Post holiday gifts: the good, the bad, and the huh?

[186momx]

DD:
Good-baking thermometer, muck boots, watch
Bad-no phone, no laptop
Huh didn't exist this year

Me
DH got me new liquid measuring cups which is fine but not really for me.
Huh & Bad-I asked for potholders.  He got me finger potholders that only cover the tips of my hand.  So not what I wanted and are more decorative than safe to use.

[waverly]

Good: We have a trip planned to Europe

Bad: A Girl Scout gave DD a battery pop it toy that is literally the most annoying toy we've had since the toddler years. They obviously hate parents. I wonder if they hated it, so they regifted it to us since the batteries were already in the toy.

[rere]

Good: I got a gift certificate for a 30 minute facial. I may upgrade it to the revitalizing facial.

Not too bad: I got dd a wool dress coat. She calls them Mary Tyler Moore coats. I let her open it early to wear with her Christmas eve outfit. It was almost 70 degrees, so it wasn't needed.

[mommyatty]

Good: DH got a cute pen case for me from Levenger as well as a matching little pill case for me to use when I travel. DD got a record player and loves it.

Bad: MIL got DD a paperweight thing with a picture of her playing field hockey in it. It would be really cute except… DD is 11. There’s even a light thing it can sit on. Wtf.

Meh: I got DS a Kiwi crate. We built it this morning and I think he was mainly annoyed I was keeping him from his iPad.

The Just Plain Funny: At the mall with her grandma, DD found a “12 Days of Cocktails” set and just knew DH had to have it. He did love it, but MIL said DD told her “Dad loves to drink! This is perfect for him.” Dad mainly just drinks wine with dinner, but he does love a good cocktail.

[twinmomma]

Good: The movie making kit I put together for the kids was a major hit! DH and I have to rearrange the family room a bit to fit the new giant green screen, but between that, the tripod, and the bluetooth clip on mics, they've been filming nonstop. And MIL gave us cash that we are going to use to purchase a new bedroom set for ourselves, which is all I really wanted! We currently have totally mismatched stuff, so we will split that all up and each kid will get a new to them out of the deal.

Bad: Nothing really "bad" I'd say. But in the "Meh" or "WTF" category, we cannot figure out how to tell my mom to stop buying us all ridiculous stuff. My brother, DH, and I were talking about how we end up just sending stuff straight to goodwill because she likes us to all have "fun stuff" to open, but it ends up being a waste and nothing we really want or need. It's just like random TJMaxx finds.

And in the fun/silly category, I got DH an ornament that says "Of all the weird things I've found on the internet, you're my favorite." It was a hit!

[supertrooper1]

The best: seeing what DS had picked out at the school's "polar pals" giftshop. He bought me a necklace that said mom on it. He bought Beau a pop socket with a football since he watches football.

The good: DS loved his hoverboard and was scooting around the house as soon as it charged. He was also excited to get some starter coins and books to start coin collecting.

The cute: seeing Beau's one year old grandson's smile riding on his small power wheels type 4-wheeler.

There was nothing bad. Beau kept apologizing that he didn't get me much. But I didn't need anything and the few replacement dirt bike gear items that he did buy will be well used this coming riding season. I didn't buy him much either.

[sdlaura]

The good: DS1 wrote a poem about love for DD that made her - and all of us - cry happy tears. I gave DD 4 concert tickets and I think she’d prefer to take 2 of her friends, but after DS1 was so sweet, she agreed to let him use one of them.

6-year-old DS2 was initially disappointed that he didn’t get all the gifts on the list he made on 12/23 - I explained that Santa didn’t have time to get all that stuff since it was so close to Christmas. Later he was super happy and appreciative.

They were a little less excited about the puppy news than I expected, but I don’t think it feels fully real since the puppy isn’t ours yet. She will be old enough to come home on 1/13.

I’m trying to get rid of baby and toddler stuff for the first time in 12 years, now that my youngest is 3.5, but my sister gave him a target cart and my mom gave him play food. I’d really rather not be getting more toddler stuff now! We have so much stuff.

DH did a good job with a few thoughtful gifts for me - but nothing super exciting since we got a new bed recently as a joint Xmas gift.

[librarychica]

Good: DD1 loves the crazy amount of skincare nonsense she got from everyone as well as the Hello Kitty purse she got from us. She and her cousins were doing facials before dessert was even served.

DD2 got a new woodland animal for her much-loved stuffed woodland animal collection. She was carrying them all around in a baby carrier, lol.

I was pleased to see that H remembered a purse I showed him a couple of months ago and bought it.

Nothing outright bizarre or bad this year. A few makeup items I think DD1 is too young for but I should have monitored her wish list more actively.

[dglvrk2]

Good: My parents gave DD2 my old (but in great condition) Daisy BB gun. We've had some serious gun safety talks and will not allow her to use it until our sheriff-neighbor is consulted about where to set up her target and additional safety measures.

I suggested this as DD has been asking for a BB gun since she got to use one at summer camp. My parents seemed really surprised. I assumed it was because I'm usually quite anti-gun. In retrospect, I think my mom - who does just about all of the gifts shopping - was perplexed because I asked for something used to be given as a gift🤷‍♀️

On that note, the "huhs" most years are the random, clearly regifted items my mom usually gives. I think the most "why?" of these was expired Christmas pasta given last year. On first glance, it seriously looked like penises. The "use by" stamp dated December 2017. Every year, I tell my mom quality is more important than quantity. Shes slowly getting this message. The only random regift this year was cocktail napkins. I'l take it .

[campermom]

The good: I’m really proud of myself for being able to give my kids a good Christmas. This was a very scary year, financially, but I did it.

The huh?: ExH is nice all of a sudden and wished me a merry Christmas w emoji over text.

[mae0111]

My "Huh" is directed at myself...

The kids and I did some Christmas shopping at a gift shop near our beach house back in September. They were having an end-of-summer sale and we were able to pick up some really nice things for folks. We got my mom a nice set of notecards with beach scenes from a local artisan. We thought she would like them because she also lives in a beach-side town and really enjoys it there.

I didn't realize that the notecards say "From the desk of Cynthia". My mom's name is... not Cynthia. LOL nice work Mae.

[waverly]

mae0111, I would totally do something like that. Often, when I am shopping I get like 75% right, and then one little thing is wrong and it needs to be returned.

[mustardseed2007]

Huh

My mom gave me a picture of me at a zip lining place standing next to a guy. She thought the guy in the picture was my husband of 15 years when, in fact, it was the guy who worked there. She just didn't have on her glasses.

[sdlaura]

mae0111 my mom’s name is actually Cynthia 🤣

[vasc]

We did a five night cruise with friends Dec. 18-23 so that was a big highlight of our break. Last year we cruised Disney with the same friends and it was fantastic. This year we sailed Carnival which was closer and cheaper. The weather wasn’t as warm and in fact we didn’t stop at one of the ports because water was too rough for tender boats.

Kids mostly liked their gifts. Surprise hit for DD10 was a giant bean bag chair I purchased second-hand. Both kids got LEGO and Switch games. DS6 got pouty because he evidently asked Santa for a Hess Helicopter. If you’re familiar with Christmas Hess trucks, you know one comes out each year. He had already opened this year’s a few days before, but I guess had his heart set on the 2012 helicopter.

DH did well ordering from my Amazon wishlist, plus I was gifted a pricy massage on the cruise.

Bad….MIL announced she’s diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma breast cancer. She has a mastectomy scheduled for January 4. Luckily it sounds like it was caught early and is favorable for full recovery with hopefully little further intervention after the surgery.

[sdlaura]

vasc the like was for your cruise. I’m sorry about your MIL and hope it was caught early enough for successful treatment.