This article was originally published on WHerMoments
“What is the most ungrateful way someone reacted when opening up a Christmas gift?” That was the question posed by Quora — and the answers are sure to bring out the Grinch in anybody who reads them. Most people realize, after all, that Christmas is not about gifts; it’s about spending time with and being thankful for the family and friends you hold dear. But these people seemingly didn’t get the message.
Please note, answers have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Monster-in-law
“My very first Christmas with my new mother-in-law, I got her a big fluffy robe and a large basket full of Bath and Body Works products. She said nothing upon opening it, but a few hours later asked for the receipts.The following Christmas my husband and I had our first child, and we went to a professional photographer to get a family portrait taken.
I framed an 8 x 10 for her. Upon opening it she handed it back to me and asked, ‘Why would I want this?’Haven’t spent a dime on her since.” — Meredith Guglielmo
All white not all right
“My husband’s sister married well and is very wealthy. My husband and I barely get by.She invited us to her huge house for Christmas one year. I broke the bank and bought her a beautiful white satin pyjama set from Victoria’s Secret. Top and bottom, loose and light for those muggy FL days. She is a redhead, so I thought white would look really beautiful on her.She opened the box, scoffed, and said, ‘White? For someone with a toddler?
I’ll never wear that!’ and literally tossed it aside and went on to her next gift. No thank you. No acknowledgment of any kind.Side note: she had a live-in nanny, so it’s not like she was the one with the toddler all day.I don’t buy her presents anymore.” — Tracie Costabile
Sock it to Grandma
“My 6-year-old son, after opening a pack of new socks from his grandmother, stood up and declared, ‘This is the worst present anybody has ever gotten.’ He then held the socks out at arm’s length and mic-dropped the socks to the floor. Without further comment he strolled out of the room, leaving all of us speechless.
His mother and I should have been embarrassed and apologized to grandma for his insensitive and ungrateful behavior but his audacity in defying social norms was so stunning we just burst out laughing, as did grandma, who admitted that it was a dumb gift to buy a young boy.” — Larry Burton
The brand way or the highway
“My ex-sister-in-law and her family were very much into name-brand items. When her kids were infants, everything they wore was Nike, Disney, or Gap. Everything. One Christmas, my ex-mother-in-law made a really cute dress for my ex-sister-in-law’s daughter. The little girl opened the gift with my ex-mother-in-law all smiles watching. The little girl looked at it, looked at the dress, and stated in disgust, ‘This is not Disney’ and tossed it over her shoulder. My ex-mother-in-law was heartbroken and cried.
Now I know the girl was young and assuming didn’t know any better, but this was something instilled into her by her parents that anything other than those brands was crap. I felt bad for my ex-mother-in-law.” — Nadia Thanua
Secret Santa stitch-up
“At work, people always do ‘Secret Santa...’ The name I drew out of the hat was for [a] woman at work whom I didn’t like... This woman was a bit of a drinker. The spending limit was only £5, so I couldn't really buy her much alcohol, but on the internet, I found these things called Vodkalix. They are vodka lollies with real-life edible insects inside... I had spent ages trying to get her something unique, but that she would like, and they were perfect.She received her present, took the wrapping off, saw the shape without looking at it properly, saw it was a lolly and said to the whole room: ‘Well, someone doesn’t like me, they have just bought me some lollies.’ She then chucked them on the table.I was genuinely heartbroken...
I had taken ages deciding on something I thought she would get a kick out of, and she had humiliated me. I left the room and went back to my office... This woman has basically gone around telling everyone someone had gone to the sweetshop and spent 50p on kids’ sweets for her.Later on, after she opened them properly, she tried to backtrack and pretend she had been joking. But she hadn’t. She was rude and ungrateful and had humiliated me.” — Toledo Robson
Keep on truckin’
“My husband had been wanting a touchscreen double DIN radio for his truck... I thought it would be nice to get him the stereo that he wanted [for Christmas]. Upon opening it, he starts complaining that it’s not the brand he wanted, it doesn’t have the stuff on it that he wants, that it won’t fit the truck, etc. We ended up in a big argument for him being completely ungrateful... He complained for six months at least about that stereo.
I turned it in and got a different one, [and] he complained about that one too. Eventually, he actually put it in his truck and actually likes it... but he still complains.” — Jamie P.
The mom who has everything
“There’s no winning with my mom. EVERY YEAR. My dad bought her flowers one year, and she was so [angry] that he only bought her ‘cheap flowers’ that she didn’t talk to him the rest of the day. He’s never bought her flowers since. Before I had a job (early high school), I would save up some of my ‘lunch money’ to buy her a gift. $20-$25 jewelry from Walmart, since Walmart was the only store within walking distance.
My mom would open it, thank me, set it down, and never touch it again. This happened about 3 years in a row. The fourth year, I decided not to get her anything besides a card, since cards are the only thing she seemed to like and cherish.” — Anabelle Varina
A gift too far
“2 years ago, my mother and I started buying Christmas gifts... for my nephew’s two sons...The [day after Christmas] is when I found out what really happened [with the presents]... My niece went over to their place to give her gifts. She said the boys ripped through the presents and every one they threw aside with comments like ‘That’s not what I wanted!’ Or ‘That’s for babies!’ They threw the gift against the wall and basically threw a tantrum.
My nephew was so embarrassed that he deleted the video, bagged up everything that wasn’t broken, and took it to a donation center the next day. He wasn’t going to allow the boys to have anything that we gave them after they acted that way. He didn’t have the heart to tell us this.” — Katrinna Pint
Cash and presents
“About four years ago, my daughter was 15-16 and she refused to tell me what she wanted for Christmas... So I asked her, did she just want money and she could go shopping after Christmas with all the sales? And she was happy with that. Or so I thought.... She comes over to my house and I gave her a card with a substantial amount of cash. And she got mad!
She wanted the money AND presents to open… But she never said she wanted that. I was supposed to read her little teen mind. Anyway, from there our relationship just went to hell. Four years later, she rarely speaks to me.” — Pam Armstrong
The sweet smell of (not) success
“Years ago, one of my coworkers had a serious crush on another one. For Christmas, she bought him a bottle of cologne that he always bragged about wearing. She was so excited to give it to him. He opened it and said, ‘Why would you buy this size when you can get the bigger one for twenty dollars more?’ And then told her he was going to return it to the department store to get the bigger one.
She was brokenhearted. Her feelings for him at least went away, and he wasn’t interested in women to begin with. He was just leading her on because she was spending money on him.” — Mykl Wike
The gloves are off
“Our son brought home his new girlfriend at Christmas. They had been together for over six months, but we hadn’t met her. Our son said it was serious. In addition to buying her (and her son) a number of gifts, I knit her a cute, lacy beanie and some fingerless gloves from beautiful blue wool. We were having a white and cold Christmas and I thought she would enjoy them, as she lived in a warmer region. I valued the time, effort, and care I put into those much more highly than the store-bought gifts, and I hoped she would, too.
Not only did she not thank me, she never even tried them on during their visit, and I never saw a photo of her wearing them — even though she posted just about everything else on Facebook. That really hurt, as well as making me angry that my effort and intention went so unappreciated.” — Vicky Green
Ninten-no
“My ex-husband and I were married in 1982. That was during the period of time that Nintendo came out with a gaming console. My husband worked evenings and nights and often complained of missing his TV shows. I took that into consideration when Christmas shopping for him. However, after I had shopped and purchased his gift, he informed me that he wanted a Nintendo. I told him I couldn’t afford one. He kept telling me that’s what he wanted. When Christmas was approaching, I wrapped his gift and put it under the tree. He’d pick it up and say, ‘I know this is my Nintendo.’ I kept telling him it wasn’t and to please not get his hopes up because I couldn’t afford the Nintendo. He’d just laugh.Christmas morning was spent with his parents.
He grabbed that big package that I’d gotten for him and started yelling that he had a Nintendo. I kept telling him it wasn’t. He opened the box to find the portable transistor radio/television combo that I’d spent all my money on. He threw it across the room and stormed out. My in-laws were furious. I cried.” — Lillie Tidwell
What a doll!
“It was me. I was a tomboy.On Christmas morning, I opened a gift from my grandparents. It was a doll. I said, ‘Thank you for the doll’ and put it aside.My grandmother says, ‘That’s not JUST a doll. It’s a Cabbage Patch Kid.’And I look at the doll, and at my grandmother, and say again, ‘Thank you for the doll.’Turns out, that was the ‘must-have’ toy that year.
And my grandmother had waited in line for hours for this doll. Only to get back on the end of the line to get another one for my cousin...Keep in mind, I was three years old.” — Laura Six-Pattay
A puzzling reaction
“I was the ungrateful 7-year-old. The gift was a jigsaw puzzle that had a picture of Princess Ann as a small baby in a crib at her Christening. I shook the box to guess what was inside and when I heard those pieces rattling I just said, ‘Oh no, not another flippin’ jigsaw.’ The room fell silent and then I was told off for being so ungrateful.
It was a beautiful picture, but I just happened to hate jigsaw puzzles and still hate them now that I am in my 70s. I was always very careful in how I accepted gifts from that day as it was so embarrassing for my parents.” — Maggie-Ph
A letter year
“My daughter was born two weeks before Christmas. So it was a tight year...We got my stepdaughters letter necklaces because they happened to be on sale at Walmart.Well, Christmas Eve comes and we give out the gifts. My oldest stepdaughter loved the necklace.
My youngest stepdaughter, who didn’t want to be there but had been forced by her mother, frowned at it and said, ‘Well, that’s a cheap piece of [junk]’ and threw it out the window...I was hurt. We could barely afford Christmas and tried our best but it wasn’t good enough. I got up, went to my daughter’s nursery, and cried while I held her.” — Sami Darby
Goth girl
“Several years ago, my aunt decided to spoil her great nieces. She only had grandsons at that time. The girls were all in their teens. She got each one a Coach purse and picked them out to match their personalities. Christmas comes and she was like a little kid she was so excited. She handed out the gifts, and three out the four were thrilled and thanked her.
The fourth girl opened it, threw it on the floor, and started throwing a tantrum because between Thanksgiving and Christmas she became goth and didn’t believe in name brands. My aunt left the room crying.” — Amanda Harris
The good nurse
“One year, many moons ago, I was a brand new nurse. I had been working at a major hospital in Pennsylvania when Christmas rolled around.I was so excited. This hospital had a huge Christmas party for all the staff every year plus a smaller one for our unit. I had really worked hard for others all year and I was so excited about what my Secret Santa gift was going to be...I was so excited, just like a small child. [The presents] were passed out, followed by opening, one at a time. Until they weren’t anymore.
The spot in front of me, where I should have had a well-thought-out present, was empty. Not even a gag gift.No one ever owned up to it, but that was the last time I ever expected anything at Christmas. I pretended I didn’t care, but it hurt. It still does, many years later.” — Candice Lombard
With friends like these...
“She is a friend I met in high school, and we were still friends, years later.My husband and I... would give them Christmas gifts each year. It was always something they enjoyed and used, catering to their hobbies and lifestyle. They never gave us gifts, but they didn’t have the budget for it, and we ended up just hanging out with them for a little while, and that was enough.One year, we tried three times to get together with them to give them their Christmas gifts.Finally, I got a message from them.
‘We don’t want to hang out. Just leave the gifts on our porch. We’ll get it later.’OK, message received, loud and clear. No more cards and gifts for them. No more trying to hang out with them unless they initiate it.” — Melanie Cummings
Melancholy Christmas
“One Christmas, when I was about 7–8 years old, I’d bought my mother what I thought was a beautiful billfold. My grandma had taken me shopping and I’d picked it out. It was pink plastic with colorful flowers engraved/embossed on the front of it. I was really proud of it and thought I’d made a great selection. On Christmas morning, my mom was in a bad mood for I don’t know what reason. She didn’t seem enthusiastic about any of her gifts.
When she opened the billfold I’d gotten for her, she looked at it as though it was something distasteful that I’d bought as a deliberately bad joke, and tossed it aside, saying she didn’t like it or didn’t want it, something like that. I was really hurt. I don’t think she ever used the billfold and never apologized to me for her reaction to it.” — Penny
Tired gifts
“In 2008 we got our kids bikes for Christmas. We got my daughter a Disney princess bike, and my son a Hot Wheels bike. I had my phone ready and recording hoping to capture their excitement. My husband rolled the bikes in.
My daughter frowns and says, ‘I wanted a Dora one.’ Well, that’s the end of that video.” — Diana Pemberton
Bad sisters
“Ugh… I have a sister-in-law who is awful. Around Christmas time she SENDS me a list of what she would like. Things like diamond earrings, a coat, a CD she might like, etc… The first few years I bought her something small off of her list. She always opens it, sighs, and moves on to something else.
NEVER ONCE HAS SHE SAID THANK YOU or has she even glanced over at me to acknowledge that she just opened it and it was from me. Anyway, I stopped buying her gifts. She still sends a list.” — MaryEllen Kay
A Christmas giveaway
“We were at my father-in-law’s house. He would spend a little more on our kids because we live a few hours away, and he sees the other grandkids often. He bought them art supplies and coloring books (other stuff too). They looked so disappointed.
My sister-in-law’s son said, ‘I’m giving this stuff away.’ His mom was upset with his behavior. I was shocked.” — Diana Pemberton
Certifiable
“My dad, no matter what we would get him, would unwrap it, grunt a ‘how nice’ or something similar, and throw the gift aside. He just didn’t care.After a while, family members stopped trying to please him.
They’d give him gift certificates.After he died in 2009 and I started clearing up his things in the condo, I went into the desk that was in his bedroom, and in one of the drawers I found gift certificates, most of them in the original envelopes with cards from the givers.” — Karin Cozzolino
Money matters
“I hate to say it, but my mom is one of the most ungrateful people when it comes to gifts and money given to her. No matter what we give, she’s rarely ever happy... I bought her a $300 handbag but never told her how much it was. It’s just sitting in her closet.
However, she got a Coach bag from one of her stepdaughters, and she does carry that Coach bag. She said her friends told her how much that bag is, and you get the story…” — anonymous
Credit, please
“I... caught on that the mother would make the rounds to various stores to [return the gifts to] get the $, store credit or exchange. This was prior to... all stores requiring receipts after Christmas.
So, an item like a Trivial Pursuit game might have been carried by a number of stores — a return game of chance.No more gift giving to that family.” — Lisa Brown
A sheet too far
“It would be me.Christmas 1980. My older sister always made a point of telling us what she wanted for Christmas. That year, she told me she wanted sheets for her waterbed. They were expensive… $60 was a lot of money back then. But I bought a set for her.
What did she get me? A Chia Pet. That cost her about $10. I took the sheets back (I still had the receipt), and gave her the Chia pet.” — Cathy Buchanan
Short and round
“My 5' 2”, 160 pounds mother-in-law lived with us. She had me drive her to a bunch of stores to buy Christmas presents for the family, as well as her hairdresser’s, nail salon, etc. She had been wearing my mom’s and my clothes and had only one white sweatshirt-type sweater. I decided to get her two dressier sweaters. After opening them on Christmas, she seemed pleased with them until she read the tags.
When she asked what PL means, I told her petite large, and of course, they could be exchanged. ‘So,’ she demanded, ‘you think I’m short and fat?!’ I was mortified... She wore the same size as me. What did she give me for Christmas? Nothing.” — Dottie Hutchinson
Music is the food of love
“I designed my own cards using some photos I’d taken. These probably cost me more than store-bought but I thought my relatives would like getting something I’d done and selected just for them.My gift, since all my relatives at that point were adults, was a cassette tape. I and my (ex-)wife recorded Christmas music we knew they all liked. By recorded, I mean we played it (me on guitar, she on keys) and did our own arrangements... I thought they’d love it.Wrong. Very Wrong. Dead Wrong... Christmas afternoon, I get a call from my mom. She starts with ‘If you guys didn’t have money to buy cards [or gifts], you should have asked...
None of us have any idea of what those tapes are all about or why you sent them... Unless you’re trying to tell us something, in which case we wish you’d just be honest, tell us what we did to upset you and why you didn’t send gifts.’NEVER AGAIN!” — Philip Klossner
Christmas is for kids
“I’m afraid I was the ungrateful recipient of a Christmas gift.I was around six years old, maybe just about to turn six. We were living overseas, and another ex-pat family lived nearby... ‘Auntie’ didn’t really know anything about me then, but she generously gave me a doll as a gift.
I know my disappointment must have shown clearly on my face, and my mom took the opportunity to teach me the lesson about graciously receiving gifts and made me thank Auntie. I had to do it a couple of times before I was able to thank her without the eye-roll of a disappointed brat.” — Denise Breard
Takes the cherry
“My mother-in-law... loved a certain brand of chocolate-covered cherries. I’d buy them for her every Christmas. She’d open them immediately and pop one in her mouth and gush about how she loved them and I’m the only one who knew she liked them so much...
[Last year,] I got a phone call after [Christmas] where she told me that I shouldn’t have sent her those cherries and I should have baked her homemade cookies instead. Grrrrr.So, this year I baked cookies... I have no idea if she’ll like them or not, but it is what it is.” — Donna Currie