<p>When D was 7 or 8 and she got a jewelry making kit with 1,000 beads. That ended up all over the floor and carpet. I remember thinking, does the mom not like me? :)</p>
<p>Why the need to get so many gifts for young kids, and why with so many moms that are unpleasant? I agree with those who say its better to not buy a gift at all than to be passive aggressive. </p>
<p>When our kids were young, we all had a “no noise toys” rule. There were gifts that were fun, or seemed to be, but ended up making a big mess (spin art, pottery wheel with clay, ice cream or slushee maker, etc) so if you want to get a fun toy that will make a mess, they are a few winners.</p>
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<p>Are you friends with fauxmaven? </p>
<p>Just kidding. :o</p>
<p>^^^^</p>
<p>I think this thread is meant to be in fun. Most of us give gifts with only one intention which is to please the recipient.</p>
<p>^^^^^Yes, I know. I was just joking that maybe the OP knew Consolation, and well…maybe not that funny.</p>
<p>
What most of us probably really do is buy a nice gift but imagine giving the annoying one. We share our less-evolved inner thoughts here, anonymously.</p>
<p>if the mom hates to cook, how about a Cookbook for Kids?</p>
<p>anything involving Sponge Bob would be annoying to me.</p>
<p>Nrdsb4 - we cross posted. My comment was for the post before yours.</p>
<p>What about matching mother/daughter or mother/son leggings?</p>
<p>sorry…I could not resist.</p>
<p>Beads. 1000’s of beads. Or a dozen tubes of glitter. I might give these things to a kid even if I loved the mom, because they’re fun. But man, that is one of the worst sounds to hear, the spilling of beads on the floor. Or stairs . . . Ah, memories. I think I’m gonna tear up . . . </p>
<p>Hmmm. My in-laws are the ones that gave my daughters those 1000’s of beads. But honestly, I don’t think they did it because they hated me. I’m pretty sure they don’t hate me.</p>
<p>Hate to admit that I’m the one who bought the dozen tubes of glitter myself because I thought it was fun. And tons of legos and kinex and yeah, beads too. Painting and paper mache… We had more craft projects going in my house than any mom should admit to. Cookies were fun to bake too. Good thing we had tile floor…I even had drums…
Only thing I HATED was stuff that needed batteries.</p>
<p>I am having a great laugh here!! Lots of ideas I never thought of! I would NEVER give live animals! Those of you who don’t understand my humor probably don’t live in NJ! High percentage of annoying moms. I always want the gift to be fun for the child, but more of a high maintenance type of gift. Seriously, I have given out some ant farms, Lego sets and my favorite SAND ART. The bead stuff and the glitter are great ideas!</p>
<p>There is one thing my D got one time that I could have done without…Sea Monkeys
I just knew that wasn’t going to end well…</p>
<p>This:</p>
<p>[Amazon.com:</a> Spy Gear Spy Video TRAKR: Toys & Games](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Spy-Gear-Video-TRAKR/dp/B003AZZSQ8/ref=sr_1_30?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1380742146&sr=1-30]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Spy-Gear-Video-TRAKR/dp/B003AZZSQ8/ref=sr_1_30?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1380742146&sr=1-30)</p>
<p>Strategically positioned under the parents’ bed, it can give the kiddo a ton of insight into what adult life is like. :D</p>
<p>Just kidding. :)</p>
<p>A fun gift that does take mom’s time too but neat for both–easy origami book and cool papers. I did origami with my cub scouts and it was a so much fun!</p>
<p>dbm103 – haha, yes, I’m still finding beads. My youngest doesn’t play with beads anymore, hasn’t for awhile. And we moved across the country. But the stray bead still shows up, along with the stray odd lego piece. I have to admit, I love legos. When my boys were young, I think I played with them more than they did.</p>
<p>Bunsen–on a lark one time I bought a “Spy Ear” from the toy department just to see what it would pick up or amplify sound wise. Never gave it to anyone–just curious. Pretty scary–you could hear EVERYTHING from just about ANYWHERE. I still have it hidden somewhere…didn’t want anyone to get hold of it…</p>
<p>Gouf, i actually had Sea Monkeys when I was a child! You could order them from the back of comic books. If you looked at them with a magnifying glass they were amazing little creatures. Origami on the other hand, I loathed. My children loved it and were quite good at it. I used to get so frustrated with all those tedious instructions, I would angrily crumple up my figure and toss it on the floor. My children would just shake their heads. I know, poor example.</p>
<p>H and I declared war one Christmas by giving our friends’ kids a dog-shaped stepstool that barked and played an annoying jingle every time the kid stepped on it … they just took the batteries out.
I freakin’ HATE anything having to do with arts and crafts, so any parent who gave my kids anything of that nature went on my list.</p>
<p>Great suggestions. I now changed my mind. The perfect gift…a hamster rolled in glitter (sans cage)</p>