Have you been shopping to find the perfect gifts for your loved ones? Sometimes that perfect gift is illusive and sometimes even when you think you’ve found the very thing that will most please someone, the gift doesn’t live up to expectations. That’s when we try to believe it’s the thought that counts. But sometimes we wonder what they were thinking while they might be wondering what we were thinking! A few of you who responded to my newsletter have shared some of those “were they even thinking” stories when they got a gift that was memorable for all the wrong reasons, but wait, I need to let them tell you about those gifts. First, here’s Alyson.
My sister-in-law received a fire extinguisher for a gift from my brother. He was made to realize that’s not a personal gift. We teased him for years about it and he did shape up and make up.
I can laugh at Alyson’s story because of one of those worst gifts ever for me was a fancy floor cleaner my husband bought for me when I lived in an old farmhouse without fancy floors to clean. And even if I had had fancy floors to clean, that wasn’t the present I hoped would be under the tree. I would say he learned his lesson, but some years later he gave me another floor cleaning device. Actually, he thought it would make the job easier for me, but somehow floor cleaning apparatuses don’t make the favorite Christmas gift list.
Alyson’s brother isn’t the only guy who has missed the mark with a Christmas gift, and my husband isn’t the only guy who thinks floor cleaning machines are what every girl wants for Christmas. Here’s Jeanne’s story.
My worst Christmas gift ever from my husband – a rug cleaner!!! Shortly after that we had to get rid of all but one rug because of a sick cat but I still wouldn’t have wanted it – ever! I told him never to get me anything with a plug again, so the next year he got me an extension cord with a plug. lol. The best was when he replaced my wedding ring because I had lost the stone while raking leaves.
But Jeanne’s husband made up for that rug cleaner and his joke of the extension cord with a best gift too. My husband has come up with some winners too. He bought an oak secretary’s desk at an auction and had it refinished. I love my desk and have written many, many books on it.
Jo Ann shares a story that gets told every Christmas the same as my husband is often reminded about that floor cleaner gift.
Here’s a funny memory though about a gift I didn’t like. One year, my hubs failed miserably when he gave me a GPS. I opened it up and said, “Oh! It’s a TomTom.” I guess I wasn’t too good at hiding my dismay. In a sudden thought, I said, “Oh, wait. It’s just a TomTom box. My real gift is inside. You’re trying to fool me!”
My poor, long suffering hubs said, “No. (pause) It’s a TomTom!” That story usually circulates at least once every year.
Love it, Jo Ann. Thanks for sharing. But your husband just wanted you to get wherever you wanted to go. 🙂
Then sometimes those gifts that miss the mark give the receiver an opportunity to show love and understanding as Lisa did.
The gift that comes to mind that wasn’t the ” best” gift ever was from my nephew. We always drew names on my husband’s side of the family before his mother passed. Our nephew seemed to always get my name and would buy me the perfume at the Dollar Store that “compared to …..brand.” The thing is he was always so proud and excited for me to open it. I always thanked him for it and told him I appreciated it. He died suddenly just a few days before Christmas a few years ago. Gone much too soon. I am glad of those time he got my name and the joy he had choosing me a gift that he was sure I would love.
Love is the most important gift at Christmastime.
But then sometimes you do get that perfect gift the way Robin and her husband did.
My husband and I discovered Doctor Who and had been loving it. When Christmas rolled around we both got each other a sonic screwdriver from the show. We were cracking up that we had bought each other the same thing. But we both loved it.
Hope these stories of gifts that were less than perfect made you smile as they did me. Most of the stories shared have been about gifts that were memorable for all the right reasons. I’ll share some of those next time. I love it when you share your stories with me and I hope you like it when I share those stories forward.
Have you gotten gifts that were memorable for all the wrong reasons?