[Withay]

Since it is the holiday season I thought it might be fun to have a thread showing the best / worst gift we have ever been given. It doesn't have to be a gift for Christmas, although it may have been.

[Withay]

One of my best gifts, and there have been many, was a handwritten letter from my mom telling me why she was proud to be my mother.

Another was being named the adoptive resource for my fs this year (adoption should be finalized in early 2009).

I remember 2 gifts that I would have been just a happy to never have been given. The first was when I was a young girl. One year 9 of us cousins had the measles for Christmas. We all got together anyway. Who were we going to expose? Each other.

The other gift I could have done without was a highschool graduation gift I received. I understand that the thought was there, but the gift was rather embarassing. You have to understand that my two older sisters each got a nice suitcase from this same relative for their graduation gift. Me? I got the feminine hygiene pack from our local community college. You can guess the items that were in it so I'll not elaborate. Suffice it to say I was embarassed to open it in front of the entire extended family. I did remember my manners though and thanked the relative for the gift.

[potentialsinglemom]

oh oh me next.

Last year I got a $400 gift card from family who had just moved to the country from Vietman and did not know their way around our "society". I must say they learnd quick. They now own 3 nail shops around town and Call each month to fuss at me for not coming by and getting my feet done for free, because she claims my feet look worse than her husband. That is a huge gift.

I was having a bad day at work 3 yrs ago and I got a Valentine's card in the mail with a letter written in it telling me why I was a blessing to the clients, my job and to the world. It was beautiful and I cried like a baby.

Worse gift, being in the emergency room New Years eve, and bringing in 2008 lying on a hospital bed with the chills and 105 degrees fevers, and sore muscles.

[CaddoRose]

When I was a graduate student in the theatre dept at university, we had a Christmas party for faculty and students who wanted to be part of a gift exchange. The idea was to spend $5-8 and get a gift to exchange but not a white elephant gift. So I crocheted a scarf for my gift to give and got from another person a poster of a bad movie and a can of cheese whiz. I guess the guy who got my name had no clue what to get a girl...

[jllambert]

5 years ago I got to bring our DD(3 yrs old at the time) to her foever home for good... less then a month before Christmas! It was also a Christmas where most of my brothers and sister families got to come home so everyone got to meet our new lil family member! I was such a wonderful Christmas!
Last year we got the best new years gift...baby "G" a 4 day old baby! It has been a wonderful year (stressful, but so wonderful)!

Two years ago at Christmas my Aunt gave me a neckless that had been my grandma Betty's. It was a locket and it still had a picture of me in it! I still tear up when I think about it!!

[AmyAnne]

The best gift I got was two days ago. DH gave me my Christmas gift early. He called and arranged a sitter. He looked up the train schedule. He picked a restaurant and took me out to dinner. He gave me tickets to a play, which we attended that night. He paid the sitter. and he took her home. It's nice to know after 14 Christmases, I am still worth the effort.

Worst gift. Well let me think about how to say this, exactly..... Okay. So we were first married and I commented at Thanksgiving about how I had a nativity set on my Christmas list. DH's Aunt, in a generous moment, explained she had several extras, and proudly gave me one in a still sealed box. We got it home. I would like to believe she never saw it, since it was sealed. It was painted plastic, so the paint had chipped off in places, rendering Mary's hands blue. But that wasn't the worst part of it....

One of the shepherds and a sheep were one piece. The shepherd was kneeling behind the sheep, I assume comforting the sheep, who was rearing up on it's hind legs. Get that picture in your mind. Yes... it looked EXACTLY like you're picturing. I thought I was just being dirty minded but everyone I showed this to burst out laughing.

We never did put it out on display.

[potentialsinglemom]

Originally Posted by AmyAnne

The best gift I got was two days ago. DH gave me my Christmas gift early. He called and arranged a sitter. He looked up the train schedule. He picked a restaurant and took me out to dinner. He gave me tickets to a play, which we attended that night. He paid the sitter. and he took her home. It's nice to know after 14 Christmases, I am still worth the effort.

Worst gift. Well let me think about how to say this, exactly..... Okay. So we were first married and I commented at Thanksgiving about how I had a nativity set on my Christmas list. DH's Aunt, in a generous moment, explained she had several extras, and proudly gave me one in a still sealed box. We got it home. I would like to believe she never saw it, since it was sealed. It was painted plastic, so the paint had chipped off in places, rendering Mary's hands blue. But that wasn't the worst part of it....

One of the shepherds and a sheep were one piece. The shepherd was kneeling behind the sheep, I assume comforting the sheep, who was rearing up on it's hind legs. Get that picture in your mind. Yes... it looked EXACTLY like you're picturing. I thought I was just being dirty minded but everyone I showed this to burst out laughing.

We never did put it out on display.

You have a sweet hubby.

Now let's talk about the nativity scene. Is your aunt elderly? I had an elderly cousin, who was RICH and ECCENTRIC (which seems to go together), to give me and my sister used underwear for our birthday. She did not wrap them up; she just handed them to us balled up.

The look on my mother's face and then listening to her tell my grandmother about it...PRICELESS!!!

[Withay]

And I thought my feminine hygiene gift was bad - tampons and all. Oh no, some of these have me laughing soooooo hard.

[AKMama]

Off the top of my head, I can't think of anything really bad but my sister got a good one this year. She runs an in-home daycare and one of the parents gave her a tin of sugar cookies. She had bought the same tin recently, so she knew what the cookies looked like and how many were supposed to be in the tin. When she opened the tin from the parent, she found 7 homemade sugar cookies on top. Upon further digging, she found the original cookies the tin came with, however, half the cookies were missing and looking closer, she discovered some of the cookies had bites taken out of them. So, basically, she got a used tin of cookies.

As for best gifts, that would be my kids over the past three Christmases. Three Christmases ago we had just finalized the adoption of my oldest two girls in November. Then last Christmas, I had just found out a few weeks prior that I was pregnant. And now this year, I have my newest daughter (she was born in July) and she has brought so much happiness, joy and light back into our lives after my partner's death in July. So, while this will be a sad Christmas without my partner and my girls' mommy, it is also a very blessed and special Christmas.

[EandDmom]

Originally Posted by AKMama

Off the top of my head, I can't think of anything really bad but my sister got a good one this year. She runs an in-home daycare and one of the parents gave her a tin of sugar cookies. She had bought the same tin recently, so she knew what the cookies looked like and how many were supposed to be in the tin. When she opened the tin from the parent, she found 7 homemade sugar cookies on top. Upon further digging, she found the original cookies the tin came with, however, half the cookies were missing and looking closer, she discovered some of the cookies had bites taken out of them. So, basically, she got a used tin of cookies.

.

I'm guessing small children got hungry..lol. My best "gift"
was 19 years ago this christmas I gave birth to my darling daughter. Five years and 2 days later I gave birth to my darling son.
We have already done Christmas for this year so everyone could be here and this year my dh saved all year and bought me a diamond bracelet because once I said I had always wanted one. Actually I said I'd always wanted a diamond tennis bracelet..lol but I love that he listened and went to so much trouble to get me something I'd always wanted.
Worst gift would have been when I got married the first time an elderly aunt and uncle gave me a large box. Imagine my shock when I opened it and found food they had obviously taken from their pantry. Some items were actually opened and used. It was a nice thought but wish they would have just skipped it.

[BZmom7]

My worse gift... was for my birthday...my Ex gave me a new toilet!!! (which explains why among other reasons WHY he's now my ex...lol).

My Best....was Christmas 10 yrs. ago...when my now husband gave me a diamond ring, whinked at me, and said...."well?" Ya, I know, not much on mussy words...but i'll take that over a new toilet anyday...lol

[mamallama]

My worst gift was from my husband's Grandma. She took an old fugly Home Interior sconce off her wall, wrapped it in tissues and gave it to me for Christmas. She didn't even bother to dust it

I'm easy to please and I prefer giving rather than getting. I don't have a favorite per se. I got a pair of Ugg slippers from MIL last Christmas and I loooove them. Hubs and I don't exchange gifts, not even for birthdays. We're weird like that.

[mamallama]

Oooh! I almost forgot a funny story. The same Grandmother (see above) gave my husband a three pack of underwear and a can of nuts a few years ago. Think she was trying to tell him something?

I can't decide whether she is wickedly clever or just a bad gift giver. We love getting gifts from her, mostly for the comic value.

[potentialsinglemom]

Originally Posted by BZmom7

My worse gift... was for my birthday...my Ex gave me a new toilet!!! (which explains why among other reasons WHY he's now my ex...lol).

I just spit out my soda

[potentialsinglemom]

Originally Posted by mamallama

Oooh! I almost forgot a funny story. The same Grandmother (see above) gave my husband a three pack of underwear and a can of nuts a few years ago. Think she was trying to tell him something?

I can't decide whether she is wickedly clever or just a bad gift giver. We love getting gifts from her, mostly for the comic value.

You have to love grandma's....LOL....underwear and nuts...that is tooo funny. She may not have realized what she was subliminally saying...