Good Lord, I've just received an e-mail from a friend with a link to her Christmas present wishlist

[WhizzBangCaligula]

Is this normal? Is the mania for control-freakery about presents extending from weddings to christmas and birthdays? Will it one day be bad manners to buy a gift spontaneously for someone, without checking their wishlist first?

FFS, am I just a terrible old fart who ought to get over it?

thats awful, I would be to embarassed to do that maybe Im an old fart as well I really do believe its the thought that counts

no cod

im 33 and i bloody love xmas

you are THREE oyu mean

Actually - that sounds awful - I mean he chose to marry her, so he must've been a bit like that already. But when he's had a drink or three he has been known to say that he sometimes wonders what he's doing in that marriage. I mean - my mum bought the kids some t-shirts from Primark just for playing in her garden. She made the mistake of sending my nephew home wearing one - it got sent straight to the charity shop because she couldn't face the idea of her son wearing things from Primark!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm ranting, now. She can be very nice, sometimes.

but i do love xmas

ahs something to do with the Prada bag dh got me last year

Bet you don't play with it in the garden, though

rant away fortyplus

my SIL is getting her 3 yr old a full size £600 drum kit for his xmas

she wants him to be 'cool' and be in a band

wft????????????

where's the fucking list then?

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
Poor old Rudolph's going to be knackered on Boxing Day, then, isn't he?

One of my wealthier friends bought their kid a motorbike a few years ago - age 8. He rode it round their (2/3 acre) garden, lost control and crashed it right through their patio doors. Luckily child wasn't hurt.

Why do people feel they have to do this?

Stop teasing us. We want to see it or at least some excerpts!

Caligula
Show us the list
or are you a list tease

please link to the list, she'll never know... and you must reply to the the effect that it seems to have been delivered to your inbox by mistake and wouldn't she be better off printing it out and sticking it up her chimney? (or her chuff, whichever is easiest.)

Christ I was too embarrased to even put a wedding gift list together.

SPRAY@ "chuff"

Oh I'm being a terrible old list-tease aren't I?

I can't see the list, because the bloody link won't even work. Suffice it to say that one of the books that is shown on the e-mail, is Gillian McPoo's book.

well that just says it all calig

give her a tupperware box and a face mask

We do lists inside the family, largely because my ILs want a list, and they do seem to spend lots of ££. Annoyingly, they want to give me clothing and housewares, but I find it hard to specify those exactly enough, so tend to ask for books, and they then ignore me. [weary]

omg, at a Christmas wish list for a friend! I don't buy for friends, do people, in general?

but, oh list-teaser, if you go to Amazon you can just put in her name and the list will come up...

I don't buy for friends and make it perfectly clear I don't.

Send it back saying you sent this by mistake - how about we stop ding presents.

Christmas presents are for children and close family, I reckon. It just gets out of hand, otherwise, though I'm all for sending teacher/Scout leader etc a token something chosen by the child. (Fortunately mine know their teachers' favourite tipples - from an early age they said 'Ladies like to drink red wine, don't they?' Wonder what gave them that idea?

@@FORTYPLUS@@**@

Why do I want a donkey for Christmas????

So you can call it a kid

Ah!!

Ha bloody Ha

Do you normally buy her a present caligula? I only buy for one adult friend. She is getting some homemade chutney and a nice cheese, probably wensleydale.