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50 Of The Most Disappointing And Outright Cruel Christmas Presents Ever Received, As Shared By People Online
Deck the halls with boughs of holly
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Give the kids some burnt broccoli
Fa la la…wait what???
Christmas is right around the frozen riverbend, and most of us have been racking our brains for ideas of what to get our beloved people and pets. It’s gotta be something they’ll enjoy, something they might use, or something that won’t make them cry upon unwrapping.
It doesn’t seem like too much to ask, and people with a semblance of empathy and soul should be able to give a gift that won’t leave a trace of trauma. However, many have not been so lucky, memories of horrid Christmas presents continuing to haunt them each and every year since. Thanks to r/AskReddit, today we are bringing you a list even the Grinch would be appalled at.
You guessed it, we’re talking about the worst Christmas gifts people have ever received. Make sure to upvote your favorites and share your own experiences in the comments below. And if you're craving some more horrid gift stories, here's one, but if you'd like something nice for a change, here's an article full of sweetness. Now let’s deck into it!
More info: Reddit
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#1
When I was eight or nine, my grandma gave me a Christmas ornament. It was a little stuffed cherub with pink cheeks and yarn hair.
I cried because I had saved up my allowance to buy it for her the year before.
Gift-giving and Christmas are two things that are difficult to imagine separately, similar to caramel and salt, or, to be more festive, hot chocolate and marshmallows. One colleague of mine has recently revealed that they prefer their cocoa plain, without any toppings, and to that I say, bit sad innit? I go all out—add fricking everything you got! But I digress.
The wonderful community of r/AskReddit got asked the very difficult question: “What’s the worst Christmas present you have ever received?” Sadly, hundreds of comments followed, with people sharing their stories of heartbreak, forced smiles, and unfathomable questioning of the festive season and life itself.
#2
My husbands step mother gave me, a 36 year old at the time, a kindergarten size back pack and when I opened it she said, “I actually bought that for ——- (a child) a few years ago and she hated it so I threw it in a closet and I saw it and thought you’d like it. None of us did, we all think it’s ugly.”
That same year they gave my 3 kids gifts totaling all together $15 with the clearance stickers on them while her biological granddaughter opened a $300 unicorn. Which they made sure we knew cost $300, and then they pointed out to everyone our clearance stickers and what great deals they were (they weren’t), and then they made my kids leave the room so the grand daughter could take pics alone with her unicorn.
It was the last Christmas we visited them. lol
#3
So one year, my mil asked (read:demanded) that I knit a scarf for her for Christmas. She was very specific on colors and style and called several times during December to check on the status of it She opened it on Christmas day and was absolutely delighted with it and immediately put it on. Then she started to hand out her presents. Tons of stuff to the kids, my husband, her husband, her other son, and her other DIL. Nothing for me. Then I heard 'OMG, I FORGOT PRESENTS FOR YOU!' and I turned around and found her talking to my cat.
She brought the cat presents later. No, I did not get anything.
From absolutely nothing to the traditional lump of coal, to gifts being re-gifted back to the original gifter one year later, it’s hard not to feel sorry for lots of these fine Reddit folk. There’s no worse day to realize that you mean very little to your relatives or loved ones than the one day the Western world glorifies as the day of family unity and love.
As for myself, the one “bad” gift I recall from my youth (it wasn’t bad, just confusing) was a ceramic elephant the size of a dollhouse from my grandma. I really wanted a dollhouse that year, so I got super excited, only to find this ridiculous thing I couldn’t even use. We still laugh about the elephant to this day, the fancy gift being a stool for a little houseplant.
#4
A set of miniature butter knives with ceramic fruit and vegetables as the handles.
From an aunt who said that
I was "So hard to shop for"
I was 7
#5
I am a single guy.
I think I’m a horrible gift giver. My sisters and brother tell me what my nieces and nephews want.
But in the end all I do is just make a contribution in their college savings accounts. $500 for birthday and $500 for Christmas for each of them. My hope is that they will appreciate it when they get older.
I love them all very much and I would do anything for them.
#6
A diet book. I was 15. Thanks grandma, that became an eating disorder!
When did we decide that the middle of winter was a great time for some gift exchanging to happen? Is Christmas really just a modern consumerist’s daydream? According to Love to Know, the gifts given at Christmas are symbolic of the tributes made to baby Jesus by the Three Wise Men after his birth. A modern interpretation of the custom is the recognition that Christmas is Jesus’ birthday, furthering the notion of gift-giving.
However, the custom of giving presents during the middle of winter dates back long before the birth of Jesus. Many early cultures, such as the Romans and the Norse, had winter solstice festivals that included gift-giving. One such event was the Saturnalia celebration, when the Roman pagan god of agriculture, Saturn, was celebrated on December 17.
According to History.com, Saturnalia was a day when slaves would be considered equal to their masters and free speech was embraced. It also included the exchanging of pottery figurines, sigillaria, described as symbols of human sacrifice once practiced as part of past pagan celebrations. This tradition was one of the many customs adopted by Christianity as a way to merge these cultures together.
#7
A $100 bill. I was dating and living with an ex at the time. For Christmas he wanted a very fancy and very specific looking button up shirt. I spent a month making him the shirt and making sure it was perfect. I also made us a nice Christmas dinner with some fun drinks. Christmas morning rolls around and I give him his shirt, he tries it on and loves it! Yay! He then gets a panicked look and his face, reaches in his pocket, pulls a $100 out of his wallet, and says "Um....here ya go. My friends are coming over today so...you have somewhere to be, right?" Basically he was paying me to leave. But the bright side was, I knew right then and there how he actually felt about me. He was dumped before for the new year.
#8
A book entitled, "How to Help Kids Cope with Divorce", given to me by my husband (at the time) on Christmas morning, in front of our kids....
...Who we hadn't yet told about the impending divorce, yet.
Oh, yes, and there was that one time he bought me "The Proper Care and Feeding of Husband's."
#9
When the tamagotchi craze was in full swing my siblings and I asked for one.
My sisters both got one, and I got a jacket because mine was torn up and small.
When I asked my dad why I didn't get one and if Santa thought I did something bad that year. He told me I was too old for Santa and needed to learn life isn't fair.
I was 8.
My sisters were 7 and 5.
From that point forward I only ever received clothing.
What followed was the emergence of various gift-givers. St. Nicholas was the most prominent figure in many European countries, morphing into Father Christmas, and then the well-loved Santa Claus. There’s also Christkind, La Befana, Babadimri, Jõuluvana, Senis Šaltis, Baba Noël and The Smallest Camel.
As explained by GiftsInternational, in the 20th century USA, Christmas became a phenomenon. The boom of the American dream and times of economic prosperity after World War Two fuelled a whole industry around the holiday. Instead of being a religious endeavor, it pushed the focus toward the material aspects, such as decorating the home, buying gifts, and preparing meals, emphasizing it all as the best way to enjoy the celebration.
Although the commercialization of the festive season has come under a lot of criticism, some arguing that it obscures the true meaning of Christmas, it’s important to consider the fact that people give gifts to show their appreciation and love for others. But what happens when the gifts show the complete opposite of that?
#10
My step family was a giant group of total a******s. My step sisters got designer clothes and jewelry, shoes etc. Actual toys. They got mounds of gifts. My brother and I literally got a bag of switches and/or coal. Like that joke about bad kids? What sucks so much is that my step dad loved hitting us with switches when we were in trouble. We'd have to go pick out one ourselves too. And how we'd be considered the bad kids is beyond me. They were the ones who were terrible. One of my step sisters broke my arm twice just being a sadistic psycho. Cut off my eyelashes while I slept. Among other f****d up things over the years. God I was so glad when my mom finally left him and his piece of s**t family. I was 9 when we left. And 2 when they married. So this went on for 7 years of my youngest ages. Oh yeah, I guess one year the grandma gave me a coloring book. (No colors) With my switches.
Edit for those who don't know. Switches are basically long, thin, limbs of a bush or young tree with the leaves stripped off. Not a branch or limb, bit the very thin ones that are bendy. They hurt like a MF and split your skin open sometimes.
#11
I’m 2 years older than my sister. When she was 5 we walked up to the tree a couple weeks before Christmas and found a huge box with her name on it. I was pissssed. I would cry and she would brag about it every night.
Then Christmas came and she opened the huge box. It was a large reading lamp. She couldn’t stop crying, I couldn’t stop laughing.
Best Christmas ever. Wait what was the question?
ILoveMySon 1 year ago
My sister is five years my senior and we are very close. However, one year she convinced me to tell her what special gift she was to receive if she told me mine. She was to receive a stereo (we are old), I was to receive a JUMP ROPE!😂 It wasn't my special gift, btw. We still laugh of my naivete.😂
#12
A goose. Like, a real life full sized female goose. It was fun tho, I named her Rufina
Yamile Torres, a psychologist at Tecnológico de Monterrey, argues that receiving a gift that you don’t like may feel like you’re not being validated as a person. “On a psycho-emotional level, you don’t feel observed; that gift without any words indicates that ‘I did not observe you, I was not interested in you. There is no recognition, you are not important to me,’” he explains.
Sometimes it may happen by accident—the ‘I wanted to do the best I could but it didn’t work out this time’—but it’s more perplexing when someone gives a rotten gift on purpose. Deborah Y. Cohn, an associate professor of marketing, argues that there are 5 types of inconsiderate gifts: confrontational (gifts that are essentially personal affronts), selfish (gifts that benefit givers more than recipients), aggressive (meant to offend), obligatory, competitive (intended to out-gift someone else).
The best thing to do when receiving one of these gifts is to say ‘thank you.’ Don’t let it affect you too badly unless you know the person’s intention is to directly harm you. A conversation between the two of you should follow in that case, to get you closer to a middle ground. If they can’t be reasoned with, maybe don’t spend Christmas with them. Lastly, donate or sell the gifts you don’t like; you know what they say, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
#13
Nothing. My parents are Muslim and Christmas was f*****g miserable every year. I'd go back to school after winter break and hear about all the cool stuff my classmates got while I got nothing. Imagine what that does to a kid over the years.
Now as a parent, I spoil my son every Christmas. I don't believe in religion but every kid deserves Christmas.
F**k you mom and dad. You were s****y parents. Rant over
Zedrapazia 1 year ago
Christmas as reg current time is anyway not a Christian ceremony anymore. We celebrate a chubby man in red in a sledge with flying reindeer coming down from the north pole in a big sledge, sliding down chimneys to put presents from his large bag under decorated firtrees in our living rooms. Not the birth of Jesus.
#14
Titanic DVD, pirated copy, already seen it before twice, didn't have a case, just had Titanic written in marker pen, it didn't belong to the person who gifted it, the DVD was SCRATCHED AND DIDN'T EVEN PLAY!
#15
The year I gave my ex husband a Tag Heuer watch he gave me a $19.99 Walmart blender. We already had 3 blenders.
Regardless of everything, Christmas is coming! You don’t have to follow any stereotypes to have a good time, especially as these days the prices are higher than high, so gifts may not be as fancy as before. And they don’t have to be! Just make sure it comes from the heart and it’ll all be well.
As you continue reading through the stories, make sure you upvote your favorites, or those that you find most heartbreaking. Either or works. Leave your thoughts in the comments below, maybe share your own horrid gifts if you have those kinds of stories, and I shall see you in the next one! Toodaloo!
#16
Not one I got, one I didn’t get. My mom crocheted my two sisters tablecloths and gave it to them in front of me. I just stood there, trying not to cry.
#17
When I was 12 I bought myself a kindle. Me and my sister spent an entire summer working for our grandpa and stepdad to save up for them, each of us spending about 200$. My mom got all 3 of my brothers a kindle for Christmas and I got some Clothes from old navy.
I was livid and when I talked to my mom about it she told me that my sister and I had been excluding our brothers from hanging out while we played videogames and it was unfair. She never apologized or saw anything wrong with what she did, and I honestly still haven't forgiven her almost a decade later.
Erin Eubanks 1 year ago (edited)
I love watching parents fostering a "never want to see my kid again" relationship.
#18
When my dad was young he was hell-bent on becoming a drummer. He would make full drum kits out of my grandmother's pots and pans and whatever he could find. Very detailed setups. After months and months of building drum sets and drumming on anything, he could find he woke up Christmas morning…to acoustic guitar and guitar lessons.
He told me he took a few lessons and would always end up flipping the guitar over in the class with the other students and just play it like bongos.
#19
A case of Slim-Fast. Was I overweight? Yes, but my (not so) passive aggressive ex sister-in-law was a b***h. She fairly soon after was talking about weight loss items and specifically told my then-wife and I we should never use products like Slim-Fast as they will poison you. I can't decide if she was trying to kill me or was just a stupid a*****e.
#20
A bottle of allergy medication from Costco. The med I took had recently gone from prescription to OTC & my mom thought it would be great to get me a year's supply. I was in my 20's & by that point you're not supposed to care as much anymore, but I had worked dozens of hours of overtime at my s****y factory job to buy my mom a custom made birthstone ring for Christmas that year. My sister got beautiful leather boots, my brother got an XBox. I cried all the way home.
#21
A used cookbook, graciously given to me by the same people that gave my little sister a full snowboarding set, snowboard and all that other stuff you use when you snowboard
#22
Eons ago I worked for a company owned by the richest man in Minnesota. One year, all of us peons (and there were a couple thousand of us) got a copy of his book; it was al about how he became the richest man in Minnesota.
Cheap bastard.
#23
My dad, his first christmas divorced and living alone, first time ever shopping for us clearly lmao because my mom did all the shopping before, got me a nose hair trimmer...
I was 12.
And definitely did not understand why I got that gift.
#24
Temporary glittery metallic tattoo kit made for an 8-year-old girl (butterflies and phrases like "GIRLS RULE!") when I was 15... I am male too.
#25
I flat out got a lump of coal when I was 11 or 12. I was such a handful s**t head kid man. I deserved that lump of coal.
#26
A ceramic jar for holding dog treats when I was 15 when we had JUST given him away. Miss u Rascal
#27
My very first period.
This wouldn't have been so bad if I had been told to expect it beforehand, but no. I cried and said I was dying in front of my entire family. Grandparents, cousins, everyone. Of course they laughed at me, but I am still mortified 25 years after the fact.
Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) 1 year ago
You know one good thing about being raised during the AIDS epidemic? People took sex-ed seriously when I was a kid. Knowing about your bits and pieces was literally life or death in the late 80 and early 90s.
#28
My mom bought me one of those 3D posters that were all the rage on the 90s. I am blind in one eye.
MaggieMay85 1 year ago
🤣 oh she probably didn’t think about the logistics of the posters. Gosh I used to love those posters, don’t know why.
#29
My dad played a running prank on me for years where he would either wrap up a toy he dug out of my room I forgot about, or he would do something like fill a small box with rocks and put it with the other presents. Without fail every year I would beg and plead to open a single present early of my choosing, and EVERY time I got the joke box. The rocks sounded like legos which I loved so I opened that one. One year he put one of my forgotten toys right out front begging for attention, bamboozled again. Another year he nestled it towards the very back like he was hiding a real present, he got me again. Without fail he got in my head somehow to guide me towards that present.
#30
The information that my parents were getting a divorce when I was 12.
The Christmas spirit in me died that day.
#31
A bottle of raccoon urine. Not joking. A completely sealed, brand new bottle of raccoon urine.
#32
Sensory toys. Very degrading. It's like my mom didn't know what I would like, so instead of asking any of my siblings, she took my autism and just picked out a random bundle of sensory toys on Craigslist. I haven't used sensory toys since I was 10. I just wish she would put more thought into it, yknow? It would have been better if she didn't get me anything at all.
#33
My step sister and I both received a box inside was a roll on Avon deodorant and one of them rainbow lollipops . Meanwhile my mother and her girlfriend were exchanging $1000 gifts
The boxes they put our "presents" in cost more then the deodorant and lollipop seeing they got our presents from the cupboard 😑
My mums girlfriend was a Avon sales lady , the lollipop from a show bag 😂
#34
I hate soap bags. I get at least one every year. I have never once worn through a soap bag.
One year i came home for Christmas.
made the dinner. 11 courses/sides etc.
Got up at 6am to start making it.
Presents opening at 9.00 am my parents get me a posh leather soap bag. I hate it. In side is a mediocre bottle of after shave that i will feel compelled to keep but will never use.
I kick off cos tired stressed drunk, bit of a d**k
I rant about the no thought present.
Joining us for Christmas is my aunt. Recently divorced, son committed suicide.
I open her present next.
A s****y soap bag and a really cheap bottle of aftershave
And Thats how i ruined Christmas
#35
This was actually a recent one. Been with my girlfriend for like 2-3 years now. Her family considers me a part of their family, but my girlfriend’s mom, and aunt, are probably the most hypocritical and bat s**t insane people you could ever meet. Aunt believes that if you use a gps you are a b***h that doesn’t deserve to live in that state (she proceeded to get everyone lost when she was driving us around on vacation. She lives in Florida for 27 years by that time). The mom is a manipulative narcissist, that actually said to my girlfriend and a mutual friend of ours that the only reason she has my girlfriend around is because she is the person that she uses to let her anger out on, (I.e. yells about nonsensical c**p, pushes her, or makes her feel like she is worth nothing 24/7).
For Christmas, I went over to my girlfriend’s home to celebrate with them before celebrating with my girlfriend t my house. Got a present from the aunt who sent something over. I received, a single rubber duck, that had the bottom torn out, a note was stuffed in the opening, and on that note, was the sentence, “If you are reading this, you killed the birdie!”, and a painted rock that was just painted black with the words “best buds” on it.
The mom was the worst one though, I got a nutcracker. I didn’t fully understand it at the time. But I finally got it when my girlfriend’s dad took me aside and said in a hushed tone, “I’m sorry for the gift, but Tray has given that to [eldest daughters] boyfriends as a threat.”
That’s right, I got a broken rubber duck that blamed me for killing it, a painted rock, and a threat that if I did ANYTHING to hurt my girlfriend (more than what the mom already does), that her mother will use the NUTCRACKER.
#36
I was six years old and I really really wanted an electric train set. I was like Ralphie in "A Christmas Story" harping on about his BB gun that he wanted. The big day arrives and there's a large box that looked pretty close to electric train set size but my parents would dictate in which order the presents were opened and of course it was saved for last.
I don't remember the other gifts, but I do remember the big electric train set sized box. I'll give you a hint. It wasn't an electric train set. It was a box filled with sweaters and socks. No joke. Just what a six year old boy wants. Sweaters and socks. Worst part was that the person giving me this wanted to see me model the sweaters and my parents forced me to. Yes, because a six year old boy with his heart set on an electric train set really wants to be disappointed and have to model sweaters he didn't want in the first place.
#38
A size 3xl dark pink sweater from my sister. I wore xl and was very vocal about hating the color pink. But my sister had just lost like 80 pounds. Probably about the sweater for herself before she lost weight then never wore it. So she took it out of her closet and gave it to me.
My sister is 25 years older than me and I was in my twenties at the time. This wasn't just youthful ignorance
Reece Aster 1 year ago
I hate when people gift clothes that are totally the wrong size. That really f'ed me up when I was young and on the verge of an eating disorder.
#39
Worst was from my grandparents. Me, my brother and dad all got a used book each from a charity shop. Like the cover was bent and pages yellowed. My brother and dad have barely read any books in their lives and mine was some adult drama romance novel (I was about 12 at the time) that nobody has ever heard of by some author nobody knows. To top it off these grandparents were ridiculously wealthy, my granddad was making almost 2 million a year, and their other grandchild got a ps3, which had just came out, and big stack of games to go with it plus other toys and some clothes.
Lauren S 1 year ago (edited)
We absolutely get my son used books from charity shops. He always gets a pile every birthday and Christmas/Hanukkah. We’re doing a book advent this year so he’s literally getting 24 of them. 🫤 So I hope the problem with this is one book only of an inappropriate age range and inequality of gifts and not actually getting books from thrift stores. Edit: well, we’re starting to get some lovely comments down below. 1) used books is only one of many things my kid gets for birthdays/holidays, he gets plenty of toys and “fun” things too 2) my kid loves books/reading, we snuggle and read every night, when he was 2/3 ish we had to set the limit to 10 books max before bed, the number is much lower now but the books are much longer 3) thank you to everyone who like this idea and shared they also love buying used books too 🥰 Read on my friends! 📚
#40
The Christmas after my grandmother passed away, my aunt gave us all the various and sundry junk that she cleaned out of my gma’s house as presents, but signed the tags with my gma’s name. So I got a rusty broken bell ornament from my dead gma that year
Eloise_Is_Weird 1 year ago
That's so insensitive and thoughtless. I mean what kind of person does this?
#41
So with the ex wife, I made a effort with gifts. Got her the second gen iPod one Christmas, then because she got big into hiking, I picked out an expensive GPS with an SOS. What would I get? Lame a*s excuses. “Christmas is really for the kids.” Or my favorite, “Well, we buy stuff throughout the year, so that is our gift.”
#42
Last year my dad promised me a whole bunch of steaks at Christmas whenever i bought a deep freezer to store them in. I bought a deep freezer immediately, then in April of this year he gave me the steaks, which were packaged in March of 2018, the only taste left was freezer burn
#43
When I was 10 years old money was rather tight for my family. So my parents bought a hammer and nails for my 5 siblings and i and told us to get creative and build something. That was a really sad Christmas. That was also all any of us got. A hammer and nails.
#44
I received a pair of used earrings that had obviously been purchased at a second hand store. They had a sewing needle in th box with it. He tried to tell me he got them from an artisan street vender. One earring had green growth on it. Totally vile.
Zedrapazia 1 year ago
Still an awful gift, but the green growth isn't disgusting. That's just what copper does on the air, it oxidates and creates that greenstuff.
#45
My ex wife bought me snowshoes for Christmas the last year we were together, after multiple discussions about the fact that I was not interested in going snowshoeing with her and her friends.
Bob La Capra 1 year ago (edited)
Reminds me of a coworker whose boyfriend teased her about the BIG Christmas present he was getting her. She was thinking engagement ring, she got cross-country skis
#47
My father wrapped and gifted me a wrecked front bumper.
It was from his car that I wrecked earlier that fall while in college.
Fords fly nice, but landing is a b***h.
#48
A barrel of Quaker Oats. It was f*****g hilarious though
#49
Grandma got me a dollar store electric toothbrush. Y'all know that thing didn't even turn on
indiecognition 1 year ago (edited)
Due to unforseen circumstances, the electric toothbrush is now a manual toothbrush that never needs to be recharged. Sorry for the convenience. (Mitch Hedberg...💖)
#50
Cheap cologne (I don't wear cologne) that I suspect was shoplifted.
What do you think ?
Mabelbabel 1 year ago
I had a friend that I used to be close to-one of my hobbies is cross stitch embroidery, so one year I decided to do her a tapestry. They take hours and hours to do, and the cost of getting them professionally framed is high. She really liked it and hung it in her hallway, and the following year asked me to do her another one. This went on about 5 years, she basically had a gallery of tapestries going up her stairs. And every year, without fail, she would phone me in early December and say I was really hard to buy for, and did I have any ideas what I wanted. So I gave her some ideas-yellow cushions, a garden bird feeding station, a jewellery box with drawers. And every year I ended up with a basic pack of shower gel, body lotion and cheap eau de toilette and the comment, sorry, I didn't the time to get anything else. I know its not the monetary value that's important, it was the lack of thought, the lack of engagement, the fact I wasn't worth spending time on.
RMA 1 year ago
I’m sorry. She’s cruelly thoughtless. Embroidery of any kind takes time and patience and is even more expensive to frame than many pictures. You were a good and kind friend.
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Lu 1 year ago
First Xmas with my now wife, I gave her a board game I wish I had gotten as a kid but never got (Mouse Trap). I was excited to play it with her, but I’ve learned over the years that you’re supposed to give people stuff they like. My point is I was young, immature and of course selfish… but people can change, took about 10 years but it happens.
RMA 1 year ago
My best friend at school had Mouse Trap and I have always wanted to get it but would never think to buy it for myself. I’ll play a game or two of it with you :)
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Carol Emory 1 year ago
My father always gave our son, his grandson, the loudest of toys. Once is was a Rugrats clock that would yell out a phrase every quarter hour. It did have a light indicator on it so it would sense when there was low light and shut the sound off. Then it was a little mower with loud popping sounds, then a toy xylophone. Every noisy toy came with "Oh look, another toy that you can play with when you visit grandpa." My father said "Why are you making him leave his toys here." My mother piped up "Because they live in an apartment, dear, and they don't want complaints from the neighbors." It had never dawned on him that we lived in an apartment and not a house like we grew up in. He bought quieter toys after that.
Happy Panda 1 year ago
Christmas can be cruel, it often reveals your worth in front of other people's eyes :')
Got Myself 4 Pandas 1 year ago
It's hardly the worst gift but accidentally discovered my husband and I have bought each other the same Lego set for Xmas this year - guess it shows how alike we are. And yes, I still play with Lego at the grand age of forty and will continue to do so
Miss Frankfurter 1 year ago
I read all of these and they’re downright cruel. Thoughtless and emotionally abusive. My parents, even when we were poor, I don’t know how they did it, but they made it magical for me. Not a lot of presents, but nice toys, one year my first watch, a Chatty Cathy another year. And somehow we always had a wonderful Christmas dinner. I am so blessed to have had the parents I did. They always, somehow managed.
talliloo 1 year ago
i guess i am an OK gift giver. i love getting weird/unusual but appropriate for the person gifts. my dad is the hardest bc he doesn't need/want anything. best things i have gotten for him was one year a deodorized compressed fertilizer shaped like a snail for his roses. as the weather/time goes on it looks like concrete & is absorbed by the soil. he had the best time telling his friends that i gave him s**t for xmas. the other thing was when i first heard him exclaim he didn't give a flying f about something. that yr i got him the literal word f shaped helicopter.
Cassi Lyris 1 year ago
Trauma dump time: When I was 5 I nearly died from bacterial meningitis. The vast quantity of medication I was on absolutely ruined my metabolism/digestion. I packed on weight despite not eating much. Even now I can look at food and gain weight. So flash forward to Christmas one year later, I'm 6. Everybody is packed up to go to my Aunt and Uncle's house and their then 3 sons. Whole family is there. Think a solid 25 people. Our family had a tradition of opening gifts on Christmas Eve. I had two gifts under the tree. Cool. Yeah, no. Opened the first box; it was an old used pillow. I got a sinking feeling in my stomach. Open box 2; an old adult's Santa suit. I was promptly forced to put the suit on and be Santa for the rest of the kids that night. My cousins were egged on by the very drunk adults to come up with the "funniest" fat jokes to toss at me. Reminder: I was 6 and I nearly fùcking died a year prior. I knew if I didn't play along "Santa" was going to get her àss beaten.
Cassi Lyris 1 year ago
I couldn't tell you how the rest of that Christmas Eve went. Pretty sure I stole a glass of whiskey and beer to get through it. Yes, really. Fast forward to Christmas morning. My stocking was full. An apology maybe? Nope. A massive package of enormous adult sized underwear. I was "instructed" to put the Santa suit back on and to place several pairs of the undies over it. I was to keep it on the whole day. This torture became a yearly "tradition" until I was 12 and spent my first Christmas with a foster family. That was the happiest Christmas of my life. I didn't even get anything and it was still the best by a long shot.
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Jason 1 year ago
My dad gave me a used copy of mouse trap missing the trap and most other pieces. Another year he gave me a used lite Brite with no papers and only a few of the pegs. That same year my mom had picked up one too from "Dad" that was new, without knowing he got me the half there one. My mom was a stay at home mom, my dad worked and made decent money but was just super cheap. Good thing he saved all that money as kids so he can buy his girlfriend plastic surgery.
OffKeySinger 1 year ago
An airport lighter (pre-9/11). I bought my bf Music CDs, a nice band shirt, and a video game. He gave me the lighter he bought for himself when he flew back into town after visiting family. Even his mom commented how lazy he was and thoughtless. We had been dating 10 months. What hurt wasn't the lack of gifts, it was the lack of thought. Dumped that loser within a week.
smolspeedycats 1 year ago
You know what? Everybody who submitted anything to this post, give me your relatives' phone numbers. They will soon be their jail numbers.
Auntriarch 1 year ago
My brother is useless at presents, so my mother told my niece who was about ten at the time and a bright little button, if he asks, she wants a blueberry bush. Well wires got crossed and the kid told her mother that granny wanted a blueberry bush. Her mother said that they didn't have that kind of money since daddy left them, and to pick out something less expensive. A plastic necklace with a butterfly on it. Such a calculated insult if you knew my mother. Just to clarify, my brother gave the house to his ex wife and was paying her £30K a year, and she was working, and managed to buy a new car. And managed to wangle free school meals for the children as she was a single mother. I guess I'm not as over it as I thought. But the next year I bought bought my mother a blueberry bush. It set me back all of £6.99
StrangeOne 1 year ago
Teeth whitening c**p. Both me and my daughter had been given this on separate Christmases. Whenever my mom feels our teeth are not white enough for her standards she makes a fuss and this lady is a queen of passive aggressive gifts. The same year she gave me the teeth whitening kit she gave us a bunch of toilet paper as stocking stuffers. When I asked her wtf that was, all she said was "I thought you could use it." For clarity, we were living in a rougher neighbourhood, in a very old apartment block that needed more than few nuts and bolts tightened, and she was open about how felt about us living in "crappy conditions".
Jeremy Schneider 1 year ago
My Aunt genuinely thought I would like Nascar Monopoly. I neither like Nascar nor Monopoly. But I pretended to like it and if memory serves, left it at their house for her kids to play with
WoodenLion 1 year ago
one year my mother - who usually gives me a $50 gift card wanted to know what i wanted for Christmas. i told her pillow cases. my sister told her a week on the beach. she went, i got what i asked for. we laughed.
lapis lazuli 1 year ago
my moms favorite story to tell me is how when my mom and dad were first dating, time and time again she told him how much she hated non fiction books. she just could not stand them. when christmas rolled around, my mom got him some heartfelt gifts that she spent a lot of time picking out. he got her a nonfiction book. he said it was perfect, because he could read it after her! tl;dr my dad bought a gift for himself
Fickle_Pickle 1 year ago
My mother in law gives my kids (not my husband’s (her son) biological kids, dollar store toys. She once gave my 16 year old son a plastic power rangers toy 🙄 while her bio granddaughter got a big a*s playhouse and dolls. The thing is, she doesn’t take the price stickers off so all kids know how much she paid for their presents. I try to teach my kids to be grateful for everything but its just plain insulting. We went to their house last year for Xmas and that was the first and only time I took my kids there. I’m not going to subject them to more humiliation.
Lizz 1 year ago
Xmas as a kid: I wanted a Barbie Doll, I got a ( cheapass) Cindy doll. Next Xmas: I wanted a Cabbage Patch Kid, My mom got me a homemade "Patch Kid" If you look at the pics of me with the gifts well enough you'll see the disappointment in my expression. Luckily I have a really nice aunt who got me a REAL Barbie and I finally got REAL Cabbage Patch Kids! The funny thing is: I have no idea why my mom was so cheap on those things.... my dad had a really good job, we lived in a nice split level house in a nice neighborhood and I went to a private school.... Found out later my mom preferred to spend the money on ( expensive ) stuff for her....
Hannah 1 year ago
When I was like 15 my mom gifted me a set of scarves she'd had for years that I always really liked. Awesome gift on the surface. But this was the year she had literally taken off and moved out of state without a word and she hadnt even attempted to contact me in months. She sent them to me because she had no use of them where she was living. It was like she'd said "here, something I don't want for someONE I don't want"
Cathy Homan 1 year ago
Nothing. I have gotten nothing for Christmas and my birthday for 30 years. My brother gets a brand new mustang and this year an 2021 Mach E while I ride public transit with a mobility device. My dad goes to Europe for 3 weeks my brother and daughter make out like a bandit I get the pamphlets and a receipt from a museum. Don't forget Mother's Day where I get nothing as well.
simply.Taz 1 year ago
Ditto! Even though I'm older now, it's still just as painful. :(
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Krysta Pandoo 1 year ago
My mum just gave back a gift she didn't like. It didn't matter how much it was, how much effort you put in, how hard you worked, if she didn't like it, she'd tell you . In front of everyone, right back into my hands and told me to keep it. She did it with all gifts. So, aged 10, I stopped giving her anything. She still bitches about not getting anything from me or my siblings, but she's the b***h here. Never gave her anything again and never will.
Marilyn Russell 1 year ago
One year after our mother died, our dad forgot to get us stocking stuffers and I found an empty Coke bottle and an unhealthy orange in mine. I’d rather it had been empty. My sister made him go out to a gas station later and get us some Smarties.
Kensi 1 year ago
When I was a kid, about 8 yo, I was finally promised a dog for Christmas after years of begging for him and after doing everything as I was told to (good grades, dog sitting for neighbours etc.). I was really excited and even bought him some toys for my allowance money. And with my hopes up I remember running to Christmas tree. Well I didn't get a dog. (But some years after that I adopted one and now he's a senior pup and such a sweetheart).
John Dilligaf 1 year ago
Christmas of 06 in Iraq. The insurgents decided to celebrate the season by shelling our camp on X-mas eve.
ginny weasley 1 year ago
Technically YOU were the people invading their home. Not sure why you would expect a warm welcome.
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Benita Valdez 1 year ago
Most years I just get thoughtless gifts. I feel childish not really appreciating them but it bugs me how thoughtless and generic they are. I'm not difficult to shop for but there's never any effort. For birthdays I always say I want pretty flowers, just a nice bouquet you can grab from Lidl for like $20 USD, I never get flowers. My one ex would buy me crazy expensive gifts and I was always disappointed because he thought the price was more important than the thought; I would've preferred a video game over the $1200 earrings (I'm not big on jewelry and had rarely wore any)
and_a_touch_of_the_’tism 1 year ago
My parents like to tell me this story. So when I was maybe 4, I REALLY wanted a Dora the Explorer roller bag for Christmas. Like, obsessively. So Christmas rolls around, I get my bag, along with some other stuff. I throw a fit… because there was other stuff. I wanted JUST the bag. Sorry mom…
Irene Hopfner 1 year ago
My ex husband gave me an Iphone for Christmas that was not his. He was partner in a company back then. The partners and their wives got a free phone plan as bonus back then. In my country fees for phones are pretty cheap. You pay like 20 Euro and have unlimited phonecalls and unlimited download plus you got to choose a new phone every 3 years or so. It was the latest Iphone (6 back then) and I got to chose the color. Which was all paid for by his company. He wrapped it up and gave it to me that year as his Christmas present. Flash forward three years later, we are getting a divorce and he wants the phone back. I had already bought a new one and had given the IPhone to my daughter because her phone had broken. Up to this day he demands it back, worthless by now, stating I had stolen it in the first place. Never give something as a gift that does not even belong to you!
Bex 1 year ago
I will always remember the year my now (thankfully) ex mother in law gave my son empty boxes for Christmas! Not just any empty boxes, empty toy boxes for toys he wanted. He was 2 at the time!! And she wonders why I hated her! That's just one of the things. Worst thing is she denies doing it! Bought it up a Christmas or 2 later and she was like 'I would never do that!!' And totally denied it! And because my ex husband was a mummy's boy he went along with her!!!!
Greta Free 1 year ago
When I was 12 my older sister got a clock radio (a big deal in those days), my younger brother got a new bike (he was the favorite), I got a cheap nylon bath robe that was too small and the seams started coming apart within days. Par for the course, neglected middle child. :)
zak 1 year ago
You know what I got for Christmas this year? It was a banner f***in' year at the old Bender family. I got a carton of cigarettes. The old man grabbed me and said "Hey. Smoke up Johnny." (Any movie buffs out there? 😋)
Sami-Jo Ross 1 year ago
My stepmom's family gives all the biological grandkids hundreds of dollars worth of gifts. I'm lucky to get a gift card half the time.
Wheeskers 1 year ago
I got a scathing political rant from my son yesterday, telling me he's had more experiences than I and my hub combined. That "I'm a" f*#*ing idiot" and if I'd just listen I could maybe not be so horrible as a Christian (I'm not even) Nazi (wow, me?) And that talking to me about the kids or "weather is not gonna cut it ya dig"? So that was fun.
ispeak catanese 1 year ago
One year, my fiance bought me a large pack of Kraft Singles, no idea why because I'm not a fan. He also gave me three large pieces of plywood with odds and ends nailed on and told me his artist friend created each one. IIRC one looked like a doorbell. Everything went in the trash. This year, a friend wrapped an embroidery kit and magnets from the dollar store in washcloths and tied each "package" with used bread bag twist-ties. One guess where everything went...
Justin Trouble 1 year ago
My birthday is the day after christmas, I've always gotten the combo gift from everyone except mom. Never had a birthday party, only a cake that would be christmas themed. On the plus side I've skipped every christmas since I was 15, so I don't have to buy gifts for anyone.
TheDag 1 year ago
My favourite so far has to be from my ex wife's father, without doubt every Christmas I would get given a pack of beer. Now I'm not one of these folks that complains about s****y gifts because no matter how little thought has gone into a gift for me it still means someone has thought about me but every year without doubt that damn beer would be out of date by at least a year
CT 1 year ago
Not me, but my grandfather. When he was little, he did not receive pajamas, but fabric to sew one
Kraneia The Dancing Dryad 1 year ago
When I was 15, I got a stuffed animal from a cousin. It was a turkey. It was cute, but I collect raccoons... 🦝
Angie Falzarano 7 months ago
I worked at a club and everybody decided to draw names (only about 15 people worked there) for christmas. I (f) was the barback and my bfs (at the time)best friend was a bartender. Gift exchange happens and everybody got ther secret Santa gift except me. When I found who got my namei asked about it and he told me he didn't know what to get me so he got me nothing and gave another girl a gift instead. What made it worse is nobody even noticed I hadn't received anything. The guy could have asked my bf best friend but he didnt. Plus my bf was there every night I was so he could have asked him. I don't do gift exchanges at job anymore.
3Hs 1 year ago
I'm disabled so I got Sick People Presents - wheelchair lap blankets, gadgets, floor grabbers. Everybody else got lovely jewelry, perfume and clothes. It wasn't to be mean. They just didn't THINK!!! Finally one year my Aunt gave all the girls cashmere sweaters. I couldn't wait to open mine. Whst color? What pattern? I got aromatherapy products instead. I kept asking my sister to show me her pretty sweater. Then went home and cried. Aunt called and said "you wanted one too, didn't you?" Like, yeah. She apologized, then reamed all the relatives for me. That s**t finally stopped. People still apologize and say "I can't believe we did that to you."
D. Pitbull 1 year ago
I always got the 'free stuff you can get with points!' from a catalogue (random stuff) - that my mom actually thought I should have (ie: nothing I wanted nor asked for) - when my brother got to be around 8 or 9... suddenly, he'd get nice stuff (new clothes, not 2nd hand, real transformers, not knock-offs) AND also whatever my parents bought for me "to be fair" - because 'fair' meant I could *never* have things he didn't get to have (even if he flat out didn't want the thing I got). Oh, and my 'nice stuff' I still had to pay half for, because the 'gift' was that they'd subsidize half the cost. So.. soooo fair...
CalamityOne 1 year ago
One of my earliest memories, I was maybe 5 or 6, and my grandmother had for some reason gotten me an "Old Maid" card deck game. Now, keep in mind I had never played a card game of any type in my life, nor had I ever heard of "Old Maid". So, holding this small box with a little old lady printed on it, I innocently asked what it was. I was immediately yelled at, told I should say "thank you" for the gift, etc etc. Which I did, of course, but I don't recall that anyone ever did teach me how to play, and the box kicked around for several years before being donated/given away.
Kel WNC 1 year ago
I was 22, with a 3yr and 1yr old. I didnt have money to buy my kids anything much less my nieces and nephews. Told my mom this, but she said it was ok and to still come to Xmas. One nephew (John - 4yrs old) gave my daughter a picture he had colored from a coloring book, wrapped and all, which was sweet. Nothing for my son, but I digress. Then I heard my sister tell John to come ask me why my daughter didnt get him anything. John comes to me and loudly says, "I got Sara something, why didn't she get me anything?" as my sister laughed and smirked and whispered to her husband. Told John I was sorry, but I didnt have any money to buy anything. John continued with "I colored her a picture. She should have got me something." I apologized again as the 4yr old kept telling me that he should have gotten a present and my sister watched happily, saying nothing. My mom said nothing. I didnt attend Xmas again for 15 years and when I did, I let everyone know why I had stopped coming. Never got apolo
Jon Merritt 1 year ago
When I was… twelve (?) I got nothing. It was really hard to sit there and put on a smile for my siblings as they unwrapped their many presents. I was crushed. But the pain subsided in time and it vindicated my understanding that I was unwanted and unloved, two deeply hard feelings for a kid. I never had to spend Christmas morning with my family again, because we all knew what would happen. I found out thirty years later that that Christmas hurt all of my siblings as much as it hurt me.
F C 1 year ago
It is better to get some one absolutely nothing, not even cash, then waste their time, money and emotions like this. I used to love buying gifts and souvenirs and especially cards for everyone in my life, even people I wasn't close to. They never appreciate it and many I would say even feel embarrassed when you get then something they like and they don't even think about you, so quite rightly they prefer to never get anything again, so that's what happened. Even between my parents and my partner we stopped getting presents.
Ronnie Cutshall 1 year ago
I have to say this. Just remember some parents do not celebrate Christmas or birthday days. So if it even a bad gift, it is way better than than no gift. Sign never received a gift
ginny weasley 1 year ago
Jehovah's Witness? And sometimes nothing is better than a truly thoughtless or hurtful present
Load More Replies... Mabelbabel 1 year ago
I had a friend that I used to be close to-one of my hobbies is cross stitch embroidery, so one year I decided to do her a tapestry. They take hours and hours to do, and the cost of getting them professionally framed is high. She really liked it and hung it in her hallway, and the following year asked me to do her another one. This went on about 5 years, she basically had a gallery of tapestries going up her stairs. And every year, without fail, she would phone me in early December and say I was really hard to buy for, and did I have any ideas what I wanted. So I gave her some ideas-yellow cushions, a garden bird feeding station, a jewellery box with drawers. And every year I ended up with a basic pack of shower gel, body lotion and cheap eau de toilette and the comment, sorry, I didn't the time to get anything else. I know its not the monetary value that's important, it was the lack of thought, the lack of engagement, the fact I wasn't worth spending time on.
RMA 1 year ago
I’m sorry. She’s cruelly thoughtless. Embroidery of any kind takes time and patience and is even more expensive to frame than many pictures. You were a good and kind friend.
Load More Replies... Lu 1 year ago
First Xmas with my now wife, I gave her a board game I wish I had gotten as a kid but never got (Mouse Trap). I was excited to play it with her, but I’ve learned over the years that you’re supposed to give people stuff they like. My point is I was young, immature and of course selfish… but people can change, took about 10 years but it happens.
RMA 1 year ago
My best friend at school had Mouse Trap and I have always wanted to get it but would never think to buy it for myself. I’ll play a game or two of it with you :)
Load More Replies... Carol Emory 1 year ago
My father always gave our son, his grandson, the loudest of toys. Once is was a Rugrats clock that would yell out a phrase every quarter hour. It did have a light indicator on it so it would sense when there was low light and shut the sound off. Then it was a little mower with loud popping sounds, then a toy xylophone. Every noisy toy came with "Oh look, another toy that you can play with when you visit grandpa." My father said "Why are you making him leave his toys here." My mother piped up "Because they live in an apartment, dear, and they don't want complaints from the neighbors." It had never dawned on him that we lived in an apartment and not a house like we grew up in. He bought quieter toys after that.
Happy Panda 1 year ago
Christmas can be cruel, it often reveals your worth in front of other people's eyes :')
Got Myself 4 Pandas 1 year ago
It's hardly the worst gift but accidentally discovered my husband and I have bought each other the same Lego set for Xmas this year - guess it shows how alike we are. And yes, I still play with Lego at the grand age of forty and will continue to do so
Miss Frankfurter 1 year ago
I read all of these and they’re downright cruel. Thoughtless and emotionally abusive. My parents, even when we were poor, I don’t know how they did it, but they made it magical for me. Not a lot of presents, but nice toys, one year my first watch, a Chatty Cathy another year. And somehow we always had a wonderful Christmas dinner. I am so blessed to have had the parents I did. They always, somehow managed.
talliloo 1 year ago
i guess i am an OK gift giver. i love getting weird/unusual but appropriate for the person gifts. my dad is the hardest bc he doesn't need/want anything. best things i have gotten for him was one year a deodorized compressed fertilizer shaped like a snail for his roses. as the weather/time goes on it looks like concrete & is absorbed by the soil. he had the best time telling his friends that i gave him s**t for xmas. the other thing was when i first heard him exclaim he didn't give a flying f about something. that yr i got him the literal word f shaped helicopter.
Cassi Lyris 1 year ago
Trauma dump time: When I was 5 I nearly died from bacterial meningitis. The vast quantity of medication I was on absolutely ruined my metabolism/digestion. I packed on weight despite not eating much. Even now I can look at food and gain weight. So flash forward to Christmas one year later, I'm 6. Everybody is packed up to go to my Aunt and Uncle's house and their then 3 sons. Whole family is there. Think a solid 25 people. Our family had a tradition of opening gifts on Christmas Eve. I had two gifts under the tree. Cool. Yeah, no. Opened the first box; it was an old used pillow. I got a sinking feeling in my stomach. Open box 2; an old adult's Santa suit. I was promptly forced to put the suit on and be Santa for the rest of the kids that night. My cousins were egged on by the very drunk adults to come up with the "funniest" fat jokes to toss at me. Reminder: I was 6 and I nearly fùcking died a year prior. I knew if I didn't play along "Santa" was going to get her àss beaten.
Cassi Lyris 1 year ago
I couldn't tell you how the rest of that Christmas Eve went. Pretty sure I stole a glass of whiskey and beer to get through it. Yes, really. Fast forward to Christmas morning. My stocking was full. An apology maybe? Nope. A massive package of enormous adult sized underwear. I was "instructed" to put the Santa suit back on and to place several pairs of the undies over it. I was to keep it on the whole day. This torture became a yearly "tradition" until I was 12 and spent my first Christmas with a foster family. That was the happiest Christmas of my life. I didn't even get anything and it was still the best by a long shot.
Load More Replies... Jason 1 year ago
My dad gave me a used copy of mouse trap missing the trap and most other pieces. Another year he gave me a used lite Brite with no papers and only a few of the pegs. That same year my mom had picked up one too from "Dad" that was new, without knowing he got me the half there one. My mom was a stay at home mom, my dad worked and made decent money but was just super cheap. Good thing he saved all that money as kids so he can buy his girlfriend plastic surgery.
OffKeySinger 1 year ago
An airport lighter (pre-9/11). I bought my bf Music CDs, a nice band shirt, and a video game. He gave me the lighter he bought for himself when he flew back into town after visiting family. Even his mom commented how lazy he was and thoughtless. We had been dating 10 months. What hurt wasn't the lack of gifts, it was the lack of thought. Dumped that loser within a week.
smolspeedycats 1 year ago
You know what? Everybody who submitted anything to this post, give me your relatives' phone numbers. They will soon be their jail numbers.
Auntriarch 1 year ago
My brother is useless at presents, so my mother told my niece who was about ten at the time and a bright little button, if he asks, she wants a blueberry bush. Well wires got crossed and the kid told her mother that granny wanted a blueberry bush. Her mother said that they didn't have that kind of money since daddy left them, and to pick out something less expensive. A plastic necklace with a butterfly on it. Such a calculated insult if you knew my mother. Just to clarify, my brother gave the house to his ex wife and was paying her £30K a year, and she was working, and managed to buy a new car. And managed to wangle free school meals for the children as she was a single mother. I guess I'm not as over it as I thought. But the next year I bought bought my mother a blueberry bush. It set me back all of £6.99
StrangeOne 1 year ago
Teeth whitening c**p. Both me and my daughter had been given this on separate Christmases. Whenever my mom feels our teeth are not white enough for her standards she makes a fuss and this lady is a queen of passive aggressive gifts. The same year she gave me the teeth whitening kit she gave us a bunch of toilet paper as stocking stuffers. When I asked her wtf that was, all she said was "I thought you could use it." For clarity, we were living in a rougher neighbourhood, in a very old apartment block that needed more than few nuts and bolts tightened, and she was open about how felt about us living in "crappy conditions".
Jeremy Schneider 1 year ago
My Aunt genuinely thought I would like Nascar Monopoly. I neither like Nascar nor Monopoly. But I pretended to like it and if memory serves, left it at their house for her kids to play with
WoodenLion 1 year ago
one year my mother - who usually gives me a $50 gift card wanted to know what i wanted for Christmas. i told her pillow cases. my sister told her a week on the beach. she went, i got what i asked for. we laughed.
lapis lazuli 1 year ago
my moms favorite story to tell me is how when my mom and dad were first dating, time and time again she told him how much she hated non fiction books. she just could not stand them. when christmas rolled around, my mom got him some heartfelt gifts that she spent a lot of time picking out. he got her a nonfiction book. he said it was perfect, because he could read it after her! tl;dr my dad bought a gift for himself
Fickle_Pickle 1 year ago
My mother in law gives my kids (not my husband’s (her son) biological kids, dollar store toys. She once gave my 16 year old son a plastic power rangers toy 🙄 while her bio granddaughter got a big a*s playhouse and dolls. The thing is, she doesn’t take the price stickers off so all kids know how much she paid for their presents. I try to teach my kids to be grateful for everything but its just plain insulting. We went to their house last year for Xmas and that was the first and only time I took my kids there. I’m not going to subject them to more humiliation.
Lizz 1 year ago
Xmas as a kid: I wanted a Barbie Doll, I got a ( cheapass) Cindy doll. Next Xmas: I wanted a Cabbage Patch Kid, My mom got me a homemade "Patch Kid" If you look at the pics of me with the gifts well enough you'll see the disappointment in my expression. Luckily I have a really nice aunt who got me a REAL Barbie and I finally got REAL Cabbage Patch Kids! The funny thing is: I have no idea why my mom was so cheap on those things.... my dad had a really good job, we lived in a nice split level house in a nice neighborhood and I went to a private school.... Found out later my mom preferred to spend the money on ( expensive ) stuff for her....
Hannah 1 year ago
When I was like 15 my mom gifted me a set of scarves she'd had for years that I always really liked. Awesome gift on the surface. But this was the year she had literally taken off and moved out of state without a word and she hadnt even attempted to contact me in months. She sent them to me because she had no use of them where she was living. It was like she'd said "here, something I don't want for someONE I don't want"
Cathy Homan 1 year ago
Nothing. I have gotten nothing for Christmas and my birthday for 30 years. My brother gets a brand new mustang and this year an 2021 Mach E while I ride public transit with a mobility device. My dad goes to Europe for 3 weeks my brother and daughter make out like a bandit I get the pamphlets and a receipt from a museum. Don't forget Mother's Day where I get nothing as well.
simply.Taz 1 year ago
Ditto! Even though I'm older now, it's still just as painful. :(
Load More Replies... Krysta Pandoo 1 year ago
My mum just gave back a gift she didn't like. It didn't matter how much it was, how much effort you put in, how hard you worked, if she didn't like it, she'd tell you . In front of everyone, right back into my hands and told me to keep it. She did it with all gifts. So, aged 10, I stopped giving her anything. She still bitches about not getting anything from me or my siblings, but she's the b***h here. Never gave her anything again and never will.
Marilyn Russell 1 year ago
One year after our mother died, our dad forgot to get us stocking stuffers and I found an empty Coke bottle and an unhealthy orange in mine. I’d rather it had been empty. My sister made him go out to a gas station later and get us some Smarties.
Kensi 1 year ago
When I was a kid, about 8 yo, I was finally promised a dog for Christmas after years of begging for him and after doing everything as I was told to (good grades, dog sitting for neighbours etc.). I was really excited and even bought him some toys for my allowance money. And with my hopes up I remember running to Christmas tree. Well I didn't get a dog. (But some years after that I adopted one and now he's a senior pup and such a sweetheart).
John Dilligaf 1 year ago
Christmas of 06 in Iraq. The insurgents decided to celebrate the season by shelling our camp on X-mas eve.
ginny weasley 1 year ago
Technically YOU were the people invading their home. Not sure why you would expect a warm welcome.
Load More Replies... Benita Valdez 1 year ago
Most years I just get thoughtless gifts. I feel childish not really appreciating them but it bugs me how thoughtless and generic they are. I'm not difficult to shop for but there's never any effort. For birthdays I always say I want pretty flowers, just a nice bouquet you can grab from Lidl for like $20 USD, I never get flowers. My one ex would buy me crazy expensive gifts and I was always disappointed because he thought the price was more important than the thought; I would've preferred a video game over the $1200 earrings (I'm not big on jewelry and had rarely wore any)
and_a_touch_of_the_’tism 1 year ago
My parents like to tell me this story. So when I was maybe 4, I REALLY wanted a Dora the Explorer roller bag for Christmas. Like, obsessively. So Christmas rolls around, I get my bag, along with some other stuff. I throw a fit… because there was other stuff. I wanted JUST the bag. Sorry mom…
Irene Hopfner 1 year ago
My ex husband gave me an Iphone for Christmas that was not his. He was partner in a company back then. The partners and their wives got a free phone plan as bonus back then. In my country fees for phones are pretty cheap. You pay like 20 Euro and have unlimited phonecalls and unlimited download plus you got to choose a new phone every 3 years or so. It was the latest Iphone (6 back then) and I got to chose the color. Which was all paid for by his company. He wrapped it up and gave it to me that year as his Christmas present. Flash forward three years later, we are getting a divorce and he wants the phone back. I had already bought a new one and had given the IPhone to my daughter because her phone had broken. Up to this day he demands it back, worthless by now, stating I had stolen it in the first place. Never give something as a gift that does not even belong to you!
Bex 1 year ago
I will always remember the year my now (thankfully) ex mother in law gave my son empty boxes for Christmas! Not just any empty boxes, empty toy boxes for toys he wanted. He was 2 at the time!! And she wonders why I hated her! That's just one of the things. Worst thing is she denies doing it! Bought it up a Christmas or 2 later and she was like 'I would never do that!!' And totally denied it! And because my ex husband was a mummy's boy he went along with her!!!!
Greta Free 1 year ago
When I was 12 my older sister got a clock radio (a big deal in those days), my younger brother got a new bike (he was the favorite), I got a cheap nylon bath robe that was too small and the seams started coming apart within days. Par for the course, neglected middle child. :)
zak 1 year ago
You know what I got for Christmas this year? It was a banner f***in' year at the old Bender family. I got a carton of cigarettes. The old man grabbed me and said "Hey. Smoke up Johnny." (Any movie buffs out there? 😋)
Sami-Jo Ross 1 year ago
My stepmom's family gives all the biological grandkids hundreds of dollars worth of gifts. I'm lucky to get a gift card half the time.
Wheeskers 1 year ago
I got a scathing political rant from my son yesterday, telling me he's had more experiences than I and my hub combined. That "I'm a" f*#*ing idiot" and if I'd just listen I could maybe not be so horrible as a Christian (I'm not even) Nazi (wow, me?) And that talking to me about the kids or "weather is not gonna cut it ya dig"? So that was fun.
ispeak catanese 1 year ago
One year, my fiance bought me a large pack of Kraft Singles, no idea why because I'm not a fan. He also gave me three large pieces of plywood with odds and ends nailed on and told me his artist friend created each one. IIRC one looked like a doorbell. Everything went in the trash. This year, a friend wrapped an embroidery kit and magnets from the dollar store in washcloths and tied each "package" with used bread bag twist-ties. One guess where everything went...
Justin Trouble 1 year ago
My birthday is the day after christmas, I've always gotten the combo gift from everyone except mom. Never had a birthday party, only a cake that would be christmas themed. On the plus side I've skipped every christmas since I was 15, so I don't have to buy gifts for anyone.
TheDag 1 year ago
My favourite so far has to be from my ex wife's father, without doubt every Christmas I would get given a pack of beer. Now I'm not one of these folks that complains about s****y gifts because no matter how little thought has gone into a gift for me it still means someone has thought about me but every year without doubt that damn beer would be out of date by at least a year
CT 1 year ago
Not me, but my grandfather. When he was little, he did not receive pajamas, but fabric to sew one
Kraneia The Dancing Dryad 1 year ago
When I was 15, I got a stuffed animal from a cousin. It was a turkey. It was cute, but I collect raccoons... 🦝
Angie Falzarano 7 months ago
I worked at a club and everybody decided to draw names (only about 15 people worked there) for christmas. I (f) was the barback and my bfs (at the time)best friend was a bartender. Gift exchange happens and everybody got ther secret Santa gift except me. When I found who got my namei asked about it and he told me he didn't know what to get me so he got me nothing and gave another girl a gift instead. What made it worse is nobody even noticed I hadn't received anything. The guy could have asked my bf best friend but he didnt. Plus my bf was there every night I was so he could have asked him. I don't do gift exchanges at job anymore.
3Hs 1 year ago
I'm disabled so I got Sick People Presents - wheelchair lap blankets, gadgets, floor grabbers. Everybody else got lovely jewelry, perfume and clothes. It wasn't to be mean. They just didn't THINK!!! Finally one year my Aunt gave all the girls cashmere sweaters. I couldn't wait to open mine. Whst color? What pattern? I got aromatherapy products instead. I kept asking my sister to show me her pretty sweater. Then went home and cried. Aunt called and said "you wanted one too, didn't you?" Like, yeah. She apologized, then reamed all the relatives for me. That s**t finally stopped. People still apologize and say "I can't believe we did that to you."
D. Pitbull 1 year ago
I always got the 'free stuff you can get with points!' from a catalogue (random stuff) - that my mom actually thought I should have (ie: nothing I wanted nor asked for) - when my brother got to be around 8 or 9... suddenly, he'd get nice stuff (new clothes, not 2nd hand, real transformers, not knock-offs) AND also whatever my parents bought for me "to be fair" - because 'fair' meant I could *never* have things he didn't get to have (even if he flat out didn't want the thing I got). Oh, and my 'nice stuff' I still had to pay half for, because the 'gift' was that they'd subsidize half the cost. So.. soooo fair...
CalamityOne 1 year ago
One of my earliest memories, I was maybe 5 or 6, and my grandmother had for some reason gotten me an "Old Maid" card deck game. Now, keep in mind I had never played a card game of any type in my life, nor had I ever heard of "Old Maid". So, holding this small box with a little old lady printed on it, I innocently asked what it was. I was immediately yelled at, told I should say "thank you" for the gift, etc etc. Which I did, of course, but I don't recall that anyone ever did teach me how to play, and the box kicked around for several years before being donated/given away.
Kel WNC 1 year ago
I was 22, with a 3yr and 1yr old. I didnt have money to buy my kids anything much less my nieces and nephews. Told my mom this, but she said it was ok and to still come to Xmas. One nephew (John - 4yrs old) gave my daughter a picture he had colored from a coloring book, wrapped and all, which was sweet. Nothing for my son, but I digress. Then I heard my sister tell John to come ask me why my daughter didnt get him anything. John comes to me and loudly says, "I got Sara something, why didn't she get me anything?" as my sister laughed and smirked and whispered to her husband. Told John I was sorry, but I didnt have any money to buy anything. John continued with "I colored her a picture. She should have got me something." I apologized again as the 4yr old kept telling me that he should have gotten a present and my sister watched happily, saying nothing. My mom said nothing. I didnt attend Xmas again for 15 years and when I did, I let everyone know why I had stopped coming. Never got apolo
Jon Merritt 1 year ago
When I was… twelve (?) I got nothing. It was really hard to sit there and put on a smile for my siblings as they unwrapped their many presents. I was crushed. But the pain subsided in time and it vindicated my understanding that I was unwanted and unloved, two deeply hard feelings for a kid. I never had to spend Christmas morning with my family again, because we all knew what would happen. I found out thirty years later that that Christmas hurt all of my siblings as much as it hurt me.
F C 1 year ago
It is better to get some one absolutely nothing, not even cash, then waste their time, money and emotions like this. I used to love buying gifts and souvenirs and especially cards for everyone in my life, even people I wasn't close to. They never appreciate it and many I would say even feel embarrassed when you get then something they like and they don't even think about you, so quite rightly they prefer to never get anything again, so that's what happened. Even between my parents and my partner we stopped getting presents.
Ronnie Cutshall 1 year ago
I have to say this. Just remember some parents do not celebrate Christmas or birthday days. So if it even a bad gift, it is way better than than no gift. Sign never received a gift
ginny weasley 1 year ago
Jehovah's Witness? And sometimes nothing is better than a truly thoughtless or hurtful present
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