Xmas gifts I hate receiving

[JammyRed]

As Christmas is approaching the gifts I dread getting that I get every year are : Xmas themed socks , slipper socks , body lotion , body scrub. Christmas ornaments , Christmas mugs and glasses . Really cheap pound shop chocolate . Mulled wine or spicy biscuits. They don’t go to waste as I donate them to charity . What are the gifts you dread getting ?

Exactly.

Zero thought has gone into buying a Bayliss & Harding gift set. It tells the person you're giving it to that you either picked it up on 3 for 2 when you were doing your weekly shop or left it to the last minute and panic bought.

OK, but calling people "unpleasant snobs" whilst demonstrably being an unpleasant snob is sheer hypocrisy.

Duh. I was doing it on purpose. Posters on here think they are oh so refaaaaained and seem to be terribly prickly about being told, No, you’re not a person of discernment, you’re just rather crass.

And most are not complaining about a 3-4-2 but being bought tasteless or -shudder- cheap presents. Or hapless gift-buyers failing to take into account their very specific (and pricey) requirements.

This is why I dont bother with gifts for adults. Adults know what they like, and the adults in my life mostly have the means to get what they want for themselves. I hate obligation gift buying because it often ends in this situation- people grabbing tat that ends up in charity shops or landfill.

Rather than panicking on the Christmas deadline, I'd rather have moments of "saw this and thought of you" throughout the year. A special fresh pastry from a nice bakery when we meet up for a walk in the park is so much nicer than a sickly tin of Roses lobbed in your direction on Christmas morning

Them overly fluffy pjs from Primark… my mil god love her gets me them every year and after getting them every year for about 20 years I’ve just not got the heart to say anything

People are really horrible on this thread.
The very people who say "oh you insult me with your Baylis&Harding" are funny. I had to look up "Baylis and Harding". I'd never heard of it.
I'm new-ish to Mumsnet. I might not be here very long.
My brands of choice for scent are Nicolaï and Atelier des Ors. They're expensive. But I'd be very happy if anyone bought me a nice candle or body wash from anywhere. (I don't like hand cream but I would obviously be very grateful for any gift.)
It's the thought that counts.

That's the point though, very little thought goes into buying a generic toiletries gift set from the supermarket Christmas aisle beyond 'oh I need to buy <insert female relation> something for Christmas, that'll do.'

I would rather have a box of my favourite teabags than a Bayliss & Harding gift set, at least I know the person buying it has considered whether I might actually like it.

Dude, nobody buys me ANYTHING that I don't orchestrate myself.
Apart from insanely rare occasions.
My daughter's primary school teacher bought me a present in June, to say thank you for being nice to her (she had a tough bunch of parents who were critical and fighty, and I did my best to help calm things on the parent WhatsApp group and with her). It was the first time someone had done that, pretty much ever. I cried.
(It was Jo Malone, in case anyone's wondering...)

I don’t know how Bayliss and Harding stay in business.

That's obviously not great for you at all, but (and I really don't wish for this to come across rude) if you don't get any gifts without orchestrating them yourself then the bar for you is set quite low.

For most people, where gifts are regularly exchanged at Christmas, the 'it's the thought that counts' sentiment is a bit hollow when the gift is a generic, mass-produced offering from the Christmas 3 for £10 section at Asda.

As I mentioned upthread, it's quite liberating when you realise everyone in your family feels the same way and you agree to do things differently (we went down the Secret Santa route).

I'm looking through this thread and it's insane. People complaining about being given hotel mini-breaks because they have to get trains there. You'd really think this was trolling.
I have very expensive taste. But I wouldn't mind if someone gave me a 5 pound gift set from a supermarket. I think it's lovely to give someone a gift.
Also, people are too busy to be "thoughtful" to everyone all the time. Nobody's got the bandwidth to research your "special tea bags". People have jobs and life. You're not that special. Be glad they think of you at all. Lots of people are lonely and don't get any presents.
And in the UK/Ireland there's too much obligation to give everyone "stuff". Maybe you just don't mean that much to the gift-giver, and they have to give you this "Bayliss and Harding" set (yes, I had to look up what Baylis and Harding means). Maybe you're annoyed that you don't mean that much to the person. That's your problem. So maybe don't be a to them next year and they will give you a nicer gift.

@HonestBrickQuoter my Mum buys my favourite teabags for me every Christmas because she knows I love them but well done for referencing and completely missing my point 👏🏻

Well, what you actually said was "I would rather have a box of my favourite teabags than a Bayliss & Harding gift set, at least I know the person buying it has considered whether I might actually like it."
You didn't mention anything about your dear Mum who infuses every teabag with love, apparently (based on your follow-up).
You implied that anyone buying you gifts would need to be "teabag-literate" in order to please you.
I can perhaps be forgiven for "missing your point" - given that I wasn't given the "darling Mummy who knows what teabags I love" context.

Reread your first sentence, then read your last post.

Calendars and amaryllis.

I get nothing. Not one single token gift from anyone. Haven’t for years. Christmas is just
about buying for my children and hoping they have a nice day, because I’m on my own with them and have no partner now to buy me a gift, and my wider family don’t do gifts for adults. So I just get nothing. I didn’t even receive a Christmas card last year.

Please may I have all of your unwanted gifts? 🙏🏻 😔 🙏🏻

Dude, nobody buys me ANYTHING that I don't orchestrate myself. Apart from insanely rare occasions.

Maybe you're annoyed that you don't mean that much to the person. That's your problem. So maybe don't be a xxxx to them next year and they will give you a nicer gift.

I double-checked, and yes the same poster really did write both of these statements. Can you see the connection now, @HonestBrickQuoter?

Any smellies….not because I don’t like them but because I have really sensitive skin and can only use certain brands (which people never gift me).

candles as I have exotic pets and can’t light candles around them.

Luckily my parents ask me what I want now, I tell them not to buy me any extra gifts but sometimes they don’t take any notice and they gift me food of smellies. I have told my mum again this year not to buy anything other than what I have asked for…which isn’t anything expensive.

I have been buying my own gifts for years….single parent. Now my dc are older they do but me a token gift. I do myself a stocking with my favourite snacks in, plus a few other small things.

I'd be very happy to send you a gift, @FoxLoxInSox, but appreciate you might not want to share your address with some random MNer!

The only thing I dislike getting is flowers on Christmas Day from the in-laws. I’m up to my elbows in dishes and cooking times and getting drinks for people and then I need to find a vase and chop the stems down and faff with the plastic wrapper.

Such a nice thought but my GOD it drives me bonkers.

What? Why?

Santa always treats single parents, with great care and luxury, always chooses perfect presents too! 😉

Santa leaving me a gift had the added bonus of sending the kids off the ‘Santa isn't real’ scent. If they didn't provide the present from Santa…who did??? 👀 👀 👀

Children also need to appreciate giving to others. Take them shopping with their pocket money (or money earned through little chores).

Chocolate - now everything has palm oil I don’t really enjoy them and they sit about for months unopened.

is that what makes the chocolate stick in your throat?

We did away with Xmas gifts between adults years ago. Even between me and DH. SO MUCH NICER. No shopping for things. No having to pretend you love the horrible/useless/itchy thing. No waste. No guilt. I finally put a stop to it when PIL gave us about 20 books from the £shop on random things ‘100 Slow Cooker Recipes’ (we have no slow cooker), ‘The Men Who Built Tunbridge Wells’ (never been to TW) etc, two harmonicas (yup no idea), and for me a tiny lip balm embedded in a giant plastic stiletto. We had to schlep the lot back home to London via two intercity trains and a couple of tube lines where they sat in cupboards for years emitting guilt before being chucked out.

I can’t believe people still fall for it. Giving Xmas presents that is.