Odd kids' birthday gifts, is it just us? (LH)

[JacobeanWilson]

Light hearted, I need cheering up.

My DC's birthday this weekend. Turned 9, average size for age. Gift from one of the BFF's... clothing age 7! She has not been in that size for over 2 years! The bff's parents would know this won't fit, as their DC is the same size (not a money issue, parents in good jobs, nice house etc.) so it's just weird!

But it reminded me of a couple of years ago when another of my DC got one of those messenger bags you colour in yourself. Except the pens were missing. And the tags keeping the bag in place had all been removed with the bag slid loosely back in place ie it had obviously been opened & toyed with but decided against keeping & palmed it off with vital bits missing! (again a well off family, not a money issue).

Maybe a symptom of birthdays after Christmas & people getting rid of things they received but didn't want! So is it just us?

Note: this is about inappropriate / dubious gifting kids in any form and not about complaining re cheap gifts (the clothing example wasn't cheap so it's nothing to do with value of the item but the actual item itself). I personally spend more time than I should getting nice / appropriate gifts for people I know & my kids friends, therefore I notice blatantly inappropriate gifts at 100 paces, yin to my yang.

So... has anyone else's DC had equally random, surprising & amusing gifting experiences you care to share..?

MIL asked what DD would like for her 5th birthday. She was just getting into Lego so I said Lego friends. She came back a couple of weeks later and said that she’d looked at the Lego friends and decided not to as it was sexist, the sets were too girly, not enough building etc. Fair enough, that’s up to her. She then presented my DD with a £££ designer dress. Which she wore twice. Very generous but just a rubbish present for a 5 yr old and she would never in a million years buy my DS clothes for a birthday/Christmas present so not really flying the feminist flag

She also has form for having a great idea for a present and then it just taking forever to come. We suggested a picture for DD’s recent 8th birthday. She asked for ideas so i found a place that does reasonably priced prints and gave a few options. She then asked which specific one she’d like so I got her to choose and sent her the direct link to the right size etc. Still nothing and birthday was September.....

My Dd was 19 on Friday. She's a tiny size 6 and her aunt gave her clothes from next that were something the aunt would choose to wear in a size 10. I'm a 10 and they were huge on me.

I don't actually mind clothes and presents for ages older than the kids. Kids grow into them. If the present is not appropriate for their age then I just keep it packed away until they are ready. I do mid short clothes and toys for which my child is too old for.

Oh I've just remembered another.

My brother bought my eldest 2 ds crossbows. The arrows were blunt but still! They were 5 & 6. They lived on top of the fridge for a while and then I binned them after deciding there is never a right age to own a crossbow.

MIL sent a couple of pairs of knickers for very skinny hipped then 4 year old DD who was still wearing size 2 to 3 ones. Size 8 to 9 they were "they'll be big so just keep them til they fit". Erm no, I'm not keeping Primark knickers for what could be 7 years Sharon.

When DS was 14m old he was given a jumper for Christmas. Fine, except it was age 7-8yrs. He is very tall for his age but still!

This Christmas he was 3. My gran said she had wanted to buy him a jigsaw but was worried a 30 piece one would be too hard for him. Instead she bought him a rubix cube, bless her!

@jacobean wilso. i love you,squoze is a word.i knew it!

My DD got a very old and dented,dusty gift set of talc for her 6th birthday!

My Nana once bought me a leather cigarette holder. Bless her she thought it was a purse!! My mam soon took hold of it and kept it!!

^ I was 12

@Lovemusic33

I have a brother with special needs and people always find it so hard to buy for him. Maybe they thought what you suggested was too childish so got the more grown up version? Not right I know, but I think some times people think we baby them too much, when really it is because we know them. For instance my brother is 25 and plays with blocks, the much bigger version of lego. He was once bought lego but we had to bring it back!

I think it can be easy to forget what things work for younger ages when your kids are long past that stage (I mean like the differences between a 3 and 6 year old, not 18 mo and ten.)

(Psst - I'm sure those kids would have loved the cross bows! )

For my daughters 5th birthday party at the end of Feb she received a tin of Christmas biscuits 🤷🏻‍♀️ she has also been given a blinged up wine glass with the name Jessica spelt out in crystals (her name is not Jessica or anything remotely close!)

DD once received a christmas gift from a close relative that was a notebook/pen set. All the packaging had been previously ripped open then very badly sellotaped back together. None of the felt pens worked either, all had been used and dried up. It would have more thoughtful to buy her a cheap selection box instead. They admitted they had purchased it from Ebay and it wasn’t brand new. No shit Sherlock.

My DS had a 5th bday party for school friends and one bought him a tiny wheelie bin. Nothing in it, just a green plastic wheelie bin, but about inches high. Absolutely no idea what it was for or where it was from Bookmark.
It’s a desk tidy or pencil pot.

My local Council gives them away to promote its recycling scheme.

I remember when DS was 10 weeks old, my husband’s cousin came to stay. She brought with her, from the US, a Nike coat aged 4 years in grey and black polyester. This was for our small, eczematous PFB who we were only dressing in soft cotton baby clothing...

A relative of mine always gets me stuff by a pop artist who had their heyday in the 80s - her music (including the same album twice) and even a book she's written. I've never particularly liked her, even back in the day, and never mentioned any liking for her stuff.

I bought a lovely jumper for a three year old girl last year from Next, online. I didn't take it out of the packaging but when the parents did, they saw it was for a 3 month old, not three year old. Well obviously I returned it and gave them the money but I was a bit cross with Next - however, on checking, I saw that I had clicked on the wrong size when ordering, my mistake. Such things happen.

Giving someone a present with bits missing is just not on though.

My uncle and aunt always buy inappropriate gifts for my kids. Their only child is just a year older than my oldest so it's not like they're out of touch...they just aren't interested in what my kids like.

This Christmas they bought both kids colouring books and sweets. The kids dont like Star Wars or Frozen and my daughter is vegan so couldnt eat the sweets. Its always been like this...I used to say "its the thought that counts" but there just isnt any thought! Just like when they used to buy me boxes of sweets or biscuits knowing full well that i'm diabetic.

For his 1st birthday DS received an alarm clock with a card saying it was “for those mornings when you need to get up early”

Out of interest, do you buy a replacement gift for your child when you do this? I am inconsistent in this area!
We don't usually do that, except in the case of duplicates - I usually find out how much it cost and give the kids the money for it instead, then the gift if its a good one can go to one of their friends (not the giver, obviously!) or to a charity shop.

We had some random gifts for a birthday a couple of years ago, but it was because, due to a family tragedy, I organized it with 2 days notice to the guests midweek. I was just grateful they made the effort to turn up so the presents were all heroic regardless of how random.

The gift I would have thought the oddest was my kid's favourite - a homemade lego set. All the pieces and hand drawn instructions for making a fairly eclectic vehicle. Clearly done quite quickly (how else would you get most 7 year olds to draw leg instructions!) and packaged in a ziplock bag. My DD loved that lego kit and it has pride of place next to super expensive Creative Expert kits in her bedroom. Obviously, that wasn't an "I don't want this, you have it." regift. It had a bit of personality in it and the circumstances would have excused anything.

My adult cousin enjoys the WWE kids magazines (all good, no judgment ofc) and for Christmas he gave my son two old copies with most of the free gifts missing.

My daughter was given a small cricket bat for her 1st birthday that the grandparent had gotten for free at their work - said GP was going to get her something else as they 'hadn't had time to get her anything' and wanted to be able to give her something on the day lol. My DH and I still joke about it sometimes, we don't actually care but found it funny.