Get ready for a dose of holiday honesty! We're sharing stories about the weirdest, most awkward, and cringe-worthy Christmas gifts people have ever received.
Join us in exploring the weird side of gift-giving, as we unwrap stories of Christmas presents that made people go, "...Really?".
1. Favoritism and Gift-Giving
My grandmother was a piece of work. One year, me and my two cousins were at her house for Christmas morning.
All the family was there and there was a big, gorgeous pile of presents wrapped in the corner.
We (me and my cousins) were promptly told that those gifts were for the other grandchildren.
When we gave our grandma the blank stare of confused children, she hurried back into her room, threw an old ziplock bag down at the ground between us (full of half-used nail polish and broken jewelry), and told us Merry Christmas.
itisSUNNYinhere
2. Money Saves Everything
My grandma hated my mom because she liked my dad’s first wife better, therefore my sister and I were treated like crap. She never once pronounced or spelled my name correctly.
One year, she gave all my cousins and my half-sister a huge pile of cash each, and my full sister and I got gloves.
My mom finally got tired of it.
She threatened to stop allowing my sister and me to go there for Christmas, and that’s when my grandpa stepped it and decided every kid would just be handed $50 and that would be the end of it.
iCoeur285
3. Memory Issues
Ex-GF gave me a book on the history of gunpowder. I admit I enjoyed it as it was an interesting read.
The problem was that I had already read it two months prior because she had already given me a copy as my birthday gift.
Maldibus
4. Useful Gifts, Or Not
I was 16. I was doing my Art GCSE and I kept taking the scissors from the kitchen because it involved a lot of cutting and sticking. My mum got super annoyed with me.
I have 2 older brothers. One had recently moved into uni so he got some sheets with a world map in it, something he was very interested in at the time, and expensive rucksacks for his uni work.
The other brother had just recently landed a new job, so he got some posh shoes and some merino wool jumpers. In total, their presents probably cost about £100-£200 each and all of them were beautifully wrapped.
Me? I got handed a plastic bag, and inside was a pair of £3 scissors. I received nothing else that Christmas.
ConfidenceIsLow
5. Never Growing Up
Every year, my grandma would send me clothing for a 6-year-old. Seems like the concept of my brother and I actually growing up escaped her.
After a few years of this, my mom got tired of her wasting her money on this and told her to just send my mom the money and she would buy the gift, just send a card.
[deleted]
6. Family Betrayal
I am going to answer for my sister. When I was about five (making her nine), our uncle/aunt/cousin family asked me what my sister liked. I had no idea. All I knew was she liked to yell at me.
So I dumbly replied she likes hair ties. For Christmas that year my sister received an assortment of an insanely high number, like two hundred different high ties, scrunchies, etc. She didn't let me live that down for a looong time.
chubbybunnybean
7. …Surprise?
My (divorced) parents pooled their money to buy me a Gameboy color. The problem was they’d already got me a Gameboy color, but I guess they didn’t understand that it was the same one and thought it was new.
They both looked so excited as I opened it I didn’t have the heart to tell them. So I just kept playing my one game on my new Gameboy color.
MilkyLikeCereal
8. The First Heartbreak
When I was 15, I really wanted a dog. My mom knew this. Cue Christmas morning. After we had opened any other presents, my mom came back with one last one...it was a wrapped box with holes in the sides, bouncing/moving some, and puppy barks of cuteness.
I got sooooo excited to open it and meet my new best friend. When I opened it, it had a stuffed animal puppy (not taxidermized...), a bumble ball toy, and a small tape recorder with puppy barks. My heart sank and I just sat there and cried.
AlwaysForgetsMyName
9. Getting Her Gift Back
My mom rarely cared what gift we might actually want or what our personal tastes were and most often she would select a gift based on her own personal tastes.
In the late 80's, she decided to buy me a stereo as the main/ large gift for whatever reason and she selected a Fisher Price (the children's toy brand) turn table (record player). This was after CD players were invented and of course, nobody played records anymore.
The worst part was that she decided to treat this stereo as some sophisticated equipment that was too good for a child to play with so after Christmas she stored it, in its original box, in our attic where it has remained until this day.
It was supposed to just be stored there until some arbitrary time but my mom is a huge procrastinator and that time never came. I'm still salty that she wasted all the money on that stupid gift rather than on something I might have enjoyed and actually got to use.
Sushi_Booty
10. Too Young for This
My mom took me to her boyfriend’s family Christmas party in rural Michigan once. Someone gave me The Year in Clemson Football: 1993.
It was very nice that someone thought enough to give me a gift but 9-year-old me really struggled with the logic behind the purchase.
rake2204
11. Christmas Thieves
Better than the one time me and my brother went to my dad’s girlfriend's family Christmas with them. He didn't say anything until we left, but the whole car ride home he was pissed because they didn't get us anything.
And me and my brother were trying to calm him down about it, telling him it was not even a problem because we didn't expect anything from complete strangers. Then through his anger, he yelled, "Well they should've because I gave them the money for it."
[deleted]
12. Unexpected Excuses
We had a Secret Santa with the whole family and everyone usually goes a bit overboard even though it's supposed to be a relaxed thing. One year my uncle from California was able to make it and we included them.
His wife wanted all her kids to be added as well so they would revive something. One of her kids ended up drawing my name for it and when she gave me my gift on behalf of them.
She bought me a 5-dollar lead pencil and pen and another of her kids drew my mom's name and then she said "Oops, I didn't get you anything yet I thought it was supposed to be done on New Year's Eve." While her kids got giant doll houses and trikes.
FAssassin7
13. Too Many Plot Twists
When I was 13 I was taking drum lessons and was desperate for my own kit. My mum worked at the Early Learning Centre (preschool-age kids shop for non-UK chaps).
Mum and Dad got me this little plastic toy drum and made me play a tune on it. I tried my best not to look upset, I failed and stopped just short of bursting into tears. Turned out to be a sick joke, the drums were wrapped up in the dining room.
IronSkywalker
14. Jealousy, Jealousy
My parents got me an acoustic guitar one Christmas. Problem: my brother was the one who asked for a guitar, not me. So essentially, my Christmas present was seeing my brother absolutely gutted. Meanwhile, I had to pretend I was happy. Awkward.
I shared the guitar with my brother while I pretended to enjoy learning to play it.
This lasted for about a month before I let my bro completely take over the guitar.
He got his own electric guitar that same year for his birthday, took guitar lessons, and joined a band, the whole shebang. He still plays to this day, 17 years later. Me? I hate playing guitar. Hurts my fingers.
Ganon_Fodder
15. Swapping Teddy Bears
I lost one of my stuffed bears. I was really upset about it. My mom couldn’t find it, so my dad had the idea to get me a new one for Christmas saying it was the old one.
The thing was, they weren’t selling that version of Wishbear anymore. I was an observant kid, so my dad knew that if he got me the newer, different-looking one, I’d realize that it wasn’t the same. So he had to go and buy one of the old ones for a very inflated price.
I got the Wishbear on Christmas with a note saying that he went missing because he was helping Santa (adorable). I was very happy to have my Wishbear back.
A couple of weeks later, my dad found the original Wishbear in the closet, probably buried under some clothes. I only learned the story this year, because my dad just kind of hid the original one.
LazuliArtz
16. Specific Requests
My mother is terrible at gift-giving. She shops for others with herself in mind, not them, so everyone gets stuff she likes but they don't. Or she buys it in March and then can't find it come December, and your gift is her telling you that's what happened.
Or she'll buy, say, a book trilogy in an art box, and she'll give each book one holiday at a time, and then the final gift will be the box. As I grew older, I started seeing this.
I never got anything that I specifically asked for, possibly a close approximation at best. I figured it was because nothing I asked for interested her, so I tried something: I asked for something that she would be into.
I asked for a Bible. I specified the brand, the translation, the hardback/paperback, and the book cover including the color scheme. I got exactly what I asked for, down to the last detail. I kept it as a reminder of what not to do to my kids.
Haikuna__Matata
17. Working Is A Gift
A couple of years ago, my dad registered me to see a few of my favorite shows taped in NYC. I got super excited about it but then realized that he wouldn’t be paying for anything and expected me to stay with my narcissistic grandma in New Jersey who I avoid as much as possible.
Then I found out that not only were the tickets to see the tapings free, but he had already told my grandma I’d be staying with her and she had all sorts of yard work and stuff ready for me to do for her once I arrived.
Obviously, I didn’t go and my dad is still bitter that I didn’t appreciate his gift.
itspronouncedquinoa
18. It’s Still A Gift, Right?
We're not friends anymore and haven't been for more than ten years now. However, we were very very close from ages 12 to 25.
One Christmas, when we were 18, her present to me was a wrapped-up VHS tape I had loaned her years before and she had forgotten it was actually my tape of Wayne's World I was now getting back as she tried to pass it off as an actual gift.
Chubbybunnybean
19. Once a Kid, Always a Kid
My grandmother's sister is a nutter for Christmas presents. One year, I had a coloring book from her. Designed to teach 4-6-year-olds to color in the lines. I was 19.
When I was 20, I had a small box of alcoholic chocolates from her. My mother looked at them and said they looked familiar. She also ended up getting one. That's when she remembered where she saw them. 2 for 1 in Poundland.
Goetre
20. Thanks For The Trash!
I got a chessboard. That's ok, except that I was just about to go backpacking for 6 months+ and had given up my apartment. It was an unusually large chessboard, made of glass, and with all glass pieces.
It didn't come with any kind of storage or carry case, just cardboard and styrofoam packaging. Also, I don't play chess. I was like “Wow thanks for the burden, I have less than a week to regift this or it's going in the trash!”
madeamashup
21. Nevermind
Once I was asking my son his opinion on the Rumba vacuum cleaner. He told me that they were great but to make sure not to get a knockoff as he had gotten one a few years before and it was crap.
Fast forward a couple of years. Christmas comes and I get a used knockoff Rumba from him. I was laughing so hard he asked me why. I had to remind him of our previous conversation that he had forgotten.
riconoir28
22. Improvise, Adapt, Overcome
My boyfriend, who is manly AF and is into music, guitars, and skateboarding, got an emoji pillow from his parents one year ago.
He said exactly “This proves how out of touch my parents are with my life, and how little they actually care about me.” It was quite sad but funny how they got him a damned emoji pillow.
throwawayyyss4days
23. Food is Still a Gift
Sort of a bittersweet memory. When I was 8 or so, my mom and dad split up and my mom had custody of my sisters and me. We were really poor so all she could afford to buy us was what she could buy with food stamps.
She got us stuff that we normally couldn't get like sugary cereals and other junk food and wrapped them up so that we'd have presents to open.
At the time it was great because it was all stuff we never really got as kids but looking back it sort of makes me cringe at just how poor and struggling we were.
I guess I wouldn't really say it was the worst gift to me at the time, but I think a lot of people take things like that for granted and we be very disappointed if they got a box of cereal for Christmas.
irrimn
24. It’s Not A Phase!
A mean relative who’s now estranged (her choice) thought my interest in art as a high schooler was juvenile. One year, she and her husband got me a giant pack of Prismacolor pencil crayons, which was awesome.
He’d looked up what an artist could use and sought them out for me, super sweet.
Guess she didn’t like that so she made me open a package of children’s crayons first as a “joke gift” and took a bunch of photos, saying “Little kids who like to color get little kid presents.”
Well, despite being embarrassed in front of a ton of people I loved both my fancy Prismacolors and my Crayolas.
himynameisbetty
25. A Painful Revelation
My grandma told me my mom was a jerk on Christmas Day and told me to go home because I looked too much like her and she “didn’t need that right now.”
I was 10 years old. I’ve never felt close to her but I hated her ever since. I have plenty more examples, but that would be needed in its own post. The more she tries to do anything really, it makes me hate her.
Burn_some_sage
26. Careless Family
Not me, but happened to my mom and she told the story many times. One Christmas all of her six siblings opened up presents under the tree, but there was nothing for her.
When she asked about it her parents told her that they had just gotten her a new coat. (The coat was bought months before.)
The next year, there were so many presents for her under the tree, but as she started unwrapping she realized that they had just wrapped random things around the house and again did not get her a present.
I still don’t understand how they could be so cruel. My mother and both of her parents have passed now.
Missingsocks77
27. Toys Are For Kids
I have an uncle who has never been good at gifts to me. At one point, I was really into "cool tools". They were just toy tools that were fun to play with, at the age of like 7, he gave me an actual tool set because he thought toy tools were a stupid toy.
They would’ve been a great gift now, but at the age of 7, I had no use and I'm not sure what ever happened to them.
The worst one was when I was like 9 for Christmas they gave me a couple of pocket knives.
They weren't even meant to be used, they came in a wood box that you were just supposed to keep them in there and put them on a shelf or something. I had no use for them and one time sliced my finger pretty good with them.
FuckChiefs_Raiders
28. Revenge for Nothing
Well, not a bad gift but what happened to them afterward is what’s crazy. My dad was married to an evil woman. She was literally the wicked stepmother. We got a bunch of cool gifts and games.
But she later destroyed them because she got mad at me for... nothing really. She was/is psycho. She always hated my brother and me.
[deleted]
29. The Tote Bags Mistery
I had just started dating someone. I did not expect anything from this person’s parents, other than hello, here is the eggnog. They apparently walked down the Totes aisle and bought me one of everything.
Spent probably close to $75. They didn’t know me, and it was a wild misfit. I get the kindness, but it was weird as hell. All went to charity. So, not a bad thing, but I’d have settled for eggnog.
calcaneus
30. Not Exactly What I Wanted
When I was under 14 (I forgot the exact age), my parents gave me a Disney-themed photo album with special scissors designed to cut in "creative" ways, meant to be used to "customize" your photos.
This was back when the only way to get the same set of photos printed more than once was to develop your own film. They were very disappointed that I showed no excitement at the prospect of mutilating my own photographs.
ManCalledTrue
31. Well, That’s… Fun
When I was about ten, my grandma sent presents from overseas for us to open. My brother opened his first and it was a really cool, old-school toy.
I opened mine and it was a bunch of doilies. I literally cried I was so disappointed. What the hell a 10-year-old was supposed to do with doilies is beyond me. It’s still a family joke "At least it's better than doilies"
LottiBoadicea
32. Keeping A Backup
Three individual socks.
For my birthday in February, I received three more socks to complete what I assumed was the pack of three pairs. These came from my aunt and uncle who regularly take 6 week vacations around the globe.
HotCrustyBuns
33. Just Making Sure
Baby clothes. I wasn't pregnant, wasn't trying to be pregnant, had no children, and was quite slim so there's no chance I even looked like maybe I was pregnant.
Never plucked up the courage to ask for an explanation.
MerylSquirrel
34. Getting Angry
I was nine or ten. My aunt asked me if I wanted a calligraphy pen set. I had horrible handwriting despite arduous and extensive practice enforced by a despotic teacher who kept me in at recess to make me practice and then scolded me for making a mess of my efforts.
I adamantly said no. My aunt tried to convince me I would like one. (My cousins called her Aunt Bossy.) I even more adamantly repeated that I did not want one. For Christmas, she gave me a calligraphy pen set.
The next year, she gave me a trash can. Message received. But I preferred the trash can. It was useful.
FormerlyTusconian
35. Not Motherly At All
I was living in my car, due to being an unwise young person with no life skills. My mother came by my car on Christmas and gave me a "lifeboat" emergency kit, and a card.
This would have been kind, except I wasn't on substances, or a criminal; just not sure what to do with life.... my 19-year-old brother still lived with her, and she bought him a car for that holiday.
She admits that she just did it because she "thought it would be ironically humorous." In other words, homeless people are funny... even when family members. Worst gift ever.
Seraphus_Nocturnus
36. Pure Cruelty
A 40-inch HD TV. The reason behind it being the worst was because of the cruel intentions behind it. Christmas morning comes and my sister and I (both in our mid-20s) open up our gifts.
When all was done, my mom told me that she had something special for me but I couldn't open it until my step-siblings came first. There is a big box in the corner with my name on it.
Two hours later, my step-siblings came and they were upset because their Christmas was not the best though their poor mother did the best she could.
Should note their father (my stepfather) is a cheapskate. So now this is awkward since everyone is watching me open this huge box.
I see it's an HD TV and I am forced to hold in my excitement as I see the faces of my step-siblings. I never felt more excited/horrible/upset during a Christmas with divorced parents.
snowstorm-tc
37. Switching Gifts
My dad unexpectedly picked me up for Christmas one year and we stopped at a Walgreens to pick up a last-minute gift for my sister who came into town unannounced.
My dad gave me 10 dollars and said to pick something out for her. I chose an alarm clock as it was something I figured she could use and it was kind of cool looking.
I didn't know how to wrap gifts yet so I gave it to my stepmom so she could do it. The next morning everyone opened gifts, my brother got a watch, and my sister got a bunch of expensive clothes.
I got the alarm clock I picked out the night before and all my dad could say was "You picked it out". My sister ended up putting the sweatshirt she got in a gift bag and gave it to me after she found out what happened.
afrosk8r
38. Putting The Fun In Funnels
A few years back, we were celebrating at my in-laws and my wife's sister had been on a sewing kick. She made nice fleece blankets each with different designs.
Everyone was super happy with theirs and then it came to me. She handed me a plastic shopping bag and inside were 2 little plastic funnels.
With a big crap-eating grin, she looks at me and says, "You like cooking right?" I would have preferred nothing at all. Being forgotten is better than having to swallow that in front of family.
drunkenmonk693
39. She Needed More Research
I love puppetry and am very interested in both the physical mechanics and the performance aspects of it. When my mom found this out a few years ago, she tried to be supportive by giving me puppets.
Children's hand puppets. Not only were they not at all what I was interested in, but they also didn't fit on my hands so I couldn't have used them even if I wanted to.
noramcsparkles
40. Smiling Through Pain
For my son’s birthday one year, I baked the cake and decorated it. I hated the experience and struggled so much I was up until 4 am the night before the party finishing it. I was very vocal the whole party that I was never doing that again.
My stepmom decided the perfect Christmas gift for me that year because of the cake I made was everything needed to start my own cupcake business. Why cupcakes? Because apparently “nobody serves cakes at parties anymore”.
I absolutely hated making that 1 cake so why on earth would I want to make dozens of mini cakes!! I had so many cupcake pans carrying cases and decorating supplies. And I only used it all once when I let my kids make cupcakes and then gave it all away.
lostmyshade
41. Excuses
My mother bought me a Kindle one year. The problem was that she used my Amazon account to find one, so several months before I asked about it, she said it was for my niece. I said, "Cool, I just want you to know I have no interest in a Kindle, I read e-books on my phone or laptop".
But SHE wanted a Kindle, so after I opened the thing, she very quickly said "Oh if you don't like it, I could always use it". So I guess technically, I got nothing.
Emmyisme
42. Not Interested
I got my brother's gifts for his activities. He skateboarded, and he got a new board for Christmas, I got the wheels whatever the metal part was called, and was expected to to give them to him since I wouldn't use them.
He got a drum set, got drumsticks, and wasn't allowed to use the drums. Usually, we were meant to share, but it wasn't activities both of us were interested in, and we never received gifts for my interests.
NotTotallyHere
43. Small Gestures
Not me but my mom. When I was young, she didn't get presents. She had to buy it herself if she wanted something from her dad and my dad was just an oblivious loser who didn't get her anything (even though she gave him one).
One year I played around the old farm where there was a bunch of old junk. I found an old rusty candle holder shaped like an owl that I thought looked dope.
I didn't realize it was stuff that was thrown out because my parents didn't want it.
I gave it to my mom on Christmas. Later in my 20's I asked Mom if she thought it was cringy, but she actually found it sweet that someone in the house FINALLY thought about getting her a gift.
Nannamuss
44. Getting Unlucky
My stepdad's side would always play a dice game where there would be a bunch of presents in the middle of a table and you would roll a dice to see if you got a present.
If you rolled right you could pick one out of the middle or steal someone else's and you'd go till there weren't any more presents in the middle.
I don't remember when it started but there was a roll of toilet paper that would get wrapped up each year and reused as a present.
Most of the time, people would use a little bit of it so each year it was getting smaller and smaller, and after a while, it started getting yellowish. I got it a couple of times, unfortunately.
[deleted]
45. Such A Cheapskate
I got Honey Bunches of Oats once. On the upside, it was the first time I ever had it and it was pretty good. Another time, I got one of those really expensive Razor Scooters from a family friend.
The problem was that it was defective and wouldn't open.
So my dad took me and the scooter to Costco to get it replaced.
After my dad found out how much it cost, like $199 or something, he convinced me that he could get a better one elsewhere. Turns out that he bought a cheap $30 scooter from the Swap Meet and pocketed the rest.
GameManiac180