To stop collecting?

[7yo7yo]

A relative passed away a while ago. She had a set of 3 jewelled elephants, big, medium and small.
The family gave me the set as they remembered I’d liked playing with them as a child. All good, I put them on the landing window and they make me smile in memory of the relative (occasionally).
It seems I’ve started a collection by stealth. I’ve received several elephantastic items. A pillow with an elephant, a display plate, a blanket with a family of elephants, more “collectible” elephants, a thimble with an elephant and the latest is a fucking Pair of salt and pepper elephant shakers as well as a bag with elephants on etc.
I have no elephant affiliation at all. How do I stop this.
AIBU to not accept anything?
Has anyone else had a collection started by stealth?

LOL but your collection sounds quite nice!

Another elefuckingphant to add to the collection. A thimble.
Then someone saw it and bought me a corona ridden thimble from Dubai. So it looks like I’m now collecting thimbles.

I’m sorry but this is hilarious!

@Bannerpants - same here. I have one pug and two chihuahuas. I love all three of them. But I don’t want my house full of shut with random dogs on them, thanks very much. My mother is the worst offender. She buys me crap for every occasion with dogs on. I’ve told her I don’t want it but she still persists (that’s another story). It’s always really tacky too, like the crap you’d get at an indoor market stall. And for some reason the choice of dogs are always particularly hideous and look like they’ve have their faces smashed in a door a few times.

The worst was a clock and the entire face was this very ugly, very overweight pug just staring at you. Oh yes, mother, we’ve just moved into a brand new house and I’m trying very hard to tastefully decorate it in a style that suits OH and I, but of course I’ll stick the hideous pug clock up. NOT.

I had this, I think I might have said once I like highland cows, now the house is fucking covered in them. I've even got a cushion with one on them, I mean 'come on' who buys someone a bloody cushion for their birthday!

A distant relative of my mothers worked in a field related to bears, when I was born my Grandmother bought me a beautiful, good quality old fashioned teddy bear with movable arms and legs, not really a toy but more of a decoration so he’s still in great condition. He was named in honour of the distant relative of my mother’s.

Other than this one excellent bear who sits on the bed in our spare room I have no interest in teddy bears or soft toys.

My MIL keeps buying me the crappiest, cheapest nastiest soft toys from where ever she goes because I “like teddy bears”, I don’t need a stuffed donkey with the words “my mum went to Greece and all I got was this Donkey” embroidered on it! She’s not even MY mum!

Unicorns... I have absolutely no clue why.
One birthday I got pyjamas with unicorns on, a unicorn hot water bottle, 2 unicorn mugs, a unicorn teddy, a unicorn colour changing light up head, unicorn gin (that one I liked)
People now tag me in unicorn memes constantly

Flamingos. Liked them for ages then a few years ago every second piece of tat started being covered in flamingos and now I've got a house full of the sodding things and I can't stand the sight of them anymore. The main culprit for it lives near me too so I can't even offload them to the local charity shop as she might notice.

DP has a whole cardboard box in the loft filled with eggcups from his family.

He still has no idea how this started, but it's been going on since he was about six. He doesn't even like boiled eggs that much.

Yup, accidental rubber duck collection after an unfortunate naming of my first business. I now have 53 of the buggers in my mum's garage, I have no clue what to do with them!

I bought myself a cute notebook with cupcakes on, cue 3 years of cupcake related/printed gifts from in laws. Finally managed to wean them off that and made the mistake of buying a purse with owls on. I am now in the owl years and not sure how to get out!! Have a small collection of notebooks, tshirts, got given an "owl experience" and a rapidly expanding collection of figurines. Despite being quite delicate looking and requiring much dusring, DS has never managed to break one!

So today family members made some NHS elephants out of milk cartons and left them on my doorstep as a thank you.
I know I know there’s more serious things going on in the world but....

What’s an NHS elephant?!

I had this issue with sheep. For about 20 years people bought me sheep related paraphernalia which I got rid of 2 years ago upon moving house. People even bought me Shaun the Sheep shit. I have 1 sheep thing left that’s quite nice but the rest has been donated. They must’ve thought it came from some wacky sheep obsessed loon!

My gran was the worst for pressing a hobby onto you. She had done foreign stamps wouldn’t my brother like to collect stamps? My mum actually bought into this lunacy going and buying the albums etc. He was not interested but my gran kept getting stamps from foreign people she worked with (a large hospital so many people were not british) it was nice seeing where they all lived but not anything anyone had any interest in. A few years later she found my uncles birdwatching Books....wouldn’t my brother like to....no he is interested in sci-fi, conputers, fantasy..which they never understood it tried to understand.