Worst. Present. Ever.

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Registered: 01-28-2004
Worst. Present. Ever.
11
Mon, 11-27-2006 - 10:02am
What’s the worst gift you’ve ever received? Who gave it? When? What did you do with it?

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Mon, 11-27-2006 - 12:02pm

I'm jumping


Karen ~ wildlucky4me ~

Avatar for cmckinn
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-17-2003
Mon, 11-27-2006 - 12:15pm

I had to post on this one! I actually have two, of course they both came from my STBX. The first one was silverware. What husband gives his wife silverware? We didn't even need new silverware. If I'm getting a present, I want it to be for me, not the whole family. I had even told him when we got married - I don't want presents that we need, like vacuum cleaners, get me something I want or wouldn't buy for myself. The second one was a fuzzy, powder blue coat that teenagers would wear, but I got when I was about 35! Just not my style. I felt like giving it to my teen-aged niece. Instead I nicely told him it wasn't my style and could I exchange it? It was enough to make me shudder.

Carole

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-25-2003
Mon, 11-27-2006 - 12:30pm

My ex-wife wins this several times over.

When she got me clothes, she wold get two sizes smaller than my size so she could point out how fat she thought I was, and usually in front fo the kids.

The last Christmas together I got nothing at all (really, nothing). Everybody else (her, two daughters and our son) gots piles and piles of things.

One year she got me a kind of nice watch. Except that (a) the wrist band would not fit around my wrist (and since she thought I was so fat, she should have known better), and (b) she left the price tag on, showing the scratch-outs for the various times it had been on sale.

One time I wanted the old game Skittles. She did not get it because the store would not honor an expired $5 off coupon. And she let me know that's why she never bought it.

I make stained glass windows and lamps. She made an "I Owe You" kind of coupon to get me a stained glass saw. Lets just say that coupon was re-gifted to me across several Christmas's.

I can go on if you'd like.

Avatar for susieyippin
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-07-2003
Mon, 11-27-2006 - 12:44pm

One year, I think it was after X and I had been married about 5 years, my ex-MIL gave us a bible because SHE wanted us to go to church (HER church). I am a different faith (although X and I were both raised Protestant), and found this extremely offensive. She just had NO clue that not everybody has the same beliefs that she does, and that it is OK to have different viewpoints. To this day, I do not send others religious-themed gifts/cards/paraphernalia... it's such a personal, private matter that I would NEVER presume to give that type of gift to ANYONE, even a family member.

After much thought, I believe it was ex-MIL's passive-aggressive way of getting back at us because we opted not to have our children baptized, and instead allowed the kids to make that decision for themselves.

I think her bible sat on the shelf, and let X deal with his mother... don't know what happened to it... maybe X took it with his things.

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-23-2006
Mon, 11-27-2006 - 2:32pm
Bathroom scales from my mom. I was so stunned I couldn't even comment. And I was not fat. Not as small as her, but not fat by any means.
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-17-2001
Mon, 11-27-2006 - 3:02pm

This is hilarious! I actually have two white elephant gifts sitting here in my drawer at work.... one is mine and one is a friend's.

Mine is a combination lock that I got from my grandfather (Mom's Dad). Usually he sends some decent gifts, even though we rarely see him. But my gift several years ago was this lock. It's silver and has 3 tumblers on it with the numbers 0-9. The documentation with it says that the combination is set to 000 and gives instructions on how to change it. Well, it has never been opened, but not for lack of trying. I sat with coworkers one day and we honestly tried every single set of numbers.

My friend's gift came from her sister-in-law. They (the SIL and brother) do that medieval reinacment stuff and one year for Christmas, Karen got a pair of fuzzy socks and a small baby food jar with a handmade label that says " Lady Renaissance Soaps.... Lavendar Salve". THe the first ingredient listed on the label is "Lard" and then honey, beeswax, lavendar oil, and color. Why would one put lard on their skin? Not to mention that it's a horrible purple color and smells awful.

This happened at least 8 years ago and we still talk about it!

~calla~  mom to rosie and gracie

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-01-2006
Mon, 11-27-2006 - 3:25pm
STBX wrapped up some cheap drugstore moisturizer with the orange sale sticker still attached and a cheap plastic hairbrush. He has always been horrible at gifts (usually he just doesn't bother at all - for anything... honest!) but with two young daughters who would wonder why Santa or daddy for that matter didn't bring mommy anything - I told him that he should get something small - didn't have to be expensive - just to put under the tree. That was the best he could manage. We live a very blessed life financially that was all he could muster. I felt so insulted - I was honestly speechless. I tried to act like it was a great gift becasue my daughters who were one and three at the time were so excited to give it to me. Had they picked this out themselves I wouldn't have been hurt but I know he grabbed it without putting any thought into it from his friend's drugstore on his way home from the gym. Later when we were alone - I asked him if he would honestly be proud to tell people what he got me for Christmas - that should be the true test!
Years down the road when I look at the many reasons why we are not together I think this one will top my list.....
Rosecolouredspecs
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-16-2004
Mon, 11-27-2006 - 5:01pm

Lard can be cooked into soap, that what you did in the old days but

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-16-2005
Mon, 11-27-2006 - 5:03pm

I think I will have everyone beat.

I got milk duds as an anniversary gift. Yes you read that correctly MILK DUDS. He saw something else he was going to buy me, so he gave those to me in the interim and then never got me the other thing. NICE HUH??? And I wonder why we are divorced. LOL

Smile,

Deirdre

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-29-2005
Mon, 11-27-2006 - 11:47pm

The worst present I have ever received was for my birthday last year. Three weeks prior I gave my STBX the Indiana Jones trilogy as his birthday gift from the kids because I was playing nice. He forgot my birthday and then on the day itself when he remembered he went out and got a fairly cheap tea kettle from Target as a gift from the kids. I decided "playing nice" was over and for Christmas I got him a $20 gift certificate to a video store that was nowhere near his new place and had a seriously crappy and over-priced selection of DVDs to buy.

This made me happy. Especially when I opened my Christmas gift from him and it was a $15 paper shredder.

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