<p>Don’t forget about the 1000+ bead/jewelry making kit for girls. Have to admit I did this once for my sister’s daughters after my sister gave my kids a huge sand art kit one year. Yeah, I was vacuuming up sand for weeks. As cptohthehouse said, it may have been childish but it felt so good :D</p>
<p>Who do you think the mom will take it out on when the she’s got sand in everything or hears the siren go off for the 900th time? Maybe not such a clever idea, eh?</p>
<p>Anything that provides for the manufacture of stink bombs.</p>
<p>Oh, yes. The whole pet thing would be really annoying and just plain horrible</p>
<p>The hamster with the cage, food, cedar chips and the whole habit trail set up.</p>
<p>Or a fish tank…yikes…</p>
<p>My BIL gave my kids a duck piano. 7 duck heads complete with beaks that opened when you hit the keys and quacked the loudest, shrillest, most annoying quacks ever.</p>
<p>Of course they LOVED that darn piano…hahahaha</p>
<p>Any art kit with glitter. I am STILL cleaning out of my rugs after 20 years.</p>
<p>Please don’t gift or joke about gifting animals. Easter bunnies or other animals given as gifts frequently end up in a shelter or die horrible neglected deaths. Adults are needed to care for an animal. Any animal. I’m sorry but I don’t see the humor in this thread.</p>
<p>Legos. Those things HURT when you step on the pieces in the middle of the night.</p>
<p>Completely antithesis to the whole idea of gift giving isn’t it?
Why do something that rather than elevating another soul by sharing something sweet & fun, you contribute to pulling another down (& yourself along with it)?
If you cant say ( or do) something nice, then don’t do anything at all.</p>
<p>A recorder? A drum set? always good to encourage a young potential musician.</p>
<p>Is this question just for funsies or do people really do this? My husband has always promised our kids that the grandchildren will get drum sets, ponies, or something similarly challenging. And he * loves* our kids.</p>
<p>I used to get other people’s children crafty art kits because I thought the kids would enjoy them as much as mine did. Something new to worry about - maybe their moms thought I had a hidden agenda.</p>
<p>I answer only in jest…of course it is a horrible thing to actually do on purpose. </p>
<p>And no, I would never actually give an animal to anyone. Ever.</p>
<p>It is a silly thread…at least to me.</p>
<p>Frazzled, we were always big on art projects here, so more art supplies for our daughter would have been a very welcome gift (including sand art because that is something I can remember having wanted to try as a kid, but I’ve heard before it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea – hm, don’t think I ever gave that as a gift…).</p>
<p>My mother in law gave my D a barbie kitchen set. You ever try & keep track of tiny little forks?
I dont mind craft sets, I think they are fun.
We have even made [oobleck.[/url</a>]
I wish I had thought of this.
[url=<a href=“http://www.ehow.com/how_5579199_make-dinosaur-dig-plaster-paris.html]How”>http://www.ehow.com/how_5579199_make-dinosaur-dig-plaster-paris.html]How</a> to Make Your Own Dinosaur Dig With Plaster of Paris | eHow](<a href=“http://chemistry.about.com/od/chemistryhowtoguide/ht/oobleck.htm]oobleck.[/url”>Easy Oobleck Recipe: Make Non-Newtonian Slime)</p>
<p>When my kids were little, we attended the birthday party of our church organist’s child (H was the pastor). We gave the child a little toy accordian - it really worked and was pretty cool, I thought. When the child opened it up, the dad/organist joked that we must really hate him! Didn’t mean it that way, though!</p>
<p>S only ever received two gifts that annoyed me: some kind of Power Ranger figure (they were verboten as far as I was concerned, but the givers didn’t know that), and a Gambeboy. The latter was given by a friend against my directly expressed wishes.</p>
<p>The gifts we gave were generally what our kids loved at similar ages and we thought their kiddo would love. Never considered feelings towards parents much. That said, we have given few gifts that make noise, because loud sounds make H crazed. We have given lots of Lego because our kids have long loved it. Lego does have tons of tiny plastic pieces.</p>
<p>Chemistry sets, magic sets, hot wheels tracks, remote control helicopters…I had to declare a moratorium on RC helicopters because they are expensive and easy to break. You are not supposed to use them outside, but who wants them flying around the house?</p>
<p>I have to admit I was very miffed when a parent gave my then 7th grade son a “first person shooter” game for his xbox. I am sure no ill will was intended, as most of his classmates had them. We had always limited the games to sports oriented ones and we then had to make the attempt to wrestle it away from him. We weren’t 100% successful and he now is permitted to play it one week-end night a week.</p>
<p>jeannemar, we loved the magic sets in our house. Always had a ton of fun with them as the children would put on magic shows for H and me. They got such satisfaction out of thinking they were fooling us. Some of the tricks were surprisingly good.</p>
<p>Barbie & Ken dolls. I loathe them. I would never, ever have bought my D one. For her 4th birthday, she got 3 of them.</p>
<p>I suspect my sister has done something similar by giving her granddaughter every “Disney princess” product imaginable, especially the costumes. I don’t think her mom liked all the girly stuff.</p>
<p>Of course, there would be some moms who would be thrilled, but if the mom is a feminist a Barbie cheerleader doll would be perfect.</p>
<p>Oh and a “Super Soaker” for a kid who lives in an apartment building in a city is also an excellent gift!</p>