Bad, Bizarre, or Baffling Gifts share your stories

[Anonymous]

MIL got my not quite 2 year old a book called "Leo the Late Bloomer" because she thought his vocabulary was so lacking compared to his same-aged cousin, the golden grandchild. I guess to help him with the self-esteem issues she assumed he must struggling with given his inferiority?

[Anonymous]

A pair of hiking boots in a size that was not mine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MIL got my not quite 2 year old a book called "Leo the Late Bloomer" because she thought his vocabulary was so lacking compared to his same-aged cousin, the golden grandchild. I guess to help him with the self-esteem issues she assumed he must struggling with given his inferiority?

My mom gave me this book for my kids! (She was an elementary teacher and gave me a bunch of her old books.) It's kind of a classic and I have read it to them but that book would NEVER be written today.

[Anonymous]

I've been with DH for 8 years, married for 5. Since our first Christmas together (and for most birthdays thereafter), MIL has given me some glass orb or orb-adjacent thing (a small spherical oil lamp, once). I absolutely HATE knickknacks, have nothing similar on display, have never once indicated any interest in starting a collection of decorative glass objects. Yet, here we are, 8+ glass orbs later...

My paternal grandmother once gave my mom a hideous orange corduroy outfit from Lane Bryant. My mom was not/is not plus-sized. I think I was 9 or 10 and I still remember what a mean gift that was.

[Anonymous]

My name is Sarah, and I am tall. My mom gave me “Sarah, Plain and Tall” the book for Christmas when I was about 6 or 7. Geez.

[Anonymous]

My grandparents were very thrifty, and when I was around 8 they gave me a baby doll who was clearly from the thrift store because some other kid had hacked her hair into a pixie cut, and she had two different legs! My grandmother had knit her a very cute outfit.

[Anonymous]

I remember as I child I picked out a shirt with a pig on it from the school holiday store for my grandma. Looking back, it was an awful gift. Probably not her size (she was large) and implying I thought she was a pig... oops.

A boss gave me a fancy wine opener. Great gift except I was pregnant. Very, very pregnant. And I don't drink anyway.

[Anonymous]

I’ve told this story before, but one of my DH’s aunts gave us a humidifier for our wedding. Lame, but practical we thought. Fast forward a couple of years and I have a terrible cold, remember the humidifier and hunt down the box in our basement. I open it up and discover a beautiful crystal serving bowl.

At first I was really disappointed because I was hoping for relief from my congestion. I quickly became mortified when I realized we sent them a thank you note for the humidifier. His aunt must have been amused, but never let on about our mistake. I called her up and we all laughed about it, which probably was better medicine in the end.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Wow, you guys expect a lot from your gifts.

I think all these gifts are perfectly fine, apart from the trash bags... and would find it quite funny if someone gave me a random box of stuff!

I don't mind because it makes her so happy to give these. Some people like you enjoy it even after the 3rd or 4th time, but it's just not my sense of humor.

[Anonymous]

I've also told this story before, but before we were even engaged, just recently dating, my DH told me about these earrings he bought for his ex-girlfriend made out of Mt. St. Helen ash after he went there for a visit. He never got to give them to her, they broke up. I don't know if he forgot that he told me that story but sure enough, that year for Christmas, that's what he gave me.

They were hideous as you could imagine, but seriously??

He's still a lousy gift giver, 13 years later, but this is one of those situations where I really really knew that before marrying him!

[Anonymous]

PP here. I got another one that I forgot about until right this second. My awful gift-giving boyfriend the following year was hinting at engagement, etc. and we spent the holidays apart. My sister was convinced I was getting engaged during the holiday season, and I thought it was a possibility but not horribly fixated on it. I open a gift from my mother and it's a fake wedding ring set. I'm like, "huh?" My sister and I just died of laughter later, literally crying, and she's like, "well, at least someone gave you a ring this Christmas!" It was just so bizarre and utterly random for your mother to get you.

(My husband called my dad to "get his permission" while I was on the plane home...)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MIL got my not quite 2 year old a book called "Leo the Late Bloomer" because she thought his vocabulary was so lacking compared to his same-aged cousin, the golden grandchild. I guess to help him with the self-esteem issues she assumed he must struggling with given his inferiority?

My mom gave me this book for my kids! (She was an elementary teacher and gave me a bunch of her old books.) It's kind of a classic and I have read it to them but that book would NEVER be written today.

I think it might be an OK book for a kid to pick out for themselves for whatever reason, or maybe for a parent to get for a kid who has lamented their inability to fit in. But as a gift (especially for a very young toddler)? The message seems to be "I hope this will help you come to terms with the fact that you are quite obviously awkward/delayed/struggling/otherwise not up to snuff." It's a very off-putting thing to receive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've also told this story before, but before we were even engaged, just recently dating, my DH told me about these earrings he bought for his ex-girlfriend made out of Mt. St. Helen ash after he went there for a visit. He never got to give them to her, they broke up. I don't know if he forgot that he told me that story but sure enough, that year for Christmas, that's what he gave me.

They were hideous as you could imagine, but seriously??

He's still a lousy gift giver, 13 years later, but this is one of those situations where I really really knew that before marrying him!

This is classic. What did he say when you reminded him you knew the story behind the earrings?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My name is Sarah, and I am tall. My mom gave me “Sarah, Plain and Tall” the book for Christmas when I was about 6 or 7. Geez.

Ouch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My in laws gave me a literal elf costume one year, when they got all of their kids and themselves, and the grandkids, matching christmas pjs. Mine had a hat, and bells, and lit up. I dont even celebrate christmas.

Wait, everyone got pajamas except you, you got an elf costume?