Thoughtless Gift?

[ybertrand]

here is the background story first...MIL does not speak to me at all on Thanksgiving..not one single word...over the next 6 months both of my boys' have their birthdays and of course Christmas....no gifts for either of my children on these occassions, no calls....Mother's Day, I get a bottle of very expensive perfume in the mail with a hand written note telling me how great of a mother I am. UGHH!!!!!! I know I am great mother...hello, I remenbered their birthdays, Christmas! on top of everything else I do for them every day of their life.

I still don't know why she didn't speak to me and neither does DH.

The woman drives me crazy, actually I think she is crazy. LOL!!!!!!

 

[kathianne]

>>> pregnant cat
This is not a gift. It's a problem your relative was trying to pass on to you. I kinda' think you should have returned it. At the appropriate times of year the Humane Societies are begging people not to give rabbits or ducks as gifts as these animals sooner or later get abused and/or abandoned.

Oh, yes, she was trying to pass on the problem, but what about the cat? We couldn't just return her. We took her to the Humane Society, they were able to remove the kittens and spayed her so it wouldn't happen again, saved 9 kittens from being homeless, abandonded, abused, also gave the mama a home. The children never knew about the kittens, just thought they got a nice kitty from their aunt.

 

[tzolkin]

I really can't figure out the pets gifts. I believe that if you want a pet, you discuss it within your family to decide if/what would be best for your family. I would never dream of giving some one a pet. (Maybe I would pay for one if the parent explicitly said it was okay and the child picked it out.)

My mother got a thoughtless pet gift. She has a farm and bought a border collie. Well, he started attacking and killing various animals all over the farm. Then he started trying to "herd" my kids, which wouldn't have been a problem if I didn't have to worry about him being violent. My mom wound up giving him away to a dog trainer. Two months or so later my aunt comes out to visit with a collie puppy. The dog is lovely, but at the time my mom really did not need a puppy to train and she just had a really bad experience with another dog that she had to worry about repeating.

 

[disneymyway]

OMG! I just had to say that I have never heard of such a crazy gift as a pregnant cat!!!

I honestly can't think of a thoughtless gift that I've received, but yours is unbelievable!!!

 

[disneymom3]

I deliberately refuse to tell my MIL what they are asking for from Santa because of this. She would do exactly what your MIL did.

Well you see that is the thing that really gets me! I give her a list. This was not on the list. SHE did not like the ideas on the list and unbeknownst to me had had a conversation with DS and he said that was what he wanted. She didn't discuss it with me at all.

 

[teresajoy]

I guess my worst gift came from my first boyfriend. For my high school graduation, he kept bragging about what a great gift he had gotten me! He told me I wouldn't believe it! So, at my graduation party, I was pretty excited to see what he had gotten me!

Want to know what I got???????

Of course you do!

I got a CARD! A CARD! With NOTHING in it!!! A card that said,

"To a lovely young lady on her graduation day."!!!





We had been dating for almost a YEAR!!! For petes sake!!!!! A "lovely young lady"?? That's the kind of card you parent's friends give you!




We've been married for over 20 years now, and I STILL tell him that he owes me a graduation present!!!!

 

[K and K's Mommy]

I guess my worst gift came from my first boyfriend. For my high school graduation, he kept bragging about what a great gift he had gotten me! He told me I wouldn't believe it! So, at my graduation party, I was pretty excited to see what he had gotten me!

Want to know what I got???????

Of course you do!

I got a CARD! A CARD! With NOTHING in it!!! A card that said,

"To a lovely young lady on her graduation day."!!!






We had been dating for almost a YEAR!!! For petes sake!!!!! A "lovely young lady"?? That's the kind of card you parent's friends give you!




We've been married for over 20 years now, and I STILL tell him that he owes me a graduation present!!!!

That is a great story!

I love this thread!

 

[amandaraye]

A couple weeks ago was my birthday and my mother gave me a small gift bag and inside were the following:
a store-brand stain stick
short black socks with pink toes
short pink socks with black toes
a "family activities" calendar for my fridge (the same fridge she always complains is too cluttered when she's over )
a box of tissues (that came from the four pack she had sitting on the counter )
And a paper cube. Not just any paper cube, mind you. It had a large pad at the bottom, somewhat smaller one on top of that (pyramid-like) and on the top? NOTHING! I said "Oh, looks like something missing on the top" and she giggles and said "Oh, yeah. I took the little pad off the top because it was so cute and figured I could use it."
WTH?!?!?
it's like...don't get me anything at all please! That would be better. Especially after I explicitly told her a couple months ago "For any occasion between now and Disney, please do not buy gifts. If you really would like to give us something, get us a Disney gift card instead."
I'll tell ya' that woman has a hear of gold but sometimes i wonder about her mental stability.

 

[Stephres]

I got a CARD! A CARD! With NOTHING in it!!! A card that said,

"To a lovely young lady on her graduation day."!!!

Aw, but you are a lovely young lady!

I am almost afraid to share in case my mom ever finds her way here but here goes:

One Christmas she bought the kids chore charts! Of course she buys lots of other things (tons of other things, which is a rant for another thread) but chore charts just cracked me up. Also, they were huge with like 50 chores on them; they took up half of the fridge! I don't know what kind of slave driver she thinks I am. I tried to use them for a little while but I threw them out after an appropriate amount of time. Of course she asked but I acted like I didn't know what happened to them.

This summer she got me a huge family calendar for my birthday. It is very neat, with stickers for practice, games, recitals, etc. It just doesn't fit in with my planning style at all. I have a little calendar in my purse so I can know right then if I can make the extra practice the soccer coach wants us to go to or whatever. If I used this big calendar I would have to record everything twice. Plus, I am the only one who needs to know everything. I wish husband cared when the kids' dentist appointment was!

My problem is that she is coming to watch the kids in a few weeks and she will expect that calendar to be out in a prominent location. So do I get it out and write things on it and pretend we have been using it? I think the kids will rat me out!

 

[famofsix]

Stephres~

Just rip the prior months off so she doesn't know


My 13 year old got a bag of chocolate and acne cream from my sister

 

[crisi]

We've been married for over 20 years now, and I STILL tell him that he owes me a graduation present!!!!

The first thing my husband ever gave me was a hacking cough. But I don't think he intended to gift me with it......

 

[Stephres]

Stephres~

Just rip the prior months off so she doesn't know


My 13 year old got a bag of chocolate and acne cream from my sister

Was your sister being passive agressive?

Thanks! I will have to try it: I am still worried about the kids though.

 

[belle&sebastiansmom]

My grandmother, who has given bad and thoughtless gifts my entire life, drew the line at Christmas a few years ago when she gave my then 3 year old a dancing gorilla with satin red boxer shorts that gyrated its hips and sang, "You Sexy Thing."

 

[Belle4mygrl]

I am 36 and I am the exact age that my mom was when she had me. weird huh? Anyway, she buys me clothes that I NEVER wear. I am not dressing like I am 70ish. Of course, they are the correct size and she says to me occasionally, "have you worn the **blank** dress or shirt?" I look at her say sure but in my mind I am saying, "uh, yeah, when I tried them on the first time."

Every year she buys my older kids coloring books and crayons (among other things)! We give them to the younger child.

If I am buying the little one a new pair of sandals at the end of the season to get through the last few weeks of summer, she buys 2 pairs! I dont' know why we need 3 pair of sandals to wear in a few short weeks. I never took the receipt until recently. I would then take them back and get another shoe for later in the year.

 

[famofsix]

Was your sister being passive agressive?

Thanks! I will have to try it: I am still worried about the kids though.

Yes my sis is PA but I still love her

She gave my one daughter a hello kitty hotel toy except that it had no Hello Kitties.

 

[mom2munchkins]

This thread is priceless. I do love it.

Oh where to start.

My mil got me a one of those coffe gift sets you get from Walmart and I never drink coffee. I gave it to dh

My sil got me a Tea maker I don't drink tea either.

My mil got me a wool sweater. I'm allergic to wool I break out in giant hives.

My fil got me and both sil's baseball hats AND curling irons

The topper... step mil got me lingerie. I was completely freaked out and ebarassed. They video tapped this Christmas the look on my face I can only imagine. I threw it away

 

[dislal]

My grandmother, who has given bad and thoughtless gifts my entire life, drew the line at Christmas a few years ago when she gave my then 3 year old a dancing gorilla with satin red boxer shorts that gyrated its hips and sang, "You Sexy Thing."

I am sitting here laughing while reading this because if she lives near PA maybe she bought this off of me at a yardsale I had one a few years ago that I sold to an older woman who was mesmorized by it.

 

[sk!mom]

A couple weeks ago was my birthday and my mother gave me a small gift bag and inside were the following:
a store-brand stain stick
short black socks with pink toes
short pink socks with black toes
a "family activities" calendar for my fridge (the same fridge she always complains is too cluttered when she's over )
a box of tissues (that came from the four pack she had sitting on the counter )
And a paper cube. Not just any paper cube, mind you. It had a large pad at the bottom, somewhat smaller one on top of that (pyramid-like) and on the top? NOTHING! I said "Oh, looks like something missing on the top" and she giggles and said "Oh, yeah. I took the little pad off the top because it was so cute and figured I could use it."
WTH?!?!?
it's like...don't get me anything at all please! That would be better. Especially after I explicitly told her a couple months ago "For any occasion between now and Disney, please do not buy gifts. If you really would like to give us something, get us a Disney gift card instead."
I'll tell ya' that woman has a hear of gold but sometimes i wonder about her mental stability.

But a Disney Card would have cost her something. She just gathered up stuff that she had laying around the house.

 

[teresajoy]

Aw, but you are a lovely young lady!

I am almost afraid to share in case my mom ever finds her way here but here goes:

One Christmas she bought the kids chore charts! Of course she buys lots of other things (tons of other things, which is a rant for another thread) but chore charts just cracked me up. Also, they were huge with like 50 chores on them; they took up half of the fridge! I don't know what kind of slave driver she thinks I am. I tried to use them for a little while but I threw them out after an appropriate amount of time. Of course she asked but I acted like I didn't know what happened to them.

This summer she got me a huge family calendar for my birthday. It is very neat, with stickers for practice, games, recitals, etc. It just doesn't fit in with my planning style at all. I have a little calendar in my purse so I can know right then if I can make the extra practice the soccer coach wants us to go to or whatever. If I used this big calendar I would have to record everything twice. Plus, I am the only one who needs to know everything. I wish husband cared when the kids' dentist appointment was!

My problem is that she is coming to watch the kids in a few weeks and she will expect that calendar to be out in a prominent location. So do I get it out and write things on it and pretend we have been using it? I think the kids will rat me out!

Steph, did you put the calendar up for your Mom's visit??? That is so funny!

My grandmother, who has given bad and thoughtless gifts my entire life, drew the line at Christmas a few years ago when she gave my then 3 year old a dancing gorilla with satin red boxer shorts that gyrated its hips and sang, "You Sexy Thing."

I am sitting here laughing while reading this because if she lives near PA maybe she bought this off of me at a yardsale I had one a few years ago that I sold to an older woman who was mesmorized by it.

This is crackying me up!

 

[Stephres]

Steph, did you put the calendar up for your Mom's visit??? That is so funny!

Ha! I had forgotten about it. I did not put it up and worried a little while we were away, but she did not mention it. I think she even forgot about it! Whew!