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Christmas

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Original poster

What is the worst Christmas present you ever received?

853 replies

Newdad19 · 12/11/2021 18:08

In the spirit of helping others prevent the same mistakes... what is the worst Christmas present you ever received?

Mines has to be the sculpted hand photo frame I received one year... that looked like someone's decapitated hand that held a photo for you in its palm Blush

OP posts:
WinterFirTree · 13/11/2021 12:59

The cracker box minus 2 crackers story reminds me of old friends of my ILs who would invite themselves to stay with us for a week every summer. (We live in a naice touristy area). We never said no as we did not wish to upset the ILs who liekd them enormously. They would stay for a weke, bring nothing and contribute nothing while expecting to be waited on hand and foot, cooked for and hauled around for sightseeing.

They never ever brought so much as a scented candle as a thank you gift. One year they DID bring a watermelon. I got quite excited as thought it was finally a gesture. But they ate it themselves.

WinterFirTree · 13/11/2021 13:00

So many typos. Just so so many.....

wthbrain · 13/11/2021 13:06

Chocolate body paint from my boyfriends dad when I was 17.

Ameanstreakamilewide · 13/11/2021 13:13

@wthbrain

Chocolate body paint from my boyfriends dad when I was 17.
🤯 Grim in the extreme!
HerkyBaby · 13/11/2021 13:14

A microscope instead of a girls world. Still devastated to be honest and it was over 40 years ago.

Cagedbirdsinging · 13/11/2021 13:16

From my husband - a 12" long penis (with testicles) made out of bright pink , highly scented soap . He didn't even bother to wrap it .

wthbrain · 13/11/2021 13:17

Ameanstreakamilewide, it was, Still remember how it made me feel.

HeyDuddy · 13/11/2021 13:25

I have already posted on here but thought of another one. My sister posted me a bunch of flowers in a box (not letterbox flowers)- an actual bunch from a supermarket. I live on a Scottish island and post takes a while (she knew this) so they arrived dead. My oldest still tells people that mummy once got sent dead flowers (it was my only present that year, from anyone so a pretty rubbish year!)

chicadelmonton · 13/11/2021 13:32

I got a pull-out of Alain Delon from Paris Match magazine from my father in law. I always look forward to his gifts.

TrickyD · 13/11/2021 13:38

I wasn't allowed to use my stickers either! DM always used to go on at me for "wasting" them, IE sticking them on paper! I asked her about it recently and she said stickers were expensive back then (nineties) and not so easy to find. Which is fair enough I suppose but still... I sometimes have the urge to say it to the DC when they're using stickers, but I stop myself because they're cheap and cheerful now.

She also worried about me "using up my felt tips" when I was colouring. What is the point of felt tips if not to use them? She still worries about my DC doing it, and no amount of reassurance that they have hundreds of pens seems to help!

If I was given a toy which ran on batteries, I was not allowed to play with it because it would “waste the batteries”. So the toy was rendered pointless as it could not be used.

Dontbeme · 13/11/2021 13:46

A Pyrex dish and and a tea-towel, by my older sister (who has swallowed and internalised the patriarchy so thinks we must be good little housewives to be "proper" women) I was 12.

HollowTalk · 13/11/2021 14:03

Mine was a Love Actually present where I got present B after finding present A.

ClosedAuraOpenMind · 13/11/2021 14:07

not so much my worst present but one I didn't receive....
I had a watch on an online wish list, mum said to me 'oh that's a nice watch, l bought it for your DSIL'
same year she gave my other DSIL her car, as she could no longer drive for medical reasons.
I got nothing

bakingdemon · 13/11/2021 14:12

@Hairwizard I asked for a new toaster for my birthday this year and for a cheese toastie maker last Christmas 😁

Kokeshi123 · 13/11/2021 14:15

I truly did not think that anyone could top "three dead rats," but "a grave" must surely be the winning entry on this thread.

nonevernotever · 13/11/2021 14:39

I don't think anything will beat the three dead rats!
Mine is the year my only gift from my parents was a jar of sudocreme. For my horse apparently. To make it worse that was the year my sister unwrapped a mountain of thoughtful gifts from them, including lots of lovely jewellery, several pairs of pyjamas and lots of other stuff. It genuinely wasn't until about Easter that the penny dropped and sister and I realized they had accidentally wrapped some presents they'd bought for me and labelled them for her. DH bless him talked to my parents about it and explained how upset I'd been .

I love my mil hugely, but really wish she just wouldn't waste her money on me. She means well but usually gets it just not quite right. So lots of toiletries that bring me out in hives (usually out of date 3for 2 offers she's found in a charity shop or car boot sale) or perfume when she knows that I never wear perfume, clothes that are absolutely to her taste, but absolutely not mine and twee ornaments usually with slogans on them. We started a family secret Santa, but that's almost worse! I don't know if people find me difficult to buy for so that she volunteers to buy for me each time, or if she just gives them hints about what would be perfect for nonever, but I can pretty much guarantee that whatever I get will be being given away by boxing day. This year's will be the same. DH was so appalled he showed it to me last week....it's a sludge coloured poloneck Cape in acrylic in her size not mine.

2020nymph · 13/11/2021 14:44

Mil presents can be very hit and miss, she has definite ideas on how a good mum/wife should be that I fall short of.

One year she bought be a gorgeous blue kimono with tropical flowers, I loved it and thanked her profusely. She then took it off me and gave it to bil's gf of 3 months saying she had labelled it wrong. Mine was a cheap, plain black version and in the wrong size.

CharityDingle · 13/11/2021 14:56

@Dontbeme

A Pyrex dish and and a tea-towel, by my older sister (who has swallowed and internalised the patriarchy so thinks we must be good little housewives to be "proper" women) I was 12.
What a ridiculous 'gift' for a 12 year old. Hmm
ifIwerenotanandroid · 13/11/2021 14:59

Secret Santas - I was part of one in a sewing group. Everyone else was opening real treats like gorgeous beads & sparkly threads, & I was looking forward to getting my gift. Unfortunately my 'Santa' was the most self-centred woman. She said she'd forgotten all about it so she'd grabbed something of her own on her way to the group. She handed me an unwrapped roll of 10 clear plastic pockets to go in an A4 binder.

Letdown.

CharityDingle · 13/11/2021 15:00

Mine is the year my only gift from my parents was a jar of sudocreme. For my horse apparently. To make it worse that was the year my sister unwrapped a mountain of thoughtful gifts from them, including lots of lovely jewellery, several pairs of pyjamas and lots of other stuff. It genuinely wasn't until about Easter that the penny dropped and sister and I realized they had accidentally wrapped some presents they'd bought for me and labelled them for her. DH bless him talked to my parents about it and explained how upset I'd been .

Did they not notice that all they had given you was a jar of sudocrem? I presume you were all receiving the 'gifts' at the same time? @nonevernotever

SpookyScarySkeletons · 13/11/2021 15:00

Secret Santa - we had a top spend of £15 each, office full of ladies so no jokey presents like the usual secret Santa, just nice things that we knew the receiver would love.

My gifter was the nasty cow in the corner who ate cold mushy peas every lunch time (I've mentioned her before on other threads)

I was given the free make up bag from the Avon catalogue that you were given as a free gift if you spent x pounds in the catalogue. I had the same catalogue and it should have had loads of free makeup and skincare samples in.

She kept all the samples and wrapped up the empty bag for me.

I'm just gutted she retired before the following Christmas so I could return the shitty favour 😂

EKGEMS · 13/11/2021 15:02

@Spacerader A deficiency of receiving good gifts

nonevernotever · 13/11/2021 15:04

@CharityDingle It was the first Christmas all together at my parents' house after Dniece was born so she (quite rightly :-) ) dominated. We're also used to DSister's pile of presents being much bigger because she is adopted and traced her birth family a few years previously, so she gets presents from all of them too.

nonevernotever · 13/11/2021 15:07

Lovely DSister noticed, and was mortified. That was also the year though ,that she'd given me a truly wonderful gift. (We'd both gone to a craft workshop earlier in the year and she'd won the raffle prize of a huge box filled with the most amazing embroidery threads, metallic threads, silk threads, beads etc. She'd decided she wouldn't do it justice and wrapped the whole box for me.)

OhThatChicken · 13/11/2021 15:09

A six month online subscription to Slimming World. I was overweight but had expressed no interest whatsoever in doing anything about it.

Thanks mum.

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