The shit Christmas presents of 22 thread.

[ChristmasPresentsof22]

Another year, another round of presents from family that I cannot use. I have a serious food allergy and another health condition that means that I can't eat or use some foods/cosmetics. These are not new health issues, had them since childhood, yet there is not a single gift out of the few that I received that I can make use of. I decided to be blunt this year (after years of unsuaitable gifts) and tell the givers that I can't use their gifts due allergy etc but thanks anyway. Now I'm an ungracious brat. Am I? "It's not their fault I'm fussy." I'm really not, I just don't want to get sick. I would prefer not to do the gift thing as I'm not overly bothered about that part of Christmas, but I would be ruining it for everyone else, everyone else who gets decent thoughtful presents based on knowing what they like, it's shit when those thoughts are not reciprocated.

Anyone else want to join the naff presents club.

My Boss gave all the line managers the same price. He delivered mine to me with the line "I know you don't drink wine, but you probably need to start" and then said something about the job being stressful.

Really he has a wine subscription and I think we get the bottles he doesn't use.

...did you read the thread title?

The patronising comment would have annoyed me even more than the knowingly unwanted gift!

I'm a wine drinker but I've never given any kind of alcohol without ascertaining whether it's something the person would actually drink.

I've just unwrapped a book from my SIL: 'Marketing for Dummies'

I'm a marketing director with 25 years experience and have a team of 15 reporting to me.

I can only imagine they saw the word marketing and thought it would be perfect....

@restingwitchfaces or it was a joke present?

😂

I'll take it one step further and say that chocolates are not a present. They're something you take to someone's house to thank them for hosting.

I can just about accept them in a stocking, where it's one of many gifts. Do people actually waste time wrapping chocolate and presenting it as a main gift?

I often wonder what the people who are so dismissive of gifts people have bought them (HC chocolates clearly are not vile) buy other people? Do they take the same amount of effort to find out the likes/dislikes/allergies of their giftees as they expect their gift givers to put into presents for them?

Yes, always. I want people to enjoy their gifts.

MIL loves a gift set. This year I got a Beefeater gin one. So much packs for a high ball tumbler, 2 bottles of tonic and two tiny gin miniatures. It’ll be used.😀

• so much packaging

My mum died in the summer. I didn't feel like hosting on Christmas Day, so we have my PIL round today. They've gone for a walk just now to let DH and I sort out the food.

My gift from them was a box of Ferrero Rocher, which were my late mum's absolutely favourite chocolates ever, so much so that I have to look away if I'm walking past a display of them in a supermarket because it's too painful a reminder. I thought PIL were trying to make a nice - but misguided - gesture in buying me something that would remind me of my mum (although I was thinking "oof, too soon" 😢), but MIL said that she'd bought them for my mum and it seemed a shame to let them go to waste 😲.

So, not only a gift that would upset me but it's also an out of date gift because my mum died in July and these are BBE October. Oh and I'm vegan anyway ☹️

I thanked them politely but DH was furious. He looked like he was just about to say something about how thoughtless and upsetting it was, but I gave him "the look", so he didn't say anything.

He got a pair of women's gloves and a box of jelly babies. He's diabetic, and has been for over 20 years.

We didn't say anything because they're in their 80s and they really wouldn't have meant to be unkind, but seriously, I did not need that ☹️. We're thinking that both of them are starting to show early signs of dementia, but that's a conversation for another day.

Please send any unwanted Hotel Chocolat stuff my way - I bloody love the stuff and would never buy it for myself!

We do a secret Santa for the adult family members to avoid tat from mil/bro in law. I always get a thoughtful gift for my secret Santa recipient. Rarely get one back though, I can't stand unnecessary tat and clutter. I don't like scented candles, they give me a headache. Gave 10 or so of the things away to neighbours recently, all unwanted gifts. MIL still buys presents for the adults despite the secret Santa, her and bil are obsessed with presents I find it a bit childish and wasteful. Just focus on buying nice things for DC in family.

Not Xmas but a birthday present, my father (notoriously 'careful') gave my mother a white china cat, the type you'd win at a funfair and he'd actually painted in the eyes. She wasn't sure how to react!

Not this year (fortunately) but years ago my ex husband's brother and his wife gave us a child's annual for Christmas.
Some kind of animal thing, Animal Hospital or such like. That was it. The annual. Nothing else.
We were both in our thirties, and we'd spent about £30 (this was in the 90s) on their little one, and bought treats for their dogs. Which wasn't even reciprocated for ours, even though we'd done that for years.
I've no idea what they were thinking. I was annoyed and he wouldn't say anything.

From the in-laws I got a plastic long handled body puff scrunchy thingy back washer, 2 bottles of radox shower gel, baylis & harding bath bombs, Beatrix Potter initial of my name???

I’m intrigued. What kind of stuff does she get you? That’s exactly what my ex’s Mum used to do

What utter nonsense. Of course they're a present! What makes chocolates different from anything else you might buy for someone? There's a reason some presents are given more often than others and thus become predictable gifts - they're easy to get hold of, attractively packaged, often not something most of us buy for ourselves routinely, and likely to find favour with a wide range of recipients.

My ex was like this, despite him demanding I get him expensive stuff.

I mean it wasn't like the dates were a surprise to him every year. I'd get excuses like "I didn't have time".

I left him over 5 years ago, and while I don't get many presents these days, I do get lovely stuff from my kids and brother. Being away from him is so worth it, the lack of respect for me wasn't confined to lack of gifts. I'm not materialistic, but not bothering to get even a token gift, or even a card, just screams lack of respect. I'd be the one organising gifts from the kids when they were small, he never, ever bothered to help out there.

What utter nonsense. Of course they're a present! What makes chocolates different from anything else you might buy for someone? There's a reason some presents are given more often than others and thus become predictable gifts - they're easy to get hold of, attractively packaged, often not something most of us buy for ourselves routinely, and likely to find favour with a wide range of recipients.

Yes, and that's lovely as a token to take to someone's home over the holiday.

As an ACTUAL gift, where that's THE present, it's cheap and lazy. No different to wrapping biscuits, crackers, cake or crisps. Then again, maybe you see nothing wrong with those either.

This is last year, but my mum who has since passed away got her 3 granddaughters aged 14 and 10 a three pack of M&S handcream, lily of the valley, rose and lavender. Their face was a picture! Bless her she meant well 😂

I've just heard from my 85 year old aunt. She's had to invite her 84 year old neighbour in because she can't unpack the two touch lamps I've bought her - 'the bread knife isn't touching the cardboard, it's so thick'. I never want to be old.

Apparently I am a giver of shit presents to my BIL and his wife and child. They are v difficult to buy for and refuse to give us any hints (and kept sending us the same £30 hamper of shite for years, for which we would politely thank them and give to neighbours and food bank).
I tried to think of something they would enjoy and use but wouldn’t have bought for themselves.
One year we sent them stuff from a gourmet shop: olive oil - plain, garlic and chilli - balsamic vinegar and some expensive nibbles. Got a note which included a P.S. ‘Thanks for the gifts. Just what we need - more oil.’
Last year I got some miraculous guidance from my BIL: ‘Gin is always welcome. [Child 14] is into Harry Potter and anything in French’.

Based in this our gifts to them were:

• bottle of nice gin made in the place we were living (abroad)
• variety of Fever Tree mixers to accompany it
• 3 smaller bottles of non-alcoholic gin for BIL’s wife who was not able to drink at the time due to medical treatment
• beautifully illustrated book on different aspects of Harry Potter in French

This was all pretty heavy so we delivered to PILs knowing that BIL and family would be there on Boxing Day and could pick up together with their other presents. The frosty response a few weeks later was: ‘Let’s not do Christmas presents going forward.’ Not a word of thanks. It seems that one of the reasons they were pissed off was that the presents had not been delivered to them before Dec 25th. Presumably the other reasons were that they didn’t like gin, French or Harry Potter. But let’s face it, the main reason is that they are determined not to like anything we give them.

Nonsense - I struggle to get the kids’ dressing gowns off them and they’re 5 & 15 months!