Worst gifts

[tinydancer]

Inspired by Parenting, what is the worst thing your kiddos (or you) received?

[tinydancer]

It's not that terrible, but my MIL bought LO two jumbo knob puzzles, after I showed her the one I bought for him. I think one of them will be donated.

She also bought him a sled, even though we don't get snow where we live. It's going to stay at her house, I assume.

[dizzycooks]

Nothing too terrible here. The worst is probably the fact everything has small pieces at this age and I am struggling with how to handle that.

[silverspoon]

dizzycooks I told H today not to take any toys to his sister's that he didn't think he could track of all the pieces. I'm constantly putting things back together. I read about some people using mesh zippered laundry bags. I might try that. I have a bunch of odd sized ones.

There really isn't anything I don't like that he got.

[dizzycooks]

silverspoon at the moment I store their little stuff in plastic shoe boxes from the dollar store. It works. It's just hard when they want to play and the baby wants to play too!

[NellieOleson]

tinydancer - are they different puzzles than the one you bought? I'd keep them, then. Maybe just stash one away to bring out later. Once they figure out how to put the puzzle pieces into the correct spots, new puzzles are always a good thing.

dizzycooks - omg. The small pieces. Dd1 got some playmobil sets and some Littlest Pet Shop stuff for Christmas and some of those parts are minuscule! Like there is a baby bottle that came with a LPS character that is smaller than the volume button on my phone. I can't believe it hasn't been lost already. At least it's so small that if dd2 eats it it should pass right through her....

Worst present we received was probably a gift basket of candy. Once I opened it up and took out all the junk filler candy (generic brand hard candies made in Mexico) there was only a single pack of hot cocoa mix and two pieces of toffee that were actually worth keeping. I just feel bad throwing it all out since it probably cost $40+ and we will end up using $2 worth of stuff out of it. Gift baskets are pretty lame in general....

[14joa31]

My family does a Yankee swap every year, and I think that Mom should not be allowed to participate any more. She always contributes old-lady crap. I feel so bad for my SIL, who got my Mom's gift this year - and old lady-esque flag with a picture of a picnic basket on it :/

[crimsonandclover]

Zomg the little Lego and playmobil pieces. Is it bad that I've just resigned myself to the fact that dd3 is probably going to eat a few and she'll just poop them back out? I've already found little beads in her diaper... (That was a few months ago - unrelated to Xmas). Honestly, though, I'm more concerned about bouncy ball sized things than tiny Lego crowns.

[NellieOleson]

Dec 27, 2016 15:08:16 GMT -5 crimsonandclover said:

Zomg the little Lego and playmobil pieces. Is it bad that I've just resigned myself to the fact that dd3 is probably going to eat a few and she'll just poop them back out? I've already found little beads in her diaper... (That was a few months ago - unrelated to Xmas). Honestly, though, I'm more concerned about bouncy ball sized things than tiny Lego crowns.

Yeah, the bouncy ball sized things are the worst. I have taken most things that sized out of rotation for now. Most of the really small stuff I put away in a ziploc bag, too. I can't monitor that stuff at all times and it stresses me out too much worrying that I'm going to have to fish a playmobil hat out of dd2's mouth.

[kcrkcs]

Clothing in sizes she has outgrown is really the worst of it. Nobody went too crazy so we didn't end up with a glut of stuff.
Best present was a pop up castle tent thingy. She has squirreled all her lovies in there and it's her little Hideyholefort.

[scorpioscuba]

This POS my MIL bought my son. She always buys him the cheapest shit she can find. This thing is going to have to break VERY soon.

[gizmo]

We actually did a lot of the shopping for other people this year (my family lives far away and are afraid to shop online) so we did pretty well at controlling the quantity and quality for the girls. We also remembered (finally) that H's family sends way too much, so we kept it pretty minimal on our end. The result was a happy Christmas that wasn't too overwhelming.

The worst for us was H--his mom kind of forgot about him. She lost track, sent too much for K, a little for C, some for me (returned immediately and exchanged for a nice sweater), some for H and I (towels, placemats, etc.) and one thing for H. She didn't mean to and he knows it. I had actually gotten a few things for him this year, where I normally do one, and I did great on his stocking, so I think that helped him not feel overlooked.

[14joa31]

Dec 27, 2016 19:30:10 GMT -5 scorpioscuba said:

This POS my MIL bought my son. She always buys him the cheapest shit she can find. This thing is going to have to break VERY soon.

Omg I am dying over this POS!!

[tinydancer]

Dec 27, 2016 11:46:04 GMT -5 NellieOleson said:

tinydancer - are they different puzzles than the one you bought? I'd keep them, then. Maybe just stash one away to bring out later. Once they figure out how to put the puzzle pieces into the correct spots, new puzzles are always a good thing.

They are different, so maybe I will just squirrel one of them away. I think I'm just salty because she bought him the same thing I bought, after she knew I bought it, and then gave it to him first. Also, I don't like to have too much stuff pile up.

We haven't opened our presents yet, but I'm starting to think maybe I bought LO the worst gift. I got him some of those rock crayons for ages 12m. It sounds like so much fun to sit him down and let him scribble, but after watching him tear around his room today, I'm just picturing him running around the room and drawing on the walls. The crayons might have to go into hiding until he learns to sit for a few minutes.

[tinydancer]

scorpioscuba, speaking of little bouncy balls for going in little mouths...

[NellieOleson]

tinydancer - in my experience they need to be a *little* bit older in order to really have an interest in drawing/painting, but it's good to give it a try every now and then. You never know!

We had some egg-shaped crayons for dd1 that were supposed to be great for chubby little baby hands to grab. She would only throw them because she thought they were balls. Ha. Recently I pulled them out for dd2 to try and she did the same thing. They went into the garbage. Hopefully you'll have better luck!

ETA: to draw with him put him in his high chair with a piece of paper taped down. No crawling around with crayons!

[Lollipop]

S still doesn't like to sit and colour for very long. The worst get M got is a doll that giggles and blows kisses, it's motion activated so it's constantly going. I keep turning it off when she's distracted by something else, but she loves it so much I feel bad.

S didn't get anything too terrible, no annoying toys or anything like that. The outfit that MIL got him bugs me, just because it's sweatpants and a hoodie, and I never dress him in sweatpants. I think they're going to be for lazy days only.

H and I were happy with everything we got, but we haven't gone to the Yankee swap with his family yet. And he feels bad that he didn't get me as much as he wanted to. Apparently he wanted to get me a spa gift certificate as well as the charms he got me. And he keeps apologizing for not filling my stocking enough. I've told him it was fine, but he tends to dwell.

[silverspoon]

I still have this ability to tune out the noisy toys. Maybe because it's just one kid with toys? None of them so far bother me.

[sjames2015]

No terrible gifts here. All the noisy toys for DD2 and all the barbies for DD1. They are fighting over every. single. toy! I got 2 different sets of Cast Iron pans and I have no clue what to cook in them. I know greasy food is good at first.
silverspoon most noisy toys don't bother me still, even with multiple playing. The motion activated ones do bother me though. And the baby talk ones.
I'm not looking forward for DD2's bday party and the gifts she'll be getting and then DD1's at the end of January.

[sjames2015]

I will add that H picked out a toy for DD2 that said 2+. It's a Mickey Mouse Club House. It's a game and yes it's way too old for her. Plus she doesn't understand pretend play with the Mickey doll. Luckily we kept all of DD1's toys. So I brought up about 4 things that are more age appropriate for her.
So it wasn't horrible but it was her 1 big gift.

[icequeen]

Ugh the IL's gave DD a stupid logo Tshirt from an obscure zoo they visited on a road trip that is 3 sizes too big. I can't really complain about the gifts, though, I'm sure we'll get use out of all of them!

[14joa31]

Dec 28, 2016 22:06:07 GMT -5 icequeen said:

Ugh the IL's gave DD a stupid logo Tshirt from an obscure zoo they visited on a road trip that is 3 sizes too big. I can't really complain about the gifts, though, I'm sure we'll get use out of all of them!

Wow. Now can enjoy staring at it in your closet ... for three years ... :/

[Lollipop]

Dec 28, 2016 22:06:07 GMT -5 icequeen said:

Ugh the IL's gave DD a stupid logo Tshirt from an obscure zoo they visited on a road trip that is 3 sizes too big. I can't really complain about the gifts, though, I'm sure we'll get use out of all of them!

S has gotten at least 5 of those. They now fit, but they were all bought about 3 years ago.

[tinydancer]

Dec 28, 2016 22:56:51 GMT -5 14joa31 said:

Dec 28, 2016 22:06:07 GMT -5 icequeen said:

Ugh the IL's gave DD a stupid logo Tshirt from an obscure zoo they visited on a road trip that is 3 sizes too big. I can't really complain about the gifts, though, I'm sure we'll get use out of all of them!

Wow. Now can enjoy staring at it in your closet ... for three years ... :/

This reminds me of my step MIL who gave me some 4-5T sweaters for LO's baby shower. I think she finds stuff on clearance and can't help herself. I may have to move those damn sweaters twice before he's big enough to wear them.