worst x-mas present ever recieved

[Heinz_57]

Aristeia, we have a little of that going around at our barn christmas party every year… except its not a ‘barn’ party now, we’re all spread around to different farms but the old gang still gets together. We have a gift exchange, sort of white elephant but actual nice gifts, not gags. Everyone takes a number, you go in order and pick a gift, the gifts can be stolen up to three times, etc. Generally there is a $15 limit, and everyone at the party is either horsey, or there WITH someone horsey. Every year I go to the local tack shop to buy my gift, and spend what I think is equal to about $15 (the tack store is a little over priced).

One year the present I brought had this neat gel scrubby bath curry, a bottle of the rosewater Cowboy Magic shampoo, a VERY soft face curry, and a few other things (a little bag of treats, probably). Everyone owning a horse oohed and ahhh’d over how soft the curries were (I bought one for myself, too!). The gift I ended up with was a rubber bouncy ball with a plastic horse inside (and sparkles), a little keychain flashlight, and a deck of cards with horses on them. I was… disappointed.

I have a couple horsie-print extra large tees, some little horse figures (one is carved out of that tiger’s eye rock), and your usual non-horsie people gifts. I don’t mind them (the tigers eye carved horse is pretty neat), at least the people are trying. I’ve gotten more of those makeup kits and perfume samplers than I really want to think about. And then there was the year I got TWO hat/glove/scarf sets from family members on the same side.

One year, I really wanted (sort of needed…) a saddle. My mom and I had even talked about it, I’d showed her a couple used ones that were ok and how much they cost. I was probably around twelve, maybe thirteen. I go to open my presents, and there is this big box, that they say has something they KNOW I will like in it. It is definitely a saddle-sized box. So, I get to the box. What is inside? a TV.

As far as SO’s and presents go… my last SO gave me a ring on our second christmas together, but otherwise - wasn’t really good with picking something out for me. For our two year anniversary, he bought me a gold bracelet that, ironically, said I Love You on it. He broke up with me less than a month later. And then the bracelet disappeared. The one before him liked to give me clothes, and unfortunately the style of clothes he BOUGHT and the style of clothes I like to WEAR were a little different.

Current sort-of SO? I’m getting him a Thai massage for christmas. We were watching TV last Sunday, saw one of those jewelry store commercials, and he said something about that buying jewelry is always easy/a good idea - which I am super excited about. It might not be the right choice for SOME women, but I personally love and appreciate ANY jewelry. We aren’t serious enough to warrant any jewelry this christmas, but I have a birthday in a few months, and there is always next christmas…

[Shahrazade]

My half-sister’s mother (so no relation to me) is totally sweet, and she was trying, but… the porcelain horse with wings and totally deformed looking legs with an angel sitting on its back wearing a sunhat was a little odd. Like… it’s back legs bent the wrong way. It had knees for hocks. Still have the darn thing in the back of my closet- looking at it disturbs me.

My grandmother finally gave up on giving me pink frilly dresses on special occasions when a friend of her eldest daughter’s had a daughter that became a step-grandchild of sorts and took over the princess role she’d been trying to force me into, but those decades where she kept trying were just agonizing… I had to wear all the frillies at least once to stop her from saying, “An old woman takes the time to wrap a gift and send it to her grand daughter, and she doesn’t even get a picture of her wearing it? What’s the world coming to when a grandmother can’t see her granddaughter in her Christmas dress…”

[Slewdledo]

One year my mother gave everyone those $5 battery-powered toothbrushes. She’s also GREAT at gifting people with stuff that SHE would like. And she NEVER likes anything anyone gets her. (She’s not a good actress, either). Every year, my dad gets her something really nice - jewelry, usually - and EVERY year she coos over it then takes it back to the store and exchanges it the next day.

I remember getting a Breyer horse for Christmas for the name draw in my family. I was incredibly disappointed - I wanted something I could PLAY with.

Then there was the year when everyone in the family was in on a racehorse - my dad, his brothers and sisters, my grandparents. One of my uncles was the managing partner and he made a huge deal of talking about “the horse present” that everyone was getting on Christmas. Everyone was SO excited, especially my grandpa, who did most of the care for the mare (Suzy) we had that lived at that uncle’s house.

He came in with a huge box and put it under the tree. My grandpa got the honors of opening it. Inside was a nice pile of horse shit with a note that said, “Love, Suzy.”

Everyone’s jaw dropped.

Then my uncle went out to his car and brought in stable t-shirts and jackets. Whew.

A few years ago, one of my girl cousins and I teamed up, bought a bunch of $4 Barbies, and gave them to all our teenage guy cousins. THAT was fun. :winkgrin:

[Winglet]

Worst ever…

I received a halfway rewound copy of the VHS tape that came with Windows 95. On Christmas eve 1996. Years later, I got a copy of The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course! from the same relatives. It still sits unopened in its cellophane wrapper, though I bet it’s easily worth $.25 more now that Steve Irwin has passed on…

[IfWishesWereHorses]

[QUOTE=llsc;2054599]

That same year my mother got a bottle of Summer’s Eve Douche and Miss Clairol Haircolor and a note that said “Now I’ve taken care of both ends, enjoy.”

The presents from my grandmother were the most anticipated gifts every Christmas. I miss them terribly. Opening the box was always a shock at first and then utterly hysterical.[/QUOTE]

I love the sound of your grandmother!!! SOunds just like the kind of thing my own late grandma would have done!!!

[IfWishesWereHorses]

[QUOTE=mairzeadoats;2059015]
Worst gift in my life, period, was again my mother when I had just turned 18. My parents had killed my dreamhorse just a couple months earlier. I was in college in Saratoga NY, with winter temps of 20 below (50 below factoring in wind chill) and all I had for a coat was a too-small, thin courderouy jacket I’d had since I was 14. My mother got me a beautiful coat – the most beautiful coat I’d ever seen before or since. On Christmas morning I tried it on and when I joyfully thanked her, she looked angry and ordered me to take it off and give it back to her. She decided to keep it for herself. She and my father fought nonstop until the middle of the night and then didn’t speak for days. She kept my coat and I returned to school in my thin little corderouy jacket.[/QUOTE]

Oh my gosh…thats a really heartwrenching story…

[mcm7780]

@mairzeadoats;2059015

Horse-giftwise, was when I was in my late 20s. My mother gave me a little girl’s ratcatcher shirt. It would have been very cute, and maybe would have fit, back when I was 8 years old, lol.

Worst gift in my life, period, was again my mother when I had just turned 18. My parents had killed my dreamhorse just a couple months earlier. I was in college in Saratoga NY, with winter temps of 20 below (50 below factoring in wind chill) and all I had for a coat was a too-small, thin courderouy jacket I’d had since I was 14. My mother got me a beautiful coat – the most beautiful coat I’d ever seen before or since. On Christmas morning I tried it on and when I joyfully thanked her, she looked angry and ordered me to take it off and give it back to her. She decided to keep it for herself. She and my father fought nonstop until the middle of the night and then didn’t speak for days. She kept my coat and I returned to school in my thin little corderouy jacket.

That has got to be one of the saddest things I have ever heard. I hope you have a nice warm jacket now!!

[Karla]

Wow

" Every year I get a subscription to Guideposts."

I can’t believe anyone else has been subjected to this! I was going to post and say “Nobody as ever gotten a p.o.s. present like this one!”

Someone - must have been an aunt or somebody, since my parents are far from Xian - gave my sister and I a subscription to “Guide posts” EVERY Christmas for our entire childhood. Whenever it came in the mail, I would say to my sister “Your magazine came” and she would say “I don’t see it. The only thing here is your Guideposts”

To anyone who hasn’t seen one of these things, it is about the quality and content of those Jehovah’s Witness booklets that you find in laundromats.

As far as bad horse presents, I’m looking at it now. A friend/coworker and my realter gave me a blue ceramic horsehead with a chipped ear. It’s eyes are blue and painted to look like human eyes, complete with eybrows and eyelashes. Its mouth is open, inside it is green, with a black tongue. It has a white mane and is flat on that side so I think it is one side of a book end. On the bottom is written two initials and the date 1960. The ear is chipped off. I am sure that this thing, now almost 50 years old, was made by some juvenile delinquent on “crafts day” down at the foster home. I have no idea what to do with it. It is just SO “Godfather”

Karla

[citydog]

@Karla;2065583

I am sure that this thing, now almost 50 years old, was made by some juvenile delinquent on “crafts day” down at the foster home. I have no idea what to do with it. It is just SO “Godfather”

Maybe it’s one of those “Antiques Roadshow” things that you’ll find out is worth a pile someday? *she asks hopefully *

[west5]

This is a fabulous thread!

My husband is learning but has given me some really bad gifts along the way:

One time I asked for a specific piece of clothing complete with style number and he gave me something to “spice up” our intimate life … let’s just say it had the opposite effect

much discussion

Another year I received a rice cooker. Now he would still be hearing about it except I really like it. You can put the rice in, leave for the barn, come back hours later and half of dinner is made and ready for whenever you need it.

much discussion

Finally a horse gift. A beautiful and I mean fancy fancy wool blanket for my horse. Unfortunately MY HORSE IS ALLERGIC TO WOOL … I kid you not … I give up

[lesyl]

@llsc;2054599

That same year my mother got a bottle of Summer’s Eve Douche and Miss Clairol Haircolor and a note that said “Now I’ve taken care of both ends, enjoy.”

The presents from my grandmother were the most anticipated gifts every Christmas. I miss them terribly. Opening the box was always a shock at first and then utterly hysterical.

I don’t suppose that asking what product was applied to which end would have been helpful.

[Shahrazade]

Oh, my father is terrible, as long as we’re discussing parents’ gifts to each other- one year he (a musician who is much better in his mind than on stage) gave my mother an electric violin. Said mother had recently declared that she never wanted to play an instrument again due to there being arguments each time she tried and (despite being far more talented than Dad) wasn’t good enough for his ‘discriminating tastes.’

The electric violin was well loved and often played… by my father. My mother suffered in silence, as usual.

The last few years have been a bit of a fiasco, too. About three years ago, he got her a book on how to grill vegetarian meals. Only problems? Nobody in our family is a vegetarian, and they didn’t have a grill.

Next Christmas, he got her a small grill. But no gas canister to power it.

He finally got her the gas canister, and she enjoys grilling in the summer, but the book on grilling vegetables ended in a fight and tears from Mum.

On Mother’s Day last year, he didn’t get her a gift and spent the morning shouting at her for not doing what she was told… I ended up making her dinner and taking her bicycling with her dog and out for ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery, and reciting to my father the line that is now often quoted by friends who heard the story- “Mister, you are in such trouble for yelling at my Mom like that on Mother’s Day. The Mother’s Day Police should arrest you, throw away the key, and stick you in a cell with a big man named Bubba who wants to dance with you.”

[WildBlue]

That’s hysterical. My grandma used to give me Guideposts, too. Brother and sister got cash and food. I got…Guideposts.

As a teenager, I had a stepmom who was big into making clothes for presents. Everything she made for her kids came out great. Mine were ALL short and fat–so short the shirts didn’t reach my waist, and so fat I couldn’t have tucked them in even if they’d been long enough.

My real mom was even worse. She’d come up with some fabulous present they were going to get us, just HAVE to let the secret slip and get us all excited, and then it’d never happen. I’m still disappointed that the zip line never got installed. That might have been the year I got a towel for Christmas, instead. A brown towel. That was too ‘nice’ for everyday use, and got packed away until I left home.

[Dirty_Little_Secret]

I’m starting a list of bad christmas presents:

• baby blue t-shirt with goofy horse picture reading “shhh… i’m centering myself”
• yellow fanny pack
• baseball cap reading “the trainer has spoken” (i don’t wear hats)
• a collection of Painted Ponies (i have a small apartment with very little counter space)

[tullyleague]

I can think of two.

The first was a set of horse underwear. Now, at first blush, that doesn’t sound too bad, but it was horse-patterned material rather than plain material with one or two horses on it. So the bloomers had horses galloping out of one’s nether regions, into one’s behind…they made me feel dirty. :eek:

The second was from a well-meaning auntie who had just returned from a year in Japan. She brought me a photo album that was made of this awful, smelly, cheap plastic material. Now, if you’ve ever been to www.engrish.com, you’ll know that sometimes, things get lost in translation. The cover of the photo album had the phrase I LOVE HORSE! in every type of script imaginable, printed over and over the entire front and back.

[Gray_Horse_H_J]

My worst horsey gift was probably the crop I received. It was looooooooong, the kind with a strap for your hand on the handle (that no one ACTUALLY puts their hand through), and was neon orange. It was horrendous. I donated it to the lesson program, and I don’t even think they wanted it.

I used to get “I <3 Horses” type shirts alllllll the time. However, as a kid I was also a huge dork and wore them proudly.

But maybe, the worst gift EVER (though not horsey), was when I was about 4 years old. I only have a vague memory of this incident, but I’ve heard the story about 89645739 times. :rolleyes: My cousin, who is 16 years older than me, gave me a purse that looked like a tennis shoe. I, apparantley, studied the shoe-purse for a minute before deciding I loathed it. I actually chucked the thing across the living room. So my grandma hands it back to me, so I can give it a second look, and I screamed, “NO I HATE IT! IT’S UGLY!” and proceeded to chuck it again. Honestly, my mom or dad should have slapped me silly for that. But I guess they found it funny - except for my cousin, who really thought I would like it.

[Aggie4Bar]

My grandmother could, unfortunately, win a medal for her poor choice in gifts. If the boys got legos (I loffed legos!), I got a barbie (:dead:). If they got music gift cards (I’m a total musicaholic!), I got a book about cats (:no:). Apparently, being “the girl” entitled me to the crappy gifts. But the winner… OMGiH…

One Christmas when I was a teenager, she had a vest made for me. The fabric was a dark green corduroy with little red polkadots all over it. Because she didn’t have red thread to match the hideous dots, she used the brightest neon pink I’ve ever seen. The effect was what appeared to be a pink-polkadotted green vest. You had to look really closely to discern that the dots were red and not pink… not that it made much difference. Words cannot do justice to the horror of this creation. She thought it was something “very traditional” like “those other English riding girls” wore that I could wear when I competed. Needless to say, I thanked her but never wore it.

That was the last Christmas everyone got a gift. My parents had the BRILLIANT (:yes:) idea of suggesting a white elephant exchange for the adults and only buying individual gifts for the great-grandchildren. I am the youngest grandchild, and my Christmas experience was more/less white elephant anyway (thanks, Nana), so I loved the change.

[PalominoMorgan]

Worst gift ever for me was from my father… he got me a set of prints that old ladies hang in their bathrooms. You know, with the cheesy gold plated “frame” and the obligatory peach sea shells or something like that. Best part was that he left the price tag from the flea market on it… 25 cents.

My brother got a $300 scope for his rifle that same day.

[vxf111]

I am so glad this thread got bumped again this year!!!

[Vivace]

Now, I love my mom to death… and generally she’s GREAT with presents… but the worst Christmas present I’ve ever gotten came from her.

We lived on an acerage (they still do) with a couple of extremely old barns, one of which is still functional and used daily. The other is falling apart, and was even then (you couldn’t, for instance, put anything in it that needed to be kept dry)…

Come Christmas morning, there were gifts laid out for my half-brother and step-siblings… and a note for me from Santa, saying that my gift was in the barn (the leaky one) and a P.S. that said, “And no- it’s not a horse!” :lol: I had no clue what it could be. Anyway, my mom wanted to go down with me to “get” it and so I had to wait for her to wake up, make and eat breakfast, ect… suspense and excitement building the whole time.

We finally get down there, and… it’s a desk. A HUGE “L” desk that would never have fit in my bedroom, even if I’d chucked the bed. Now… I guess she was thinking that a desk would be good, because I’m a writer (from birth pretty much, heh). But… it was a huge, ugly desk… and not only that, she had covered it with a tarp (half-assembled) a month prior and just left it. It had been a wet month, so the thing was soggy and warped in places and just a complete mess. I like to think I was fairly good about it (I was, what, 12?) and thanked her profusely, but for a child… it was a sad Christmas day… what with the other kids playing with their new video games and toys and me kind of sitting around with nothing to do. :no: Mom ended up keeping it and buying me another desk. Which I still didn’t really want. Oh well.

My dad once got me a very nice trenchcoat for riding in during the winter… a month later (think heavy use) he found it in the floorboard of my car, waiting to be hosed off (would YOU want a muddy trenchcoat on your seats!?) and “took it back”. I really wanted the darn thing, too.