What is the worst Christmas present you ever received?

[Newdad19]

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

A waterproof case cover for the violin I rarely played indoors and which never left the house.

@JesusInTheCabbageVan

Three dead rats that my dad found in a bin.

I know it sounds bad... basically the science department in his school were having a clear out, and he found them (foetuses in various stages of development, encased in perspex), brought then home and wrapped then for me 'because I liked science'. I was doing a physics degree....

I'd love that

My auntie used to buy me earrings every year from when I was very young, despite my dad telling her I didn't have my ears pierced (I only got them done when I was 18).

She'd apologise, say she was 'mortified', and then do the same thing the year after.

Over 30 years ago now. My mum had 2 cousins invite themselves for Christmas to stay at the last minute. She hadn’t seen then or kept in contact with them. ( Irish hospitality) can’t offend anyone. Anyway i received a flimsy travel map given away with the Daily mail. There were 4 parts, but this was just one( not that I wanted anymore).

My lovely mum who had given up her own bed, fed these strangers for 4 days morning,noon and night and in between, was given a pack of bacon. Couldn’t even use it as they had kept in their handbag.

One of those fake cat-in-a-sack toys from my brother (he was about 11 at the time). Every time you hit it, the sack shook and yowled, followed by the sound of a splash and then drowning. It was bloody awful but pre-teenage DB clearly thought it was the funniest thing ever.

He does cringe now when we talk about worst Christmas gifts!

My late Nan was the mistress of naff presents. We never let her know and honestly we have great memories of them and her. She was lovely.

One that really sticks though is the year she gave me a shiny gold spandex skirt. It was about an inch below my nether regions. When I say gold, I mean really gold! Think cheap plastic jewellery gold. I was a size 20 and had just given birth to my youngest.

My sister was given the matching blouse. We spent the next 2 years sliding both items into each other’s bags whenever we had a catch up ‘to keep the set together’.

Oh and my DH late Nan gave us a wooden turn table thingy that you put on a car seat to help get in and out of the car. We were both completely able to do it, so we assumed it was a hint for us to take her to bingo more often.

A board game called Chav!

"Have you got what it takes to blag your way onto disability benefit? Have you got more bling than Mr. T? Will you pay your outstanding court fines or blow your Giro money on a quick trip to Ayia Napa? Find out when you and ya cru live it up large with Chav the board game where everyone thinks and lives like a chav."

No longer available on Amazon, sadly

@Harmonypuss

Many years ago, not long after I'd bought my house and had the conservatory added (for my pedigree house cats to play in), my bf bought me loads of plants to put in the conservatory. This might have been a nice idea if the cats weren't going to be allowed in there but I'd told him why I'd had it built, then he bought these plants (none of which I would have chosen myself plus one would actually have been lethal to the cats). I was actually at his house for Xmas, so he'd given these to me there, I was deliberately in a really bad mood for 2 days and intentionally left the plants there when I left. He called me the following day telling me I'd forgotten to take them with me and I said I'd not forgotten anything, I'd left them there because they were a rubbish gift. The following xmas he bought me a very expensive but vile watch (I already had at least 8 watches),I opened it, looked at it, closed the box and left it on his display cabinet and that's where it sat for several years. He found it after about 7yrs and asked me why I'd never had it out of the box and I told him it was ugly, it had a stretchy wristband (old lady style - I was only 30 when he bought it). Soon after this I have up on his shirt gifts, left him and started buying myself gifts I liked/wanted instead.

@Harmonypuss you sound so ungrateful. They sound like lovely gifts and a simple but nice conversation would have resolved them rather than acting like a spoiled child. I'm glad you were kind enough to leave him.

Ticket to see an orchestra play Beatles music.
DM had asked whether I wanted to go with her to a concert and I said OK so she would have someone to go with. What I didn’t know was that the ticket was my birthday present that year.

She's also managed to buy DCs rubbish presents. She asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I said some nice towels for the new bathroom. Everyone in the family got a towel for Christmas that year! The kids were so disappointed!

From mil - a lady shave! Was not overly hairy and had never mentioned about getting one!
One year (also mil) I had to sit and open a pile of tat, whilst they gave dh loads of lovely stuff. I’m far too polite, so just said thank you to each and every gift! Think, a box of biscuits compared to a £200 watch!
I don’t mind cheap gifts, but can’t stand the inequality.

Some of these are really sad.
I hope all of you realised you deserved better.

And Shame in those ‘givers’.

@FanGirlX

Pensioner clothing from my mum every year. Every year she says I won't buy you clothes this year, I'll just give you the money. She then buys us more pensioner clothes. They all get donated to Age Concern.

Just to add, she's very controlling and convinced that she is always right. She thinks my sister and I (40s) should wear clothes like her, have our longish hair cut off (because she doesn't like long hair)) etc.

When I was a teenager, my grandma presented me with a glass-covered wooden frame with compartments in which there were handfuls of lentils/pulses/pastas in different shades. Apparently, it was put on the wall! She was very pleased with it so I hope I received it with good grace... I always joked that if I had nothing for dinner I could probably make use of it (not in front of DGM obviously) 😊

@Darlingx

Mine wasn’t a Christmas present but I had been looking for a mannequin for my clothing designs at an Antiques fair and I had spotted a silver new looking one for £30 but as I didn’t have a car at the time I didn’t buy it. My father surprised me by buying a mannequin and it was dropped to my mother’s by the son of what had previously been his mistress. It was a mannequin with drawn nipples on , no hands and a big hairy faux fur triangle merkin/ lady garden stuck between its legs . It had been customised so there was crusted glue all splattered down the inner thighs. Freaky was not the word. It was so ugly and my thoughts at the time were what had the mannequin been used for ??How could I possibly use these when its so ugly and with no hands. It had a used sex doll vibe ( shudder) it was bad ju ju and I made sure my uncle collected it and took it away immediately plus I wanted a family member ( father’s side) to see what he had given me. It could have been in the bargain section or it was ment to be offensive? My Sister got loo roll as a housewarming present from them which just seems bizarre unless she was running short and they knew in the future loo roll would become rare and precious 😂 I don’t get gifts from my father Thank Goodness as this was a long time ago but wins the worst present by miles in memory but nothing beats 3 dead rats!

Strange but true, toilet roll is a traditional housewarming gift in Korea.

thesoulofseoul.net/2016/01/08/toilet-paper-the-perfect-gift-in-korea/

@DavidDevantsSpiritWife

Many years ago exH bought me a beautiful personalised artisan leather makeup bag. Only problem was it was personalised with the OW's name. The one he gave her was personalised with my name.

I can laugh about it now but I've had better Christmas mornings

So dropped himself in it big time😳 Sorry that made me 😂

I used to buy the presents for my in-laws and for a long time bought thoughtful gifts. I used to get them what I bought my own family. I am not buying their presents any more my DH is, but for the last 5 years I reduced what I bought them, added it up and spend exactly that on a luxury for myself. When I saw them over Christmas I always wore the item(s) and it got me through it knowing that I took it out of their budget and spent it on myself. I know that is warped, but it saved my sanity.

@DentalWorries

This isn’t a bad present for other people but I have a candle business and every single year people insist on buying me candles. Now the process to make a candle perfect is very long-winded and involves a lot of testing different wicks, different percentages of fragrance oils, weighing the candle every few hours to make sure it hasn’t burnt too quickly etc etc. So my house is constantly full of candles at various stages of testing. I do not ever ever need another candle!

I make all kinds of preserves (not as a business, as a hobby) various pickles and chutneys. Someone gave me a set of chutney last year. 🤷🏼‍♀️

My husband bought me a big bubble coat, I looked like marshmallow man, I wore it for a bit to not upset him and my sister in law commented she liked it so said she could have it as it was a bit big on me.

A glass rolling pin with different coloured seeds in layers inside. From M+S. It confirmed that my SIL didn't like me much.

A board game called Chav!

No longer available on Amazon, sadly

But it is on eBay .

The stereo sound system (this was Christmas 1990) which was expensive and I'd told him we couldn't afford when he wanted to buy it for himself. He basically spent over £400 which was more than he made in a month at that time on a big fuck off present for himself and then wrapped it up and presented it to me in front of his family so I couldn't tell him to take it back! Should have divorced him then!

@DavidDevantsSpiritWife

Many years ago exH bought me a beautiful personalised artisan leather makeup bag. Only problem was it was personalised with the OW's name. The one he gave her was personalised with my name.

I can laugh about it now but I've had better Christmas mornings

OMG. May I ask how he tried to explain that one?

Some years ago I read a heartbreaking article written by a wronged wife. She said that one of the most hurtful moments of all was when she discovered that one Christmas her H had given the OW an expensive piece of jewellery, whilst his present to her was a new bread bin.

she kept bragging about how affluent she was and how her Xmas presents were going to be the best. She was a bit snobby and didn’t want to be embarrassed so I had spent quite a bit on her presents (a lovely photo album and perfume). It was a bit of a slap in the face to be honest.

Deliberate, so that everyone would think/do the same as you. How to get lovely presents while spending pennies. Scrooge.

My worst ever Christmas present was a blister-pack containing two battery-powered torches. The whole thing looked old and dusty, as though it had been lurking at the back of a cupboard for years, and the torches didn't even work!