While Christmas is meant to celebrate the spirit of giving, there's nothing wrong with being excited by the prospect of all the things you're going to get.
After all, it isn't just wide-eyed children who can't wait to unwrap those presents lying under the tree or nestled in the toe of their stockings.
Of course, sometimes what lies beneath the wrapping paper doesn't always fill our hearts with glee.
Worse yet, even if it is indeed something we will never wear or use, we sometimes have to put on a good face, as the person who gave it to us might be sitting right next to us.
Resulting in our desperately searching for words to show our appreciation... as we contemplate what we'll exchange it for on December 26th.
A recent Redditor was curious to hear about the presents friends or relatives literally "shouldn't have" gotten, leading them to ask:
"What’s the worst Christmas gift you’ve received that you had to pretend to like?"
It's The Thought That Counts... Or Is It?
"A set of miniature butter knives with ceramic fruit and vegetables as the handles."
"From an aunt who said that I was 'So hard to shop for'."
"I was 7."- wewimev411
At Least It Made For A Good Story
"My wife’s grandmother, who has now passed was a wonderful person who had very little money but a heart of gold."
"However, as in life, her mind wasn’t all there the last few years of her life."
"My family and hers have always gotten together for the holidays and we all enjoy exchanging gifts with one another."
"During our Last Christmas with her she gifted me, then 36 M[ale], a pair of, used, toddler sized Lighting McQueen underwear that had come through her church thrift store because she knew that I love the movie 'Cars'."
"This was probably one of the most awkward, memorable moments for opening a present on Christmas Day."
"My wife’s mother still apologizes to me yearly for not checking in on what her grandmother had bought for us that year."
"It’s a great memory to all of us still together at this time."- Thndrdrag
Cheap At Half The Price...
"My brother, who at the time was 30 and had a good decent job, pulled me out of the hat for our family Kris Kringle."
"The spend was supposed to be €40."
"He turned up with a Wii accessory kit, a GameStop branded one."
"I took it with good grace, even though I didn't actually have a Wii."
"I did have an Xbox 360 though, so I figured I'd bring it back to GameStop and swap it for something."
"So when the guy at the counter scanned it, he said it was actually a free gift that they were giving away with new Wii consoles the PREVIOUS Christmas."
"Miserable b*stard."
"The following Christmas he had me again and turned up with nothing, said he'd forgotten the voucher he had bought me for GameStop, didn't even get that one."- Arkslippy
Misleading Packaging
"When I was three I opened a gift from my grandma and it was one of the big cylinders of Quaker Oats."
"I f*cking loved it."
"But then my grandma, chuckling, told me I should look inside the container."
"Inside was a pair of pajamas."
"I started crying because it wasn’t oatmeal."
"After the initial shock, those pajamas were my favorite pajamas for the next year, so it was a good gift but not at first."- origami_alligator
A Date That Will Live In Infamy...
"A Lamborghini calendar."
"My brother got a guitar and amp."
"My two sisters got a bike each."
"I hate Lamborghinis now."- xixac22666
Not Exactly How Re-Gifting Works...
"Getting a shirt from my sister-in-law that was too big, The same shirt my parents gifted to my husband when they came back from a trip to Europe, said shirt we mysteriously weren't able to find in our closet when my husband wanted to wear it for Halloween."
"In honestly would have been perfectly fine with just a card or nothing at all, I'm not materialistic."- Fine-Mushroom3834
Animated GIFGiphyHow Do You Really Feel?...
"When I was in grade school I like to wear my fingernails long, but my mom hated it."
"Every single year for Christmas she would give me nail clippers."
"And every single year my sister would give me a diary because the first year they did it I was stupid enough to use it but then my whole family turned out to be reading it."
"So every year after that I opened my new diary and thanked her but never touched it again."- According-Type-9664
Hidden Meaning?
{A How-to-Make-Balloon animals kit while my wife got $100 Amazon card."- JoeSchmoe314159
By Not Splurging On Christmas Presents?
"Eons ago I worked for a company owned by the richest man in Minnesota."
"One year, all of us peons, and there were a couple thousand of us, got a copy of his book."
"It was all about how he became the richest man in Minnesota."
"Cheap bastard."- yolohat266
Plotting The Simpsons GIFGiphyWhen opening these most unwanted presents, we usually find ourselves at a loss for words.
The best thing to do in situations like this, is simply tell the truth, by saying:
"I really don't know what to say!"
@PreetBharara/X
@RepBrendanBoyle/X
@twesq/Bluesky
@christopherharris/Bluesky
@evangelinewarren/X
@FrankC164/X
AMC