Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Decorative items for the home! You can get really nice stuff at Home Goods and Ross!

Um, no. Decorative is the opposite of practical. And please, please do not bring that Ross junk into my house! NO RAY DUNN!

I think decorative items are practical!! You have to decorate a home! You must have a plain Jane home

NP. I don’t care for Home Goods junk. It would go straight to the thrift store.

Well you must be an outlier. Everyone I know loves decorative items

Hate to break it to you, they are just being polite.

No one would ever describe my mom as polite, I got her a shiny silver figurine of two dashound dogs laying together from HomeGoods and she has it on display in her living room shelving for a few years now

+1

I find exquisite and lovely things at Ross and TJ’s and my gals and other people always love them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have never used a cloth to wash dishes? Why would you do that?

We use a sponge to clean dishes but wipe down the table and counter every night with a dish cloth + dish soap + hot water. It is less messy than a sponge. It has reduced our paper towel consumption enormously.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate all of these ideas. My parents or MIL have given us most of them and we have returned or donated their bomba socks, first aid kits, decorative crap, bidets and a lot of other suggestions I see here. We are adults. We have first aid kits. We will NEVER use a bidet. I don’t want those overpriced socks.

Know the person you are buying for. A practical gift I’d use is a case of toilet paper, method cleaning spray, tooth paste… something consumable that the family goes through a lot. Please don’t clutter my house with stuff you think I need.

You’ll never use a bidet? Gross. How do you properly clean yourself? Dry tissue doesn’t clean it all!!!!

By taking multiple showers a day like most people? How can you clean only part of yourself and call yourself clean?? Gross.

You are nasty - that’s why you have crusty skidmarked undies.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have never used a cloth to wash dishes? Why would you do that?

We use a sponge to clean dishes but wipe down the table and counter every night with a dish cloth + dish soap + hot water. It is less messy than a sponge. It has reduced our paper towel consumption enormously.

Anonymous wrote:I have never used a cloth to wash dishes? Why would you do that?

Anonymous wrote:I have never used a cloth to wash dishes? Why would you do that?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mother is the Queen of practical gifts, and two of her best have been a really good travel toothbrush holder (just plastic, but more attractive and well-made than most), a pottery colander in a small size that’s perfect for one container of berries, and a pretty drawstring bag that had all the essentials for mending (small foldable scissors, felt piece with 5 or 8 needles, thimble, and maybe a dozen extra-small spools of thread). The key was that they’re genuinely useful and were much nicer versions than a person would generally buy for themselves.

Things that came up on here that I can second based on experience: tool kit with basic tools (got a very cheap version at age 18, used it for all my young adulthood, and still use it now when I’m lazy because it’s easier than digging out our better tools) and very good metal scissors (I use a pair that I stole from my mom in 1989, think she bought it in the 70s).

My biggest successes as a giver:

“Swedish dishcloths” — $10-20 for a set, reusable and easy to wash, come in cute patterns or more simple colors, the thicker more expensive ones are best

Nice, heavy wooden cutting board from an Etsy seller

Key hooks to hang near the front door — either a fancy/elegant/modern one (which can be hard to find) or something adorable like the squirrels my mother hangs by her door

Cleaning materials from Thrive Market — it’s a membership model store, but you can quit after a trial month, last I knew they had a great duster with a washable cloth, nice super-thick dish towels, and attractive glass spray bottles that you can use to hold DIY or dilute-your-own spray cleaners

Marvis toothpaste, a fun luxury if they like strong mint (ideally with a cool-looking toothbrush if I can find one)

If you know them well enough to know they have a cheap version of something practical they use often, find a fancier/better-made version. The key is knowing it’s something they already use.

That’s all junk and stuff I would trash. I think you should get something like a nice set of crystal salt/pepper shakers or a pretty vase for flowers.

You sound like a peach. Nothing PP mentioned was “junk” - seriously, you would trash Swedish dishcloths? What will your maid use to clean the dishes?

And salt/pepper shakers and vases are practically the definition of useless clutter.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mother is the Queen of practical gifts, and two of her best have been a really good travel toothbrush holder (just plastic, but more attractive and well-made than most), a pottery colander in a small size that’s perfect for one container of berries, and a pretty drawstring bag that had all the essentials for mending (small foldable scissors, felt piece with 5 or 8 needles, thimble, and maybe a dozen extra-small spools of thread). The key was that they’re genuinely useful and were much nicer versions than a person would generally buy for themselves.

Things that came up on here that I can second based on experience: tool kit with basic tools (got a very cheap version at age 18, used it for all my young adulthood, and still use it now when I’m lazy because it’s easier than digging out our better tools) and very good metal scissors (I use a pair that I stole from my mom in 1989, think she bought it in the 70s).

My biggest successes as a giver:

“Swedish dishcloths” — $10-20 for a set, reusable and easy to wash, come in cute patterns or more simple colors, the thicker more expensive ones are best

Nice, heavy wooden cutting board from an Etsy seller

Key hooks to hang near the front door — either a fancy/elegant/modern one (which can be hard to find) or something adorable like the squirrels my mother hangs by her door

Cleaning materials from Thrive Market — it’s a membership model store, but you can quit after a trial month, last I knew they had a great duster with a washable cloth, nice super-thick dish towels, and attractive glass spray bottles that you can use to hold DIY or dilute-your-own spray cleaners

Marvis toothpaste, a fun luxury if they like strong mint (ideally with a cool-looking toothbrush if I can find one)

If you know them well enough to know they have a cheap version of something practical they use often, find a fancier/better-made version. The key is knowing it’s something they already use.

That’s all junk and stuff I would trash. I think you should get something like a nice set of crystal salt/pepper shakers or a pretty vase for flowers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Decorative items for the home! You can get really nice stuff at Home Goods and Ross!

Um, no. Decorative is the opposite of practical. And please, please do not bring that Ross junk into my house! NO RAY DUNN!

I think decorative items are practical!! You have to decorate a home! You must have a plain Jane home

NP. I don’t care for Home Goods junk. It would go straight to the thrift store.

Well you must be an outlier. Everyone I know loves decorative items

Hate to break it to you, they are just being polite.

No one would ever describe my mom as polite, I got her a shiny silver figurine of two dashound dogs laying together from HomeGoods and she has it on display in her living room shelving for a few years now

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate all of these ideas. My parents or MIL have given us most of them and we have returned or donated their bomba socks, first aid kits, decorative crap, bidets and a lot of other suggestions I see here. We are adults. We have first aid kits. We will NEVER use a bidet. I don’t want those overpriced socks.

Know the person you are buying for. A practical gift I’d use is a case of toilet paper, method cleaning spray, tooth paste… something consumable that the family goes through a lot. Please don’t clutter my house with stuff you think I need.

You’ll never use a bidet? Gross. How do you properly clean yourself? Dry tissue doesn’t clean it all!!!!

By taking multiple showers a day like most people? How can you clean only part of yourself and call yourself clean?? Gross.