Mother-In-Law Stories
Worst Gift Archives
12/23/2000
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	Worst gift: Last Christmas, my fiancé's parents gave me two books about finding Jesus, a 6-video compilation about the life of Christ, a religious calendar, and a pamphlet about our life with God that we are soon to enter into.  My fiancé is religious but does not believe that I need to take on his beliefs, and we have had open communication about our expectations about religion/spiritual aspects of our life for 3 years already.  However, his parents have different expectations, and they were not subtle about what they expect from me!  They have also given me Rosary beads with a booklet of instructions for their use, a nice cross to wear, and a plate with the Our Father written on (with which they said, now you must pray this every day ...) 12/22         signed - Praying For A More Thoughtful Gift
	Worst gift: My MIL gave me a pretty nice gift one year - a crystal bowl.  My MIL does not like stuff like that anyways.  It was also a recycled gift from a friend of hers.  She had not even opened it.  She knew that the things that her friend gives her are the kinds of things I like.  The real kicker was that she had never opened the gift, and had no idea what it was.  She took tag off of the gift and put a new one on it!  The real giveaway was that there was also a personal note inside the box that said, "J., I hope you enjoy this ... Love A." 12/20         signed - Recycled One She Never Opened
	Worst gift: One year, my mother-in-law got my husband lots of clothes, and she gave me a wrapped bag of peanuts. 12/23         signed - If You Think That Was Cheap
	Worst gift: Get ready for this one --- are you sitting down???  For the 6+ years I was dating my husband, I never received a birthday present from his mother.  OK, not a problem.  Well, my first birthday after moving into our own home and getting married, I arrived home from work before my husband.  In the mail there was a thick envelope from his mother.  I opened it -- included in the birthday card (which was a shock in itself), was my gift -- shampoo, ya know the samples that you get free in the mail - flat foil pouches.  I immediately called my sister and a few friends to tell them that my husband sent me a "joke" card to make me feel better that his mom never acknowledges my birthday.  He came home, and we went back and forth for 10 minutes - "The card was funny."  "What card?"  "You know."  "No.  What?" etc. etc.  When he picked up the card he was in shock!!!!  Imagine how I felt having to call everyone back and tell them it WAS NOT a joke!  The funny thing is that she is a dirt ball and needs the shampoo more than I do!!!  So the "gift" wasn't meant to be an insult in that way.  She actually had the gall to tell my husband, " I thought she would like it!"  LOL Also - she once gave her grand daughter a dollar- store hair brush thrown in a brown paper bag for her birthday!  Maybe she is just jealous because we have long hair and she has a butch looking buzz cut!!! 12/23         signed - Thanks, But I Buy Shampoo At The Supermarket!
	Worst gift: For Christmas last year, my mil gave my husband two framed prints.  For my present, she let me open one of his. 12/21         signed - still waiting for mine
	Worst gift: My MIL gave me a pair of Homer Simpson slippers - with Homer's head as the foot, for the 1st Christmas her son and I were married.  I have never watched the Simpsons, do not care for Homer, and think they are the tackiest gift ever!! 12/21         signed - MIL Slipped On This Gift
	Worst gift: I was given a cigarette lighter (with my initials etched into the side - this was after I had very publicly given up smoking).  I also received a used electric knife that MIL got at a tag sale. But I apparently gave her something to talk about when I gave her a gift the first time I went to her home.  I had my future in-laws before that day but had never been formally invited to their home.  I wanted to make a good impression so I stopped off at a local market and had a gift basket made up.  It was your typical hostess gift (it included jams, cheeses, crackers etc.) - in other words, nothing that would be considered unusual or insulting, or so I thought.  However, when I gave it to my future MIL, she exclaimed, "What's the matter?  Didn't you think we would have enough food here?  You felt that you had to bring your own?" 12/21         signed - No More Cheesy Gifts
	Worst gift: Last year my MIL gave me a stinkin' bottle of a popular door to door sales perfume (sorry to any "sales ladies" out there).  The deal is, my son has severe allergies and cannot stand to be around anyone wearing perfume. 12/19         signed - Thinkin' Somethin's Stinkin'
	Worst gift: There have many, many gifts over the years, and they have never been cheap gifts.  My in-laws are wealthy.  What frustrates me is my Mils attitude towards gift giving and receiving.  She only appreciates expensive gifts, because she believes that the more money that is spent the more love or respect that is given.  The fact that her gifts to me of personal items like underwear, sleepwear, etc., are the wrong size, an unflattering color, or simply unwanted doesn't matter to her.  Years ago I tactfully told her that, while I appreciated the effort she was going to, I prefer to choose my own clothes.  Her response was that it was too bad, because she buys gifts because she enjoys it.  In other words, she is unlike me, who gets pleasure from giving gifts that are wanted and appreciated.  Isn't that the whole point of presents?  I have given up on the subject, and refuse to buy gifts for DHs family.  I leave it up to him, but insist that the price tag is modest, as is the case with my family.  In fact, I make a lot of my gifts to them because they appreciate the hard work and love that I have put into them.  I always ask them what they want, too.  They do the same for me. ANYWAY ... my latest, worst gift was pink poly PJs.  My DH earns a substantial income, but we lead a modest life because we are saving most our income and investing it in rental properties.  My MIL does not approve, and can not understand why I drive a $2,000 vehicle and my husband takes the train to work.  I am a full time Mum at the moment.  She talks about us being POOR!!!!!!  And wants to buy her POOR DIL clothes, cause she has so little to wear.  AAAArrrrhhhhh!  I am olive skinned and a brunette.  I look terrible in baby pink.  Most of my clothes are red, and after 14 years MIL knows that pink is not my color.  They fell apart after only one wash, thank GOD!  I wish I had biffed them immediately instead of wearing the bloody things. 12/19         signed - Pink PJs
	Worst gift: The in-laws came to our son's first birthday, which is 5 days before Christmas.  Everyone had a great time, except for my in-laws who had a sour attitude the entire time.  They acted like they were doing us a huge favor by being there.  My mil gave us our Christmas presents there to open on Christmas Day, because apparently they had other plans for Christmas.  Well, we broke down and opened them early to see if there was goodwill they had toward us reflected in the gifts they chose.  I got a recipe magazine, still in plastic, that had a "2 for the price of 1 - $4.95" sticker on the back in big bold letters.  My DH got six 1/8 ounce mini bottles of Tabasco sauce in a miniature box.  That's all we got, after putting together a nice birthday for their only grandchild with all the family.  So much for good will on their part. 12/19         signed - presents under $5.00 RESPONSE:  $5 gifts I don't receive $5.00 gifts, but my in-laws do the same thing.  They act like they are doing us a favor by coming to our children's (their grandchildren, niece/nephew) birthday parties.  My SIL says out loud, " I don't know why I have to give them gifts.  We didn't get them from our aunts/uncles growing up!!"  Also, they HATE my family and don't acknowledge them.  They run for the door as soon as cake is served.  AND, my MIL said she wouldn't come to my daughter's parties anymore because she prefers my mother.  We need to have 2 separate parties.  We still have one!!  And I wonder why she would prefer my mother. 12/21
	Worst gift: The Worst present has to be the time when I carefully thought of a creative birthday present for my BIL.  I thought it would be fun to do a certificate to the movies for two, popcorn, soda-pop, and a T-shirt  I wrapped it all up nice and neat.  We gave it to him, and, well, Christmas came, and guess what we got from them.  The very same present I gave him for his birthday.  I don't know what it is, why they have to be so nasty.  To make it worse, the BIL's wife tried to set my husband up with one of her friends seven weeks before we got married!!  The only reason I can think of for why they are so nasty is because they are JEALOUS!! 12/19         signed - Awful SIL & BIL are Jealous
	Worst gift: I think the worst gift my MIL gave me was the first year I was with my husband.  It was our first Christmas together, and she went out and bought me a BRIGHT RED cardigan sweater, and a green pant suit, which was the exact replica of what my future SIL was wearing that day - imagine my surprise!  I didn't want to hurt her feelings, but I did ask my future husband to ask her to NEVER buy my clothes again! 12/16         signed - Bopsy Twins? RESPONSE:  Bopsy Twins Hello, I don't know you or any one else around you (obviously!), so I can think of some reasons for such a gift, which are perhaps not true, but perhaps you could think about them and come up with some more of the kind.  I am not suggesting that you are wrong in feeling like this, or that your mother in law is blameless, but from a distance, one can think of possibilities which hurt and pain and sensitivity about this whole power play do not allow.  Well, here goes: what if she thought you would look good in that dress, and was trying to give you her best choice?  I mean, people do like these bright colors!  Doesn't justify her not taking note of your choice, but her intention was good, maybe.  Or, what if she wanted to show you that she felt you and her daughter to be equal in her eyes, and she wanted to treat you at par with her?  She may genuinely have felt that this was a good gift for you.  Or perhaps you expressed your appreciation of the dress and she thought she would surprise you?  What if she wanted to have two daughters to love?  What I mean is, there can be good intentions leading to all this mess, because we have different expectations of the same event, some justified, some explainable, some excusable and some plainly irrational, but all leading to a communication gap.  It has been some time since all this happened, and you have told us about it, perhaps you can now let it go and think about other possibilities, so as to get some peace?  Of course, I do understand that one or more events do not make a MIL, and it is the unsaid, the attitude, the nonverbal communication that influences your perception, and she may truly be intolerable, but for some people, what I say can also be true, don't you agree? 12/17
	Worst gift: Mil gave us (both DH and I) a (as in one) fitted sheet for our bed.  No top sheet or pillow cases (trust me, she could easily afford an entirely new bedroom set).  At least she got the color right. 12/18         signed - At Least She Got The Color Right
	Worst gift: I received a small address book with a scratched metal cover from the in-laws.  I thought it was a joke that my husband was playing on me (wrapping up a cheap, damaged, impersonal gift and telling me it was from his parents).  When he swore it was no joke, I hurled it at the wall. 12/18         signed - Cheap And No Joke
	Worst gift: My in-laws gave me a bottle of men's aftershave for the first holiday after I was married. 12/18         signed - Men's Aftershave
	Worst gift: I was once overlooked by my in-laws at Xmas  When DH confronted them, they said it was because I was not part of their family (I was engaged to be married 2 months after Xmas).  So, they quickly picked an item out of their business inventory and handed it to me.  It was a set of plastic hairbrushes.  I had taken the time to pick out personal gifts for them for the holidays, and for their birthdays earlier that year.  I thought they were rotten to not even consider putting me on their holiday gift list when they knew they would be seeing me on Christmas Eve. 12/18         signed - Plastic Wishes And Hairbrushes
	Worst gift: One year, for my birthday, my MIL gave me a tacky parrot sitting on a plastic perch.  And it would mimic anything that you said.  Never wrapped it, just put it in a paper bag.  She had to give it to my hubby, as I was in bed with a backache HA HA!  I took one look at it, looked at my husband, and said, "what the f*** is this?".  He told me it was my birthday present.  I got up out of bed, walked directly to the dumpster, and threw it in.  How stupid can some people be? 12/18         signed - Your Feathered Friend.
	Worst gift: My worst gift from my MIL was when our son was 10 months old.  I had lost all my weight from the baby, and she called and told my DH she would like to buy me some nice clothes for work and needed to know the size.  So, Christmas, when we opening the gifts, I received 2 size 13/14 pants and 2 extra large sweaters, all tags and any sign of where they were purchased gone.  By the way, I was back down to a size 7/8!  She commented I didn't look that small.  And she couldn't remember where she purchased the items.  Needless to say, I left the items with her which she were too large to wear, and never received anything from her that year.  Because it hurt her feelings that I was offended by her gifts. 12/17         signed - Didn't look that small!!!!!!
	Worst gift: My MIL gave me a several sizes too large teddy for an anniversary present.  When I mentioned to her that the outfit was the wrong size, her response was, "If you keep fooling around, it'll fit."  I donated the teddy to a thrift store ... 12/17         signed - Several Sizes Too Large Teddy
	Worst gift: My in-laws give me fine gifts (I only wish they wouldn't give me so many -- we don't have space for a lot of stuff -- but it's not that they aren't perfectly nice gifts!).  But one of my ex-boyfriends gave the worst gifts imaginable.  When we were first together, for instance, he made a big fuss of giving me a Valentine's gift that was a too small, faded school jacket he had gotten at Goodwill for a high school I hadn't gone to (and, in fact, had actually been a rival of my own high school -- not that I cared, because high school was a nightmarish time of life for me!).  His awful gifts gave new meaning to the term, "you SHOULDN'T have!"  After we broke up and became "just friends," though, he did give me some genuinely nice gifts. 12/16         signed - Faded School Jacket
	Worst gift: My MIL once gave me a wind-up jumping bunny for Christmas.  It was no big deal, except for the fact that it was the only gift she gave me that year. 12/16         signed - Jumping Bunny
	Worst gift: Last year for Christmas my mother-in-law gave me a candy bar. 12/16         signed - Halloween Mix-up? RESPONSE:  Halloween Mix-up I laughed so hard when I read about the candy bar Xmas present!!!  I just imagined a candy bar all wrapped up beautiful with expensive paper and ribbons and how horrified your face must have looked seeing a candy bar when you opened it.  LOL!  That is horrible!  I feel for you!  J 12/19 RESPONSE:  Your story brought back memories.  I was on a diet a year after the birth of my son.  I had gone from 57 kilos to 80! and was keen to regain my trim figure.  My MIL is obese and claims to be happy that way.  She went on and on about how the weight suited me and made me look more womanly.  Needless to say, she tried to sabotage my diet.  Her gift?  A giant candy bar.  "I know you are on a diet," she said, "but I just thought you might like this."  I used her image to motivate my weight loss.  I am now 59 Kilos, and it was her fat carcass that provided me with the willpower to do it. 12/20         signed - Candy Bar Diet
	Worst gift: The worst Christmas gift I ever got from my mil was a cat poster -- the type you would hang in a little girl's room -- never mind that I was in my mid-twenties at the time.  This was the only gift I got from his family that year. 12/16         signed - A Cat Poster - Whatever
	Worst gift: The worst gift I ever got from my mother-in-law was on my 21st birthday.  She bought me a pink stamp pad, a stamp with a pig on it, and a stamp with hearts on it.  Oh ... and a package of 8 plain, white 3x5 notes.  I mean, if the little stationery was nice it wouldn't have been a complete waste, but it was pathetic! That's what I received from my new (at the time) mother-in-law for my milestone birthday of turning 21 years old.  I just turned 24, and I'll never forget that gift!  I must be a special daughter-in-law, huh!!??  Needless to say, if anyone wants a pig stamp and stamp pad, I can give you one.  It has never been used, and sits in my desk drawer.  If I have kids some day, maybe I'll give it to them when they turn 4!!! 12/16         signed - Pig Stamp At 21
	Worst gift: I got a sort of informational pamphlet (40 pages or so, stapled together) on the history of her hometown.  That she had written, herself.  That was put out by a small "vanity press".  That was not even sold, but handed out for free in a town gift shop.  No wrapping paper - just stuck in a brown paper sack.  She did write "happy holidays" on the bag in ball-point pen, though.  This was after we tromped over 2 miles in a blizzard to deliver their gifts - which, by the way, we actually carefully selected, put lots of thought into, and my husband spent hours wrapping because he wanted them to look nice and make them happy.  "It's the thought that counts" took on a whole new horrible meaning for me that day. 12/16         signed - 10 Years Ago & I Still Get Crabby Remembering It!
	Worst gift: From BIL and SIL:  A box of instant soup for Christmas.  (It probably was related to the fact that he had invited his family) over our house for a week for Thanksgiving and I turned him down! 12/14         signed - Instant Soup Gift RESPONSE:  Instant Soup Gift Well, if it was onion soup I have some good recipes for you!  I once knew someone whose senile aunt sent a half eaten box of vanilla wafers, but she had an excuse.  Are they insinuating you don't like to cook?  If so, that's not unheard of.  It is funny that people can be so spiteful. 12/16

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