Ten Things You Should Not Give as Christmas Gifts

I recently wrote about my traumatic discovery about Santa Claus, or the lack thereof in the article Will Lack of Funds Cause You to Tell Your Children the Truth About Santa Claus? Unfortunately, that was not my only bad memory of Christmas. Another bad memory involves a family member that routinely gave awful holiday gifts. I still don't know whether she meant well or not, as she purchased her favorites in my family expensive gifts every year, but for everyone else, they would prefer she hadn't bothered. Based on these horrible Christmas gifts, I present my list of things you should not give as Christmas gifts.

Do not give cheap perfume as a Christmas gift. Perfume should not give you a headache. Perfume purchased on sale is one thing, but cheap perfume rarely has a pleasant scent. If you are going to spend $5.00 on a gift, buy them a box of chocolates.

Do not give used lipstick as a Christmas gift. Just because you have a drawer full of lipsticks that looked bad on you after you got it home, does not mean that you should use them as backup Christmas gifts. A gift of lipstick is only appreciated if you know for sure what color the other person wears, and the tube has never been applied to anyone's lips.

Do not give tarnished jewelry as a Christmas gift. Tarnish on jewelry tells the recipient that it is something old you didn't want any more and that you didn't care enough to even try to disguise the fact. You might as well give them a lump of coal.

Do not give your old purse or wallet as a Christmas gift. It might be unbelievable that someone might give out such a gift for Christmas. But it happened. While someone your know might be happy to take your old purse or wallet when you buy a new one, presenting it as a Christmas gift is just downright tacky and in bad taste. Don't do it.

Do not give ugly clothing that cannot be returned as a Christmas gift. It is probably best to just not purchase clothing for someone unless you already routinely buy their clothes and know their tastes as well as your own. You never know what someone might consider as ugly. Even better, if you are going to give someone clothing, purchase it from somewhere with a good return or exchange policy. Of course this means that you should actually buy the clothing new, and not just grab something out of your own closet.

Do not give cleaning supplies as a Christmas gift. Giving someone cleaning supplies for Christmas is the same as telling them that they keep a dirty house. This is not a good idea.

Do not give weight loss supplies as a Christmas gift. Buying weight loss supplies without an express request from the recipient is the same as calling them fat. Only an insensitive person with poor manners would do such a thing.

Do not give socks or underwear as a Christmas gift. I realize a lot of people still purchase socks and underwear for people for Christmas. If this is you and you are reading this right now, stop. Think of something more original this year, like a nice pair of gloves.

Do not give recipe books for someone who considers themselves a good cook as a Christmas gift. This is the dumbest gift ever. Either you don't know or don't care to know the person at all by thinking they need a cookbook, or you don't care whether or not your hurt their feelings.

Do not give coffee to people who don't drink it as a Christmas gift. A bag of coffee beans and flavored creamer is actually a great gift, but only if the person drinks coffee. No, they don't need to keep coffee in their homes just because you like it. The gift is for them.