is one of those who would keep the Relationships board busy for a decade or two. Suffice to say, I don't have the clock.

She also once gave me a present that she had orginally been given by my dad, and then took it back when she realised how valuable it was, with the words, 'You won't appreciate it.'

Has anyone said yet that OP should not be packing her DH's toiletry bag for his business trips? Especially if she hates it?

I'm sure as a grown man he'd figure it out eventually.

RunningDay, If memory serves, no, that hasn't been discussed.

I'm seeing the thread has moved to unwanted gifts in general since then

XH gave me an anchor once. For his boat.

DB gave me a box of extra long matches for the same birthday.

Ach, LineRunner that's a pretty rotten, to say the least, about the clock and the other gift

Did you smoke extra long cigarretes then Cinnabar?

cigarettes even.

LineRunner, I take it the irony of that last gift was lost on your mother.

Oh yes, karma, lost in the mists!

Is it normal maybe for people to buy stuff for others that they really just want to have for themselves - a very artefactual projection?

Might explain the toiletry bag.

Not sure LineRunner. I am a rubbish present buyer, when it comes to stuff for dh, but so far have managed not to buy him a new handbag, just because I want one

I see all your crap gifts and raise you a sack of spuds.

An immense sack containing at least 30kg of potatoes purchased from a farm shop and presented with the immortal words 'Look what I've bought you - I'm sure this'll make you feel better'.

To be fair, it wasn't Christmas or my birthday; I was bedridden with a severe bout of 'flu and, before he left for work, managed to feebly croak ask him to please bring home a bottle of Robinson's Lemon Barleywater and a packet of codeine tablets on his return. Needless to say, my request fell on deaf ears.

Oooh, heavy trumping going on there, Izzy! I think it's always the accompanying words that make the occasion, don't you?

CinnaBar , how did your DH present his the anchor to you? Was it a comedy anchor, tightly wrapped in form-fitting paper? 'Darling, I thought this might be just what you've always wanted. Can you guess what it is yet?'

I searched for the octopus present thread, by the way, but gave up can't find it yet.

However Octopus was suggested on one thread as a Baby Name.

So's all well in the world, then.

Octopus as a baby name? Seriously?

Do you think these people are misreading "Folic Acid" and are just taking Acid?

I wish people would not buy anything for me when it's just a token gift and no thought has gone into it. My DH is like yours OP. He seems to think the more he spends on the gift, the more meaning it has. I find it very hard to bite my tongue. YANBU.

You sound really ungrateful. I would just be delighted dh was home and that he thought of me and bought something - maybe he didn't have much time or didn't see anything else he thought you'd like.

The tri fold brown suede Bric's toiletry bag now has a new owner. DH has claimed his prize.

ps I didn't pack his bag previously, he was trying to fit it into our suitcase before and that's when i'd noticed that it was such a crap concept. Small (water proof) toiletry bags are a good idea, leaky hold alls for everything in the bathroom larger ones are not.

As a by the bye, I've changed my mind about money being a thoughtless gift, since the DC grew older.

My [ex]H and his family refuse to give the DC money for birthdays and Xmas, even when that would be fab and wanted and really appreciated as the DC are saving towards something 'big'. The [Ex]H and PiL believe that money has no 'meaning' as a gift. So they buy useless gifts like books that the DC already own.

Having said that, money given by a DH to his DW out of the joint account (as described above) is special in its wrongness!

My DH once bought mne a loo brush for Christmas. It's not quite as bad as it sounds (well, it is, actually - it was a loo brush for Christmas FFS) we had just had our bathroom redone, and it was a 'posh designer' loo brush by all accounts. Anyway, generally he is very generous and gets it almost right most of the time.

Was it Faberge, Fellatio?

I was once bought cellutite cream and a roller for my thighs. By Dhs grandmother.

In fairness to her, I think it had come as a free gift from Avon and it wasnt the only present she gave me, it was a wee add on I think she thought I might use (being a bit vain and having a bathroom full of stuff). I did wonder for a bit though...

Im going to sound all smug here but DH is great at gifts, puts a lot of thought in and has good taste, and always manages to surprise me as he doesnt like being predictable (Radley shoes for this last bday!!)

Lovely man. However I know a lot of women who have lovely husbands who are just woefully inadequate at finding presents and get in a real state, its quite a shame really!

I am crap at buying presents. DH's last birthday it was painful to watch his face, we had incredulous snorting, bitter laughs, muttered WTFs and overall confusion ending with his genuine sorrow. Lots of sighs all morning.

No actual tears yet though, maybe we'll crack that at Christmas.

No, he didn't even attempt to wrap the anchor - it was in the boot of his car because "it will be easier to carry to the boat from there". My birthday's in February, so we then spent a miserable and freezing weekend trying to fit the bloody thing. I was not amused.

I have no idea why DB thought extra long matches were a fitting idea. But TBF I did end up using them to light my temperamental hob.

A loo brush and an anchor ?