Waaay too “grandmotherish” fleece pajamas from Sears that hubby’s well-meaning stepmother bought me. I can hardly sleep in a t-shirt and shorts, so these will never get worn. I’ll return them for some much-needed outdoor wear for my job.
A sweater from Kohl’s that’s a few sizes too big, it hangs on me like a David Byrne suit. Does mom really think I’m that big or am I right in my assumption that she just can’t pass up crazy Kohl’s sales no matter what the size or item?
My also well-meaning mother in law bought me an embroidered Christmas purse with tiny plastic handles which she bought at a craft fair so it’s unreturnable… darn the luck.
Wha? Christmas is supposed to be about the stuff we wouldn’t buy ourselves. I would be so crushed if Ivylad exchanged something because it was “too frivolous.”
Next time you’re feeling romantic, put on that lace teddy with the FM heels, prance around in front of him, then take it off and put on your flannel jammies, since the teddy is “too frivolous.”
I’m sorry your hubby didn’t keep your gift. He needs to lighten up.
What!? That was a great freakin’ gift! (If he’s into that sort of thing, and he seems to be, so I’m not understanding this at all.)
My husband has returned almost every gift I’ve ever given him, so no surprise there…we exchanged the sweater for a pair of pants, and I’m sending the carpentry books back to Amazon. He says we can get something from the library. I know, but what the hell am I supposed to get you for Christmas?
I’m returning a DVD of The Great Race, which was still on my list, despite already having it.
I’m also returning a proof set of coins, which was technically a birthday gift. I ordered the 2007 set by mistake.
He was positively thrilled when he opened it. I was so excited that I could barely keep the secret until christmas. Then he thought about it for a couple days and said that with all the hard times people are enduring, it just wouldn’t be right. However, he continues to pump money and time into his own souped up Mustang, so I’m as as the rest of you.
The teddy idea is just too perfect. “C’mon, baby! It’s just you and me and my fat pants! Have your way with me!!!”
We’re the same way. I just can’t get him anything he likes. Except the California Car Cover I got him for his birthday. He liked that. And he likes Turtle Wax car washes, too.
I’m seriously considering not even trying next year. It depresses the crap outta me.
(By the way, if your husband digs the NASCAR thing, it was only $250…I thought it would be a lot more than that.)
I have to take Mr. Neville to Macy’s sometime soon to exchange the pants his mom got him. They’re nice, but the wrong size.
Maybe he likes watching NASCAR, but the idea of being in one of the cars scares him. He may not want to admit that he’s scared (lots of men don’t like to admit that sort of thing), so he says it’s too frivolous as an excuse. Maybe he even liked the idea at first, but then when he thought about it he realized that something like the possibility of a crash scared him.
I did get my feelings hurt last year when he returned the Sirius radio, because I’d really put in some thought and expected him to like it, but this year I went in knowing that the odds were against me.
It still bugs me though. [del]Unfortunately[/del] Fortunately, he’s not into Nascar. I don’t know what I’ll do next year, either.
I would like to return all the crap my mom got me, but I don’t think I can as she’s in Illinois and shops at stores that we don’t have in Boston. Ugh. I think I may be stuck with a purple faux-suede feeling dressy jacket; 2 (yes 2, one for me and one for my boyfriend) charging stations (1 of which fell apart as it was taken out of the box); and an apron, cookbook and cosmetic case which are breast cancer themed.
The one great thing she did “give” me was regifted-- the Teddy Bear that I originally got as a baby.
My waist size (steady at 28 from 1987 - 2007) is now 30; a sedentary job and a wife that treats me like a foie gras goose increased me by 16lbs over two years, but apparently it doesn’t show too much.
All the stuff my daughter’s godmother bought her (some clothes and a Hannah Montana CD). My daughter has reached the stage where she is very particular about clothes (and also hard to fit, being tall and very lean). She also has no use for Hannah Montana, not least because her name is Hannah and, well, you can imagine.
What if you make a donation to charity in his name? Our family doesn’t exchange gifts other than small goofy stuff in our stockings. Instead we sign up for a charity that sends you the wish-list from a needy single-parent family, and you buy their presents instead. They also have similar holiday meal charities, or heck you can even “adopt” an animal from the zoo. You send in your donation and you get a framed photo of your endangered critter.
If your husband really doesn’t like stuff contributing to a charity he likes may be an alternative.
Not returning but regifting. Coworkers are receiving a lot of good candy that I got so that I can get a head start on losing some holiday weight. Oh, and a Starbucks card so that they can enjoy their morning joe and I don’t have to go into a Starbucks. Now if Ican just find a way to get rid of the fudge…
While I absolutely adore the robe TheKid bought me, she also bought me hideously scented lotions from Bath & Body Works. “I know you like these scents, Mom!”
Honey, no, I don’t. Your aunt likes them.
The vanilla one triggers headaches and the melon one smells weird.
So I will quietly exchenge them for scents I do enjoy.
(Between her and my other gifter I ended up with 12 mini bottles of Juicie lotion which I adore, one large Juicie in an okay scent, and the two bottles from B&BW. Are they trying to tell me something?)
Two coolers. Not gifts; I bought them myself to thaw and brine a turkey in. Got a big one with wheels first and then a 5 gal. “work site water cooler” type (which is what I should have gotten to begin with). Now that I’m done with them, I really have no other use for them.
Yes, we have been donating time to the local homeless shelter since he retired in November, and we give to various charities (many of them are military charities, since my husband is a Vietnam vet). We asked our families for charitable donations rather than gifts, and we’re very pleased with that. We pool our funds, so those decisions are made together as opposed to being something that we could “gift” to each other.
Anyhoo…I asked for a membership to the local gym, and he joined with me! So I guess that’s our gift to each other. By summertime, we ought to be looking so fucking faaabulous that we can just gift our hot bods to each other!
as the rest of you.
