Rude reactions to gifts

[missmolly]

I have two stories, one was handled well by the parent, the other...

One was not actually at Christmas time, but at Greg's 7th birthday. I remember him opening one present and it was obvious that he was less than thrilled with it. He didn't throw a tantrum or say anything, he just went really quiet and didn't say anything. His mother Ally immediately swooped down, took him aside and when she had finished speaking to him, he went and made a very gracious, if a little belated thank you to the giver.

The other was at last Christmas. Keira has a five year old daughter, Kim, who is obsessed with Angelina Ballerina. Aunt Lily thought that because of this, Kim might like to see more ballet, and bought her a DVD of a Nutcracker performance. Good gift, you would think. Not so Kim. When she opened it she exclaimed loudly: "This looks BORING!" Keira said absolutely nothing. Lily, taken quite aback, explained to Kim her reasoning behind the present. Kim promptly told her: "You should've gotten me Angelina stuff then". Keira chuckled a little at this . Kim will not be getting anything from Lily this year, so it will be interesting to see how things play out on Christmas day.

[Sals]

I wonder if Greg opened a gift that was a duplicate of a toy (or book or DVD) he already had.  Sometimes kids freeze up the first time that happens to them.  My parents have a video of me opening gifts at my birthday when I was 8 (remembered mainly because I fell into the river fully clothed at the party) and you can definitely tell when I opened the gift that was something I already had.  My eyes get really big for a second and then I freeze with this goofy, fake smile and say, "Wow.  Thank you, Susan."  You wouldn't know that was the reason I went a little weird.  But if you knew me at all you would have noticed I was "off."

Kim?  She's young, but old enough to know better than to act like that.  But if she's the kind of kid (with the kind of mom) who thinks it's ok to say "Boring." in response to a gift then she may well be the kind who will ask why she doesn't get one this year.

[gramma dishes]

Once my oldest daughter gave a gift to the six year old child of friends of hers.  She doesn't live around here, so she had no idea what kinds of toys he already had.  She gave him a toy tool belt, but it had actual usable tools.  When he opened it he didn't even blink.  He just immediately smiled great big and said "Oh THANK YOU!!  I already have one of these and I really really like it.  So now I'll have one for here and one for Grandma's house!  This is great!"

ETA:  Greg has a good Mom.

[Ms_Shell]

Once my oldest daughter gave a gift to the six year old child of friends of hers.  She doesn't live around here, so she had no idea what kinds of toys he already had.  She gave him a toy tool belt, but it had actual usable tools.  When he opened it he didn't even blink.  He just immediately smiled great big and said "Oh THANK YOU!!  I already have one of these and I really really like it.  So now I'll have one for here and one for Grandma's house!  This is great!"

ETA:  Greg has a good Mom.

What a little gentleman.  That made me smile. 

[Miss Bee]

Once my oldest daughter gave a gift to the six year old child of friends of hers.  She doesn't live around here, so she had no idea what kinds of toys he already had.  She gave him a toy tool belt, but it had actual usable tools.  When he opened it he didn't even blink.  He just immediately smiled great big and said "Oh THANK YOU!!  I already have one of these and I really really like it.  So now I'll have one for here and one for Grandma's house!  This is great!"

ETA:  Greg has a good Mom.

Wow, what a great kid! 

[jmarvellous]

I am a terrible liar, oddly even worse when it comes to 'little white lies.' I think it's mainly out of fear that the person I'm lying to will pick up on my insincerity. It was even worse when I was little.

My mom was a lot like Greg's. I always, always remembered to say "thank you" but sometimes needed a strong nudge in the right (enthusiastic) direction when my facial expression and words didn't match up.

Little Kim was rude, no question.

[Lisbeth]

Greg's mother handled him great!

Kim was rude-and deserves to get nothing, especially since there were no other consequences for her rudeness.

[Elfmama]

Granddaughter is like that.  Give her a duplicate of something she already has, and she says "Oh, WOW, now I have two of them!" 

[cicero]

greg wasn't rude. for a 7 YO he did fine - and his mother handled the situation well (i'm doubly impressed that greg did extend a belated thank you - at 7, end of birthday party, hyped up on sugar and excitement, many kids would resort to tantrums.

kim was rude - pity, because with good parenting her attitudes could be turned around, but based on this story i don't see that happening.

[FlyingBaconMouse]

I used to do that a bit when I was a kid, and my mom straightened me out but fast.

A few years ago, my cousin was about to teach at a mission school in far-western VA, so I gave her a copy of Christy (a book about a girl who goes to teach at a mission school in far-western NC). She opened it and exclaimed "It's a BOOK!" in the same tone you'd use to say "It's a WART!" I think she was 23? I don't think I ever called her on it, but to this day if the ex and I give each other literary gifts for Christmas or birthdays, we hold the package up and say, "It's a BOOK!"

[Betelnut]

When my nephew was 5-6, my parents got him a globe for his birthday.  He opened up the box and declared, loudly, "This stinks!!!"

We all burst out in laughter and my sister and her husband quickly reprimanded him.  He later, after looking over the gift, apologized to my parents.

[Syfygeek]

A friends DD was about 3 or 4-ish, and was opening presents. Ripped the paper off and saw a shoebox. With a comment of "oh no, shoes" she tossed the box aside and moved on to the next present.

Her mother retrieved the shoebox, and made her open it to see the really cool gift inside (not shoes). Then explained to DD that what's on the box may not be what's on the inside, and to always be thankful for anything.

Best part is this was videotaped, and gets brought out from time to time.  DD is now 22, and almost every gift giving occasion, someone in their family says "oh no, shoes", just to remind her!

[Emmy]

At work, we have a Christmas party where everybody brings a wrapped gift and put it up front.  The gifts aren't labeled so nobody knows who brought any particular gift.  Numbers are then drawn from a hat to determine the order that people go up to the front and select their gift.  Gifts are usually in the $20 range so I picked up a Yankee vanilla candle.  The woman who selected my gift, said "oh, a candle.  How exciting." in a very monotone voice as she signed and rolled her eyes (which of course relayed her true feelings).  Kids are one thing, and even then a 5 year old should know better, but this woman was 50.

My friend had a DS who was about 7 at the time.  Her DS was the only grandchild in the family, so he was doted upon by my friend, her brother (whom I was dating at the time), and her parents.  He opened a gift from his grandparents of a wooden train at Christmas and said "this is boring".  Nobody corrected him.

[Bibliophile]

A friends DD was about 3 or 4-ish, and was opening presents. Ripped the paper off and saw a shoebox. With a comment of "oh no, shoes" she tossed the box aside and moved on to the next present.

Her mother retrieved the shoebox, and made her open it to see the really cool gift inside (not shoes). Then explained to DD that what's on the box may not be what's on the inside, and to always be thankful for anything.

Best part is this was videotaped, and gets brought out from time to time.  DD is now 22, and almost every gift giving occasion, someone in their family says "oh no, shoes", just to remind her!

Bad parenting at work here - someone hasn't done their duty by this poor young girl - by age 2, young girls should know the magical quality of new shoes already and be more excited about shoes than any other gift    I love this story

[Glaceon]

My mother was always very big on being grateful for gifts, no matter what it is.  I remember being prepped before any kind of gift event starting when I was old enough to understand.  She always explained it to us that someone gives you a gift because they want to be nice to you and how to find the positive in anything.  By the time my sisters and I were 6 or so, you could gift wrap a box of paper clips for us and we'd thank you happily. 

She trained us so hard in this that my mother's extended family delights in giving us something "lame" as a gift and hiding money somewhere in/on it, then laughing at us because we don't go tearing through it trying to find the hidden "good gift."  They think we're weird.