homemade presents and ungrateful family!!

lolly1981

we still havent seen him or spoken to him..even tho he told his dad that he didnt mean to be so harsh or make OH feel bad he still has made no effort to contact us.

and after all this fuss about the effort he made with our kids presents...the planes they were given...one is broken and the other doesnt work properly...so i feel even more down hearted that we did make an effort...we stood in the kitchen for 2 days making gingerbread men and jam for the family....they went into a shop handed over some money for things that dont work properly!
im not being materialistic just realistic, he should practice what he preaches...at least i have the satisfaction of knowing that i spent quality time with my son...preparing things for loved ones...he just went into the shop thought oh the boys might like them..he bought them exactly the same thing...so no real thought went into each child...if that makes sense.

sorry im ranting....it makes me sound as bad as he is....but it wasnt meant to sound that way...i appreciate the fact that he did buy for the kids...just not the fact that he didnt appreciate our effort

Vixie_Pixie

you have every right to rant. I would have gone mental if that was said to me.

I think your hampers sound fab! I would have been over the moon if i received something like that. It would also be a gift that i remembered forever because i know that the person has really thought about me and has put time and love into it.

i bet he would be p**sed off if the same was done to him...

i hope this hasn't put you off making your homemade gifts i think that its great that you and your family take the time to make things together to give to other ppl.

aliasojo

BabyFranny wrote: »

When I first started sewing and she was a few months old, I made her a dress from a trouser leg and elastic for straps, it took me three hours to stitch and wasn't that good, but I really wanted to make something for her.

Aw bless.

My eldest (has disabilities) used to go to a day training centre and he was given a craft kit which was the already cut out pieces of 'something' and he had to assemble it as best he could.

His particular kit was a dolphin, and he really wanted to make it for his baby sister. The finished article was actually quite good as long as you ignored the stuffing falling out the gaps between his stitching that is. He was so pleased but of course we couldn't give it to the baby otherwise she'd have choked on the stuffing. It took pride of place on her shelf though and she's 10 now. It's about to go into a black bag and get put in the loft with all the other dust collectors, whilst we decorate her room mind you.

selby

IME, if you are indeed giving thought to the recipient, you'd be better off checking in advance that they would appreciate your efforts becausee clearly they don't and save your time & energy for those that do. I say that, having received some HM preserves 2 years running from a family member and being too polite to tell them that we're not keen simply because we don't buy/eat it normally. I'm actually hoping that a muttered thanks rather than an over effusive thanks would get the message across but I fear not (too cowardly to be more direct than this though). However, they are too self centred to realise that the entire family feels the same and that we are just way too polite to say so (doesn't stop us from !!!!!ing, venting and finally, laughing about it behind their backs being the shallow & ungrateful human beings that we are). HM goods are either great (if you actually eat/like/use them) but total pants if you don't. It was extremely hard for the rest of the family to swallow the "We're on a budget" excuse when they showed off their new Leica digital camera. I can't say that they were terribly well thought out otherwise they would have known we wern't keen (BIL/SIL so bot distant family members). To put some perspective on it, it's not worth a family row over a jar of chutney is it? I can laugh now (just) but they will obviously appreciate my pickle/jam skills next year. Bitter moi?

selby

Gifts certainly don't have to be expensive - obviously I wouldn't say no to a cashmere scarf but equally, I would be happy with an inexpensive novel. It is the thought that counts but unfortunately, I hate pickles so it was my WORSE present by far. BTW, I donated it discreetly to PILs (who totally understood) so that, at least it wouldn't go to waste.