<p>hahahahahaha</p>
<p>“Is this question just for funsies or do people really do this.”</p>
<p>No, it’s not just for funsies. The OP PM’d me and told me how she has done exactly this and in her own words, “did so enjoy it.”</p>
<p>well, its for funsies now :)</p>
<p>EmilyBee: my MIL (who died about fifteen years ago) and I did not get along. She took great pleasure in giving my children extremely noisy toys and toys with a lot of tiny little pieces. I took great pleasure in “forgetting” the toys when we left Grandma’s house. What can I say? It kept us from doing anything more than that.</p>
<p>Except legos, we had every one of the gifts mentioned here at one time including the spying gadget! We had loads of beads, glitters, sand art, a bird, a frog, a butterfly… I had no idea people were telling me something :)</p>
<p>My kids had a little push toy as toddlers, looked like a lawn mower and a cartoon character when up and down as the walked and the toy went “doodle do do, doodle do do” over and over. Poor DH put that thing in the trash a dozen times and we kept taking it out. :D</p>
<p>Furby.</p>
<p>My cousin gave my daughter one for Christmas when they were the rage. (Single, never married, no kids). Ugh, the thing would just turn itself on and sing and talk. I finally took the batteries out and hid it in a closet. Thankfully, she didn’t care for it and had plenty of other toys to amuse herself with that year. I need to find it and sell it on ebay.</p>
<p>Last week we cleaned out the house before a big remodel and I found the loathsome Furby.
I could not run to the trash fast enough. What a vile beast.</p>
<p>OK…I’ll bite. I think it’s mighty offensive to buy gifts solely for the purpose of annoying the parents. If you honestly feel that way, why do you associate with these people at all. Perhaps folks have given YOUR kids annoying gifts because YOU are annoying. Did you ever think of that?</p>
<p>A few times my kids were given “loud” gifts. After awhile, I’d finally lose patience. The good thing about batteries is you can remove them. “Oh, Honey, I’m so sorry. This toy doesn’t work anymore.” Of course, that only works when they are very young and gullible. As they got older, it was “You can only play with that toy when Daddy is watching you while I’m at school.” :D</p>
<p>My 27yr old came home and got her Furby out of storage a few months ago…whatever could she be up to?</p>
<p>“Perhaps folks have given YOUR kids annoying gifts because YOU are annoying. Did you ever think of that?”</p>
<p>Some gifts are so annoying …that could be the only explanation I have come up with. Like my sister-in -law giving our D creationist “science” books when she was 7. I returned the favor with a book for her S on the dinosaurs that implied the earth MIGHT be older than 7000 years. Since then, we were both off the hook on B Day gift exchanges. It’s a win-win.</p>
<p>Am I really so terrible? I just got a PM from someone who said they used to feel sorry for me having a son in prison but, now she said the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree? Am I so awful because I give fun but messy gifts? I would never give a live animal to a child. I guess I am mean spirited when I give a high maintenance gift because I don’t like the mother. Other people seem to understand me… is there a defect in my being because I feel this way?</p>
<p>“Now somebody on CC no longer feels sorry for me.”</p>
<p>Something to feel good about.</p>
<p>If this is what you always do, then YES, I have an issue with it. Just stop giving gifts to these families. If you really can’t stand them then just stop.</p>
<p>I don’t find this amusing at all. Not one bit. In fact, I find it very offensive…to think that someone would buy my kids a gift when they couldn’t stand ME…and would choose something annoying because of that.</p>
<p>We NEVER exchanged gifts with people we were not friendly with. I’m having a great deal of trouble figuring out why you do. Unless its just to show how mean and vengeful you can be.</p>
<p>No, it happens when kids are invited to birthday parties.</p>
<p>This is a fun topic and I hope it remains fun! As a parent, I’ve dealt with a whole array of gifts I didn’t think fit my so-called “criteria”. “Fun, but messy” So what? They fit my kid’s criteria. It was up to me to remember to be a big kid and enjoy the moment. I only needed to know that my KID liked it–the gift wasn’t for me!<br>
My sister has consistently sent gifts over the years that I’ve said “Now what?” to. But sometimes she has shown she knows them better in some respects than I did at the time. It works out. With a lot of batteries.
But yeah, Sea Monkey’s…I do remember those from the back of comic books–different when you actually have them in your hands…but I’ve been a pretty good trouper along the way.</p>
<p>My mom likes to buy particularly obnoxious gifts for my sister’s kids, because my sister is a particularly obnoxious person. It’s a game my other sister and I play with her, to think of the most annoying toys to get at Christmas. Lots of nerf guns and toys that make bodily function noises. The kids love them. I don’t feel guilty. Mom thinks its a rite of passage to being a grandma to buy the obnoxious gifts parents would never buy… though she promises not to do it to me. We’ll see about that.</p>
<p>If you really are on such poor terms with the parents, why are they inviting YOU to their child’s birthday party? Your own kids are older and certainly would be choosing their own gifts.</p>
<p>If I really couldn’t stand someone so much that my only recourse was to buy an offensive gift, I would decline the party invite.</p>
<p>NOW…OTOH…if you have an ongoing gag going with someone you really enjoy, that’s another story. I have a niece who got terrific presents from me (I adore her parents) but I’m quite sure that the Barbie Doll in wedding dress with a book called “Barbies Wedding” did not score me SIL points. But then…that same SIL bought my kids amusing gifts too. Keep in mind, this was not the norm, but sometimes something just looked too funny to resist.</p>
<p>BUT this was NOT because we found the parents annoying. It was because,we knew the KID would love the tacky gift. There is a difference!</p>
<p>I didn’t take it as mean spirited, just humorous. Unless your feelings against the mother are way stronger than I took them to be??? We are being tongue in cheek here, aren’t we? We’re not talking about giving gifts that the mom is allergic too or anything like that, are we? I remember getting a snarky reply to a gift giving thread before, about not being appreciative enough. Haha, it was a few years ago, and I still remember. I’m sensitive to criticism, too. But, the person was right. I wasn’t being appreciative, so there is that . . . However, I don’t think giving messy or loud gifts to children makes you prison material. Yikes.</p>