I am in the fortunate position of having two older sisters so my parents are pretty good at knowing what teenage girls do and don't like now, so I am unlikely to receive any greatly unwanted gifts in the near future, but if you have world-renowned rubbish present buyers for godparents/aunts/uncles/parents/any other relatives, then I am here to forewarn you of some of the wonderful things you should be feeling for under your tree this year. You could also use this as a guide for what not to buy as Christmas presents this year:
1) Socks
This mainly applies to you if you are a father (which is probably only one person reading this, hi dad). I don't know why this is, but it is a well known fact that the inferior (youngest) child in the family gives dad socks for Christmas; I grew out of this painful duty about 4 years ago, but I still have the mental scars from seeing my father's disappointed face so many times.
I'm telling you now, if you are roped in to giving your male parent socks- break your piggy bank and buy him something yourself. ANYTHING. Just not anything in the rest of this list.
2) Bath Bombs
Yes, I mean bath bombs plural. The number of bath bombs my family has hoarded over the years, in all shapes, colours and sizes, is ridiculous. I know that shopping for teenage girls is hard, but I don't know why society has this idea that bath salts/bombs/oils etc. is something we love to receive by the dozen.
Sure, a relaxing rose scented bath bomb can be a nice luxury to chuck in your bath every once in a while, but I have so many that I could use one everyday for a good few months. Unless it's some sort of subtle way of telling a friend/relative that they smell, just don't do it.
3) Self Knitted Jumpers
We are not all Molly Weasley and we can't just go around giving everyone your knitted jumpers with their initial on as gifts. Unless you are the number 1 knitter in the whole world (and even then, give it a long, hard think) I highly advise against knitting jumpers for every member of the family. They won't be thankful, trust me.
4) Vouchers
Especially from immediate family, these just say "I don't really know or care about you", even if you do. The worst voucher to get someone is an iTunes voucher, I understand that it is hard to buy clothes for other people, but music? Just look at their iPod if you are unsure what music they like.
Unless they have specifically asked for this voucher, they are a big no-no.
5) Any Sort of Room Decor
Unless you know this is exactly what she wants and she has actually pointed it out to you in a shop previously, never buy your mother (or anyone else for that matter) some sort of ornament for the house. She will feel obliged to put it on display and guests will be blinded by the ugliness of the Canada Goose bust, the life model painting or the china Beagle doorstop when they visit (trust me, their visits will be far less frequent after seeing it). Plus, once they've stepped on your dead polar bear rug, they will throw up and your beautiful gift will be ruined.
Unless it is an epically hilarious joke present or you actually have a recurring visitor that you'd like to deter, don't buy a mini statue or something similar for your family, no matter how much of a bargain it is in the car boot sale down the road.
If you were reading any of the above crappy gift items and thinking "actually, Auntie Mary-Sue would love that", then unthink it and if you've actually bought any of the above things for any unfortunate family/relative, take it back now!
Also, if you're stuck for ideas for what to actually buy for your friends and family, read Lucy's post about it and get some inspiration.
M x
No comments:
Post a Comment