Post your Christmas present disappointment

[agnes]

I posted last week about the popcorn maker.



My mom gave me the receipt to return it. I'm such a horrible, ungrateful daughter. She spent $60 on it! It was on sale too.

[Deleted]

I sent my mom 2 links for yoga pants. The first pair is exactly what I wanted. The second one I held up and asked what is this? Somehow the link ended up going to capris instead of the pants. Well, at least I have some capris for spring but I am sad.

[Brie]

My mom got me a MAC 239 eyeshadow brush.

It's great, but...she gave me one last year for Christmas, too. I am hoping I can return it to Macy's since it's still in the package.

[dragonfly08]

I got a toaster oven. It's the mother of all toaster ovens, it'll be amazing to use. My ILs definitely put some thought and money into it, and it is what I asked for (it's actually much better than what I expected). But it's disappointing that I'm in the stage of life where I feel like I *should* ask for the practical gifts that I need, instead of the frivolous stuff that I want. :-)

[noodleoo]

I feel bad being sad about Christmas, but honestly this year kind of sucked. I guess we've sort of decided to stop exchanging presents. H and I bought each other stuff, but we bought it all together, so no surprises. I thought I wouldn't care, but I guess a piece of me though H would get me something sweet as a surprise. He usually does. But we sort of agreed on no presents, so I can't complain.

My sister didn't want to do presents anymore either (except we buy for her kids). She said she was going to get me a can opener (the kind that doesn't leave sharp edges). I have always wanted one, it is a little present but she didn't end up getting it and got me nothing. That made me really sad, even though I know she's been pushing for no presents for forever, so she really wants us to stop. Sigh. It also just kind of sucks because we buy a LOT of presents for all our nieces and nephews, but no one gets us anything anymore. Again, I know I shouldn't care, but it makes me sad. I always kind of looked forward to the presents my sister got me. (I did get her a little $20 present for her hobby).

My mom sent me a giant set of pots and pans. I have no idea why. We like our stuff and we don't have space for more. And, it is a really cheap set. If I was going to get more pots and pans, I'd spend about 5x what she spent. Sigh. I couldn't tell her the truth that we don't need it, so now I feel obligated to keep it even though I don't want it and we don't have space for it.

This year sucked. And I just had a big fight with my H so I'm incredibly depressed right now.

[Deleted]

My brother hasn't responded to my email and hasn't borrowed a phone called me. I can't call him because he doesn't have a phone, and I can't write him a letter because nobody in my family knows exactly where he's living. I was hoping to hear from him for Christmas. I haven't heard from him in over 2 months.

[midwest07]

Dec 28, 2012 9:37:27 GMT -5 glitzy07 said:

Mine is stupid and not really a disappointment, but my parents bought H and I an joint gift of a 32" smart tv. It's amazing and generous and it will replace the giant box that is in our bedroom. Plus it will be awesome especially if I end up on bedrest with this pregnancy.

The only downside is that it doesn't support Amazon Prime, which is the video service that we have, so I can't really use the "smart" functions of it unless we decide to subscribe to Netflix too.

You can buy a blu-ray player that supports Prime. That's what we have. Yes, it would cost around $80-100, but that would be paid for versus paying for netflix every month. Plus, then you can watch movies in bed. ETA: By movies, I meant DVDs/blu-rays....obviously you can also watch through Prime.

[Deleted]

Dec 28, 2012 10:23:14 GMT -5 @angryharpy said:

My brother hasn't responded to my email and hasn't borrowed a phone called me. I can't call him because he doesn't have a phone, and I can't write him a letter because nobody in my family knows exactly where he's living. I was hoping to hear from him for Christmas. I haven't heard from him in over 2 months.

I'm really sorry, harpy. This has to be really rough to deal with.

[glitzy07]

Dec 28, 2012 10:24:07 GMT -5 midwest07 said:

Dec 28, 2012 9:37:27 GMT -5 glitzy07 said:

Mine is stupid and not really a disappointment, but my parents bought H and I an joint gift of a 32" smart tv. It's amazing and generous and it will replace the giant box that is in our bedroom. Plus it will be awesome especially if I end up on bedrest with this pregnancy.

The only downside is that it doesn't support Amazon Prime, which is the video service that we have, so I can't really use the "smart" functions of it unless we decide to subscribe to Netflix too.

You can buy a blu-ray player that supports Prime. That's what we have. Yes, it would cost around $80-100, but that would be paid for versus paying for netflix every month. Plus, then you can watch movies in bed. ETA: By movies, I meant DVDs/blu-rays....obviously you can also watch through Prime.

This is what I think we're going to do. Plus, the DVD player that's currently in our bedroom is a $20 piece of crap that I bought a few years ago and it only works sometimes anyway.

[Deleted]

Dec 28, 2012 10:16:33 GMT -5 farmvillelover said:

Some of the responses in here are why I am really disillusioned about giving gifts at all on Christmas. I don't favor wish lists or flat out telling ppl what you want. I just feel like the best part of gifts at all is the surprise element and that someone put energy and thought into picking something out for you.

I kind of agree. I had a wishlist but it was more suggestions. I understand being bummed if you don't get what you wanted, but if you are that specific perhaps it would be better to do "no gifts" or make an agreement with your DH that you'll pick stuff out together or something.

I am the opposite I guess, my DH is a really good gift giver most of the time and this Christmas he got me exactly the 2 things I wanted most (iPod and FitBit). If anything, I would complain that he got me the more expensive FitBit when the cheaper one would have done what I wanted. However, my complaint is that he always tells me ahead of time and/or gives me my gifts early, so there is never any surprise when I open a gift. And he refuses to wrap them. I like surprises!

The only gifts I got that I wasn't thrilled about were: a new coffeemaker that is white (everything in our kitchen is black and silver and we don't need a new coffeemaker), a duplicate of a game we already have, and a necklace that was made by some charity through my parents' church. I got a scarf from the same charity a couple of years ago that I LOVE and wear all the time, but this necklace is totally NMS. The funny thing about my family is this is the second year in a row I got a necklace that was my style 8-10 years ago but I wear almost exclusively very classic or professional looking jewelry these days. Both these pieces were more funky/boho which was my style in college but not as an adult. Oh well.

[kadams767]

Dec 28, 2012 10:45:17 GMT -5 @buckybells said:

Dec 28, 2012 10:16:33 GMT -5 farmvillelover said:

Some of the responses in here are why I am really disillusioned about giving gifts at all on Christmas. I don't favor wish lists or flat out telling ppl what you want. I just feel like the best part of gifts at all is the surprise element and that someone put energy and thought into picking something out for you.

I kind of agree. I had a wishlist but it was more suggestions. I understand being bummed if you don't get what you wanted, but if you are that specific perhaps it would be better to do "no gifts" or make an agreement with your DH that you'll pick stuff out together or something.

I am sure that I will be flamed for this, and I agree that it is sort of irrational, but I guess I just expect that certain people in my life (ahem, my husband or my immediate family) should be able to come up with a thoughtful gift for me that I actually like. I provide a wishlist, but it is hard to not be disappointed if you give a list and then get an item that is similar to the one on the list, but it's not actually the item I wanted. It just feels like no effort was expended to get a good gift. When someone ignores the list and gets something they feel you will love, that's great. But to take my suggestion, but just get something that seems "close" to the item I asked for, seems ridiculous.

And yes, I know this is petty.

[Deleted]

Dec 28, 2012 10:55:36 GMT -5 kadams767 said:

Dec 28, 2012 10:45:17 GMT -5 @buckybells said:

I kind of agree. I had a wishlist but it was more suggestions. I understand being bummed if you don't get what you wanted, but if you are that specific perhaps it would be better to do "no gifts" or make an agreement with your DH that you'll pick stuff out together or something.

I am sure that I will be flamed for this, and I agree that it is sort of irrational, but I guess I just expect that certain people in my life (ahem, my husband or my immediate family) should be able to come up with a thoughtful gift for me that I actually like. I provide a wishlist, but it is hard to not be disappointed if you give a list and then get an item that is similar to the one on the list, but it's not actually the item I wanted. It just feels like no effort was expended to get a good gift. When someone ignores the list and gets something they feel you will love, that's great. But to take my suggestion, but just get something that seems "close" to the item I asked for, seems ridiculous.

And yes, I know this is petty.

Nah, I understand where you're coming from. I got a new iPod for Christmas and definitely would have been bummed if it wasn't the specific one I wanted. But that's the silly part of all of it, why ask for something so specific that nothing else will do? Why not just buy it myself or tell my DH to give me $150 for Christmas?

I don't mean there is anything wrong with people for being disappointed, it is just something wrong with the whole gift giving process I guess. Just seems like a formality vs something more meaningful with the way most of us do it these days. If that makes sense!

[chessie]

Dec 28, 2012 10:55:36 GMT -5 kadams767 said:

Dec 28, 2012 10:45:17 GMT -5 @buckybells said:

I kind of agree. I had a wishlist but it was more suggestions. I understand being bummed if you don't get what you wanted, but if you are that specific perhaps it would be better to do "no gifts" or make an agreement with your DH that you'll pick stuff out together or something.

I am sure that I will be flamed for this, and I agree that it is sort of irrational, but I guess I just expect that certain people in my life (ahem, my husband or my immediate family) should be able to come up with a thoughtful gift for me that I actually like. I provide a wishlist, but it is hard to not be disappointed if you give a list and then get an item that is similar to the one on the list, but it's not actually the item I wanted. It just feels like no effort was expended to get a good gift. When someone ignores the list and gets something they feel you will love, that's great. But to take my suggestion, but just get something that seems "close" to the item I asked for, seems ridiculous.

And yes, I know this is petty.

I guess it depends on your family, my IL's dont know me and I could never figure out what they actually wanted, we swapped GC's every year. I know in my circle was easy to cut out this sorta gift giving and just focus on "family" aspect of it, and just give gifts to the kids. For us it was less drama. Was the same with DH and I- we can see what we bought, so it was pointless, never be surprised really, tossed that idea out the window fairly quick.

[heyrebekah]

Dec 28, 2012 9:48:19 GMT -5 melmo1122 said:

i got 9 sock monkeys from my boyfriend

3 nutcrackers - 2 are the same because he thought i would like a pair

6 ornaments

Aw, so cute! This gift would have made my day.

[kadams767]

Dec 28, 2012 10:59:46 GMT -5 @buckybells said:

Dec 28, 2012 10:55:36 GMT -5 kadams767 said:

I am sure that I will be flamed for this, and I agree that it is sort of irrational, but I guess I just expect that certain people in my life (ahem, my husband or my immediate family) should be able to come up with a thoughtful gift for me that I actually like. I provide a wishlist, but it is hard to not be disappointed if you give a list and then get an item that is similar to the one on the list, but it's not actually the item I wanted. It just feels like no effort was expended to get a good gift. When someone ignores the list and gets something they feel you will love, that's great. But to take my suggestion, but just get something that seems "close" to the item I asked for, seems ridiculous.

And yes, I know this is petty.

Nah, I understand where you're coming from. I got a new iPod for Christmas and definitely would have been bummed if it wasn't the specific one I wanted. But that's the silly part of all of it, why ask for something so specific that nothing else will do? Why not just buy it myself or tell my DH to give me $150 for Christmas?

I don't mean there is anything wrong with people for being disappointed, it is just something wrong with the whole gift giving process I guess. Just seems like a formality vs something more meaningful with the way most of us do it these days. If that makes sense!

No, I understand what you are saying too. I think it just is tough to not be disappointed if someone specifically asks me for a list, I make the list, but then receive sort-of-but-not-quite items from the list. Or a gift card. Here are my two specific gripes this year. First, a family member asked me for a list. I gave a list of books that I wanted, like a huge list, and was all excited to open whichever ones the giver wanted to give me, so that there was still a fun element of surprise and we would have actual gifts to exchange, something to look at, etc. I also didn't mention any of these books to other people, so as to avoid getting the same book twice. How many books did I receive on Christmas, you ask? Zero. Instead, I got a bookstore gift card. It just kind of sucked all the fun out of that and now i have to go to the store myself.

Second, my husband also asked for a list. We are obviously very close, we live together, we talk every single day. I asked for a few specific things, namely winter running tights, gloves, and socks. He knows that I wanted winter tights so I could run outside, and he knows the type of running socks I prefer. I received a pair of yoga pants and general athletic-type socks. I kind of wanted to strangle him.

[Deleted]

Dec 28, 2012 10:16:33 GMT -5 farmvillelover said:

Some of the responses in here are why I am really disillusioned about giving gifts at all on Christmas. I don't favor wish lists or flat out telling ppl what you want. I just feel like the best part of gifts at all is the surprise element and that someone put energy and thought into picking something out for you.

I agree, but I do need a wishlist for some people (my dad) who just buy whatever they want as soon as they want it. I need him to set aside things for us to buy him!

Pinterest has been great for gift giving ideas. For my sister, I looked at outfits she'd pinned and found similar items to give her. It was really fun!

[Deleted]

Dec 28, 2012 11:06:15 GMT -5 chessie said:

Dec 28, 2012 10:55:36 GMT -5 kadams767 said:

I am sure that I will be flamed for this, and I agree that it is sort of irrational, but I guess I just expect that certain people in my life (ahem, my husband or my immediate family) should be able to come up with a thoughtful gift for me that I actually like. I provide a wishlist, but it is hard to not be disappointed if you give a list and then get an item that is similar to the one on the list, but it's not actually the item I wanted. It just feels like no effort was expended to get a good gift. When someone ignores the list and gets something they feel you will love, that's great. But to take my suggestion, but just get something that seems "close" to the item I asked for, seems ridiculous.

And yes, I know this is petty.

I guess it depends on your family, my IL's dont know me and I could never figure out what they actually wanted, we swapped GC's every year. I know in my circle was easy to cut out this sorta gift giving and just focus on "family" aspect of it, and just give gifts to the kids. For us it was less drama. Was the same with DH and I- we can see what we bought, so it was pointless, never be surprised really, tossed that idea out the window fairly quick.

I usually buy a present for my mom to give h, and she writes me a check for it.

My h gives his parents some guidance on gifts for me. They often get me clothes from j crew or banana republic, and I like pretty much anything from there. I haven't asked him wtf happened re the watch because I don't want to seem like a brat. I just hope it wasn't too expensive!

[pugz]

dh has gotten much better over the years. This year we just did candy/gift cards in our stockings. My only complaint is he got me full size Snickers instead of fun size. I feel justified in eating multiple fun size ones, can't do that with full size ones, lol.

[Deleted]

Dec 28, 2012 9:48:19 GMT -5 melmo1122 said:

i got 9 sock monkeys from my boyfriend

3 nutcrackers - 2 are the same because he thought i would like a pair

6 ornaments

Well they're cute. Are you really into sock monkeys? What did you get him?

[rosetyler]

This is why we now only give cash to our nieces and nephews - now that they're older, they're hard to please. I don't want any of them to be disappointed in my gift, and cash never lets me down.

I think I'm used to my parents and ILs giving random, less-than-amazing gifts, so I'm not ever really disappointed. The Christmas before I went to college, my parents bought be a trunk full of stuff I might need living on my own. They wrapped up a bottle of Tide. And paper towels. I stopped getting my hopes up after that.

[sabelis]

I was pretty disappointed about my gift from my husband this year. We had went on a Disney cruise earlier this year and got to draw characters to be in their animated show on these pieces of paper we got to keep. We decided earlier this week to frame them and hang them up on the wall. We picked up the frames to fit them while we were picking up other supplies getting ready for our guest to arrive for christmas. While I was taking a break from cleaning, I decided I would put them into frames to protect them from getting ruined until we can get them hung up then went back to cleaning.

My husband decided that he was going to hang them up on the wall so I helped him a bit with that. Later he ended up taking a picture of it and posting it on facebook saying it was my Christmas gift. I was pretty upset because I took the time to plan ahead and go find things that he would like. His gift was a last minute decision that I helped him put together. Ugh

[cole]

Dec 28, 2012 11:14:21 GMT -5 @ameliapond said:

I agree, but I do need a wishlist for some people (my dad) who just buy whatever they want as soon as they want it. I need him to set aside things for us to buy him!

Ha, this is my BF. 3 weeks before Christmas he said he wanted the new Assassins Creed game, and then bought it for himself 2 weeks later. I told him he's no longer allowed to buy things for himself in December.

[Deleted]

This was actually the first year I haven't been disappointed with H's gift but I think he was warned not to underwhelm me again. I actually am afraid my gifts to him look crappy in comparison.

As for the rest of my family, eh, nothing terrible. I had made a HUGE wishlist (my mother makes us all make them) and only got two things off of it. I just bought two more things off my own wish list because it's stuff I want for my cruise. I also got an Udder Cover which is weird since my sister breastfeeds in the open. Is she trying to say I shouldn't breastfeed in the open or is it a regift?

[liveintheville]

Dec 28, 2012 10:16:28 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

I feel bad being sad about Christmas, but honestly this year kind of sucked. I guess we've sort of decided to stop exchanging presents. H and I bought each other stuff, but we bought it all together, so no surprises. I thought I wouldn't care, but I guess a piece of me though H would get me something sweet as a surprise. He usually does. But we sort of agreed on no presents, so I can't complain.

My sister didn't want to do presents anymore either (except we buy for her kids). She said she was going to get me a can opener (the kind that doesn't leave sharp edges). I have always wanted one, it is a little present but she didn't end up getting it and got me nothing. That made me really sad, even though I know she's been pushing for no presents for forever, so she really wants us to stop. Sigh. It also just kind of sucks because we buy a LOT of presents for all our nieces and nephews, but no one gets us anything anymore. Again, I know I shouldn't care, but it makes me sad. I always kind of looked forward to the presents my sister got me. (I did get her a little $20 present for her hobby).

My mom sent me a giant set of pots and pans. I have no idea why. We like our stuff and we don't have space for more. And, it is a really cheap set. If I was going to get more pots and pans, I'd spend about 5x what she spent. Sigh. I couldn't tell her the truth that we don't need it, so now I feel obligated to keep it even though I don't want it and we don't have space for it.

This year sucked. And I just had a big fight with my H so I'm incredibly depressed right now.

Aww ({) noodloo (})

We've basically stopped exchanging as well, and it really isn't as much fun. We figured it's really exciting to watch the kids open their gifts and that we didn't need more stuff. But I guess I'm a selfish bastard, because I want to go back to exchanging gifts.

[housegeek]

Dec 28, 2012 9:37:27 GMT -5 glitzy07 said:

Mine is stupid and not really a disappointment, but my parents bought H and I an joint gift of a 32" smart tv. It's amazing and generous and it will replace the giant box that is in our bedroom. Plus it will be awesome especially if I end up on bedrest with this pregnancy.

The only downside is that it doesn't support Amazon Prime, which is the video service that we have, so I can't really use the "smart" functions of it unless we decide to subscribe to Netflix too.

Get a roku, it's about 50 bucks

[kcd0531]

From my MIL. The woman apparently doesn't know me at all. But my 9 y.o. DD gets a gorgeous genuine turquoise necklace, Polaroid MP3 player, and an art pen set. :::sigh:::

ETA: The image is from the website, and not my actual name.

[purplecow0206]

I think the biggest "letdown" was my BIL's gift. We do $5 with DH's family, so we never expect anything over the top, but people usually put thought into it. I got a really cool candle set with a wooden lazer cutout sleeve from one BIL and a fun necklace that is designed to be played with by a young child while wearing it (wooden beads that are painted in different colors). A little bizarre since DH and I don't have kids, but there was thought put into it and his wife is a Montessori school teacher, so I get where he was going with it.

My third BIL bought us all mugs with his photo on them. Really?

[emilyinchile]

Dec 28, 2012 11:43:20 GMT -5 kcd0531 said:

From my MIL. The woman apparently doesn't know me at all. But my 9 y.o. DD gets a gorgeous genuine turquoise necklace, Polaroid MP3 player, and an art pen set. :::sigh:::

ETA: The image is from the website, and not my actual name.

Is this a throw? I think this may be the worst so far. At least the 4 pairs of underwear can be thrown out, this you will be expected to display.

My ILs got me a tube of sunscreen. I wasn't disappointed because they are really horrible at gifts every year and for everyone. They are very thoughtful, generous people usually, they just can't do gifts.

[melmo1122]

Dec 28, 2012 11:19:37 GMT -5 @notquiteblushing said:

Dec 28, 2012 9:48:19 GMT -5 melmo1122 said:

i got 9 sock monkeys from my boyfriend

3 nutcrackers - 2 are the same because he thought i would like a pair

6 ornaments

Well they're cute. Are you really into sock monkeys? What did you get him?

they are cute and yes i do like monkeys. but 9 of them at once? plus it's our first christmas together and we have been dating almost a year so i was kinda hoping he would put more thought into it instead of fixating on one thing. but the worst part is he bought one of them on ebay and it was advertised as a rare collectible. he spent WAY too much on it, it still had the kohl's price tag attached. so i feel bad that he got ripped off.

i got him some nice work shirts, a sweatshirt Yankees blanket, a body pillow, some candy/treats.

[kcd0531]

Dec 28, 2012 11:51:46 GMT -5 emilyinchile said:

Dec 28, 2012 11:43:20 GMT -5 kcd0531 said:

From my MIL. The woman apparently doesn't know me at all. But my 9 y.o. DD gets a gorgeous genuine turquoise necklace, Polaroid MP3 player, and an art pen set. :::sigh:::

ETA: The image is from the website, and not my actual name.

Is this a throw? I think this may be the worst so far. At least the 4 pairs of underwear can be thrown out, this you will be expected to display.

My ILs got me a tube of sunscreen. I wasn't disappointed because they are really horrible at gifts every year and for everyone. They are very thoughtful, generous people usually, they just can't do gifts.

Yep. A throw. It will be stored in the closet and only pulled out when they come to visit. Which, fortunately, is actually pretty rare.