Gift giving hell

[BestieNo1]

I’ve been triggered by an Instagram post and wanted to ask in confidence is this normal??
One year (when I was 12) I asked for a tv for Xmas 🎄 and was so excited on the morning when I saw a big box, portable tv size, in the corner.
I was sooo excited.
However, when I opened it there was a note at the bottom saying “sorry there were no tvs left’”
I cried my heart out till my nan said “give it to her” as it was hidden in the cupboard.
what do you make of that??
am I spoiled for getting a portable tv 📺 or was this some sort of sick joke??
I was made to feel dramatic for getting upset but was I really?
How would you react?
I’ve just realised thats maybe why i hate xmases or birthdays, they were mostly a disappointment so i am numb or “it’s never right” when i receive presents 🎁.
also id ask for a double cassette deck so I could play one side and record on the other and only got a single cassette recorder, so could only record the top 20 radio hits off the radio 📻
also I wanted a colour telly and got a black and white one!
was my mum tight, mean or poor?
She is a bit puritan and likes simple things.
When my partner gives me great gifts now I never know how to react and I feel almost numb and it is never quite enough, even though it should be!!
argh 😮
Wouldmoth love your opinions x

Your first example was a cruel trick. That was a horrible thing to do to you.

The others - hard to know without more detail on budgets and expectations. I would say though that always feeling like a gift isn't enough does sound quite spoilt.

Sorry your experience of gifts was confusing and the trick was definitely cruel.

did your family make a big deal of gifts when you are a kid? that almost always leads to disappointment, especially if the thing you get isn't as expected.

would it help you to think of gifts now in a more practical sense - as something that is a nice bonus, but that is all. a gift doesn't have to be a big deal. do you have other good ways to connect to your partner?

That was so mean! I would never do that to my kid. Or indeed anyone I actually liked. Sorry that happened to you.

Would it be better for you if you told partner and others exactly what you wanted?

Or maybe just accept that you find receiving gifts stressful and that might take some of the tension out of it. Perhaps focus on the other things you like about celebrations. Breakfast in bed. Days out. Xmas lunch. That kind of thing.

While I wouldn't pull such a trick on my kids, I almost feel like such a prank should not ruin gift giving/receiving for the rest of your life. Even when I was 12 I would've laughed it off. Reading the rest of your post, I am a bit puzzled by looking at gifts this way, to be honest with you. It never crossed my mind any time I got something that i am unhappy because it's not "exactly" what my little brain wanted.
"also I wanted a colour telly and got a black and white one!
was my mum tight, mean or poor?"
Not even sure what to say to this. Please tell me that you can see how saying things this way does come off as needy and ungrateful. I am sorry, I am not trying to be nasty.. Many times I got something I was not specifically asked for when I was a kid. But instead of contemplating why my mother would tarnish my christmas, I was just happy she tried to get me something she thought would make me happy.
I am trying to understand it all, but I almost feel like I am missing something. I think I get the angle of the "joke" in the beginning, but realistically, OP, you are not in a sad movie where the evil parents went out of their way to torture you, it was just a poorly thought-out joke. To think that such a thing would for ever skew your perception of gifts is a bit hard for me to grasp, but again, I am open to the idea of something being wrong with my own understanding of it all. Is it just me?