The Worst Gift Ever

The holidays are here and it's time to pick up those last minute gifts for your friends and family. While some gifts are sure to please the recipient, other gifts are best left on the shelves.

Gift Cards
Some people think that giving gift cards is a copout as it doesn't require much thought or effort to purchase one. I personally don't mind getting a gift card if it is something I can actually use. I love books so I always enjoy getting bookstore gift cards. I can grab a cup of coffee in the stores café while trying to decide which books and magazines to select. And my daughter always enjoys getting a gift card from her favorite store at the mall. She is 12 years old so to her it's just like getting her own personal credit card.

Gifts from Family
In recent years the worst gifts seem to be coming from my mother. While I love her and care about her a great deal, her idea of what compromises an appropriate gift leaves a lot to be desired. Maybe it's just a sign that she is getting old and perhaps a bit senile. My mom comes down to visit us for two weeks every holiday season and usually has so much stuff to bring with her that she starts shipping things to us weeks before her actual arrival. She belongs to a local food co-op and one year she shipped huge bags of almonds, pecans, walnuts and raisins to us so we could make cookies while she was down her. Apparently she didn't think we had any stores in our area that carried those ingredients. The shipping alone was more than the cost of buying those items locally.

We used to eagerly anticipate the arrival of the packages from my mother knowing that it wouldn't be much longer before she arrived in town to begin her visit. But now we open the packages with trepidation, wondering what she was thinking of when she filled up the box with items she thought we would be excited to receive. One year she decided to make homemade biscotti for everyone. At first this seemed like a well thought out gift as my husband and I are both coffee lovers and often have a cookie or biscotti along with our cup of java. However, her homemade version of our favorite treat left a lot to be desired. The biscotti was about as light as a brick of lead and would have been put to better use as a door stopper.

Gift Suggestions
Last year my mom finally admitted she was having a difficult time figuring out what to get everyone for Christmas especially for my son and daughter. The year before she got everyone gift cards but thought this was a bit too impersonal. And my 16 year old son was mortified to receive a Walmart gift card from his grandmother. I told him if he gave me the card I would give him the cash equivalent so he could go to a store he wouldn't be embarrassed to be seen in. My mom also mentioned that she never sees enough of the kids as she would like to. I suggested she could take them shopping at their favorite stores. That way they could pick out exactly what they wanted. When she got down here she told my son and daughter that she would take them out to lunch at the mall then they could each pick out an outfit from their favorite store. The kids loved the idea and my mom got to spend more time with her grandchildren.

And this year my mom called me and said she really didn't know what to get my husband and I. We were training for a long distance bike ride to help raise funds for a local charity so I suggested she could a make a donation to our fundraising campaign. She went one step further and solicited donations from her friends and coworkers. A few days later I received an email from the charity letting me know they had received my moms generous donation.

Enjoy the Holiday Season
We have all been the recipient of a bad gift at one time or another. Make the best of the situation and try to see the humor in it. After all, the holidays should be an occasion to enjoy spending time with your friends and family, not worrying if you have purchased the appropriate gift for everyone.