Dh got me a watch…from Primark

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Would this bother or am I being mean?

Dd went with Dh today to get my present.
Dd is only 6 and couldn’t resist and told me, when Dh went out that they got me a gold watch…from Primark 😬 Dd said to me that I’ve been wanting a watch for ages..?! I have literally never mentioned a watch and haven’t worn one for years. If I wanted to wear one, I have a classic silver Armani one from years ago that just needs a new battery, i’d wear that.
Dd was excited so I made all the right noises and acted excited

Is it just me? I didn’t even know they sold watches in Primark. I’m not knocking the shop as would be happy with fluffy socks, pjs, hot water bottle, candle..anything else really

Your DH has bought you a delightfully expensive present but your daughter insisted on buying mummy the Primark watch too. 🤔

Hmm 🤔 let’s see..! I’m thinking not

If it was from her then it would be lovely, but as a present from him it's awful. Do you help your DD choose gifts from her to your DH? If not, I would bring that in for next year so that she can choose her own gifts to each of you.

I also find it a bit unpleasant that he seems to be roping her in to choosing his gift to you, as if he's training her for the "women's work" of gift giving. Does she help to choose the gift you get him?

https://www.primark.com/en-gb/search?q=Watch&tab=products

i didn’t know they sold watches either!

it sounds like it’s from your DD but DH paid? You will need to update us after Christmas!

My kids have bought me the most bizarre things that I have no idea why they think I would like them. I do, because they gave them to me. But they are frequently things I would otherwise drop off at the charity shop with a sigh of relief. Younger kids in particular really don't have a good frame of reference for working out the difference between what they like and what someone else would like. They see you very much in your mum role (and time and timekeeping is probably something they see as being part of you) and apply a child's "that's pretty" filter on top and have little idea of value or quality.

So if it's child lead, I can see why a 6 year old might see a glitzy "gold" watch as a great gift for mum.

If it's DH lead I would be raising an eyebrow, though if you have a "don't spend much on me, I don't mind" attitude to Christmas presents, I think that makes it a bit harder to reasonably object to something that seems a bit cheap and skewed - that sort of attitude can make it quite difficult to buy for you.

I think she chose it. And I would wear it if I knew my child had chosen it. Sod what anyone else thinks. Unless its utterly hideous 😂
We dont really do gifts for each other. We spend a fortune on the kids though. Just a token 10 to 20 quid thing each for us. We buy things we want or need ourselves through the year.

I looked on the Primark website - some of them are quite inoffensive or even quite tasteful looking. I know the longevity won't be great but perhaps you could keep it for "special occasions" after wearing it on Christmas Day.

I do find men who are hopeless with presents need some guiding eg explicit instructions preferably accompanied by a link to the relevant item. My husband once was planning the romantic gift of a squash racquet for Christmas but even he realised that perhaps that wasn't the thing and bought me a silk nightdress instead - that I chose. One of my friends got a garden shovel as a Christmas gift. I had teenage sisters-in-law when I got engaged to my husband (who was in his twenties) and they mentioned years later that the quality of the gifts had gone up markedly since my arrival.

I’m pissed off for you. It is his responsibility to steer your DD towards something he knows you would like.

Seeing as you don't want a watch at all, at least it is only from Primark as anything else would feel like an almighty waste of money.

I like the idea from a pp of it being a 'special occasion' watch i.e worn to the dark cinema, under long sleeves etc

If it’s from dd, just wear it for special occasions. Though I wonder if there’s a jewellers next door to your Primark. Is your dh notorious for being cheap?

Don’t worry op, a few years time and your daughter can direct your DH reliably to something you actually want!

Maybe she meant Pandora? 😅

What have you bought him for Christmas, the last few years?

I said not to spend much
I don’t want to hurt his feelings

Look, you need to stop devaluing yourself or the people around you will devalue you. It will start with gifts which can seem grabby to you and insignificant, but you need to look at how you are valued beyond that. Is parenting shared equally? Is housework shared equally? Does your husband, instead of buying gifts you’d actually like, make plans that you enjoy showing you he has thought about what you like? Is he attentive generally?

My guess is that it was DD who desperately wanted to get you a watch so your husband let her choose you an affordable one to give you from her, rather than wasting a lot of money on one when he wasn’t actually convinced by DD’s insistence that you’d like one.

He sounds like a cheapskate to me. He relied on a 6 year old to tell him what you wanted as well… Who does that?! My 7 year old would probably say a soft toy or something. Getting the watch as a little gift from DD would be fair enough but he should have got you some else.

Ok so after some gentle investigation, Dd says that Dh decided on the watch and Dd chose which one…?!

I have so much tat from my children. But it is sweet that they chose it. My youngest had a full on meltdown one Christmas in Tesco because he wanted to buy me a bra. DH was mortified.

of course if that’s your present from your husband that’s shit.

Time to develop an allergy to cheap metals before you get the green wrist rash…

On Christmas day it will be a gift from your daughter, I reckon it would be best if you pretended to be pleased as she has been thoughtful.

Stop trying to spare his feelings. He'll never learn otherwise.

If you're not bothered about gifts then you wouldn't be posting. We get too accustomed to putting ourselves last all of the time and trying to convince ourselves we're fine with it.

Be really careful.

It’s cheap tat like that that ended up giving me a severe nickel allergy for life!

So he thought you'd actually like a watch and thought Primark. I'm not fussed on presents either but that is a bit of a slap in the face

They are 6 - it might not have been Primark and it also might not be a watch!

I’d prefer Patek 🙂