Have you ever received a Christmas gift that you just couldn't stand? I think most of us have. You open the gift and find yourself wondering "what were they thinking when they picked this out".There are some Christmas presents that will always be on the bottom of everyone's Christmas list. These are the ones that get "recycled". that is, passed on as gifts to someone else. The classic example of a Christmas gift disappointment is socks. With the myriad of gift choices on the market, there is no need to buy unwanted Christmas gifts. The best gifts are those that have been bought with the recipient in mind. When buying gifts you need to ask yourself, "will this make the recipient happy?". "Will they use it?", and most of all "does the gift show them that you had them personally in mind when you bought it?"  

 Here is my list of the worst Christmas gifts, to help you avoid being the one giving an unwanted gift:

1. Flowers are a great gift but not for Christmas, unless they are taken to the host of a party, or are added to a gift as an extra. Flowers don't fit into stockings; they don't last and they don't say that you put thought into your purchase. As I said flowers are fine for other occasion, valentines day, birthdays, anniversaries, but not for Christmas. All these rules also apply to Hannuka gifts.

2. Don't give the gift of deodorants, foot creams or any other item that says you stink or have a problem that is politically incorrect to mention. Imagine, "all the office chipped in and we bought you breath mints!" If you are going for Christmas gifts that pamper, then go for fragrant creams, essential oils, body peelings, handmade soaps or a hamper made up of bath goodies. The truth is that a Christmas present of bath goodies could also send the wrong message, but because it is a luxurious, sexy and pampering gift, any implication of "here have some soap, you stink" goes unnoticed!

3. Sexy underwear given to the wrong person for Christmas could send a kinky message. Ask yourself if the person will be opening this gift in front of the kids? If you give sexy underwear the implication is always that you would like to see them in it. So don't give it to your mom, sister, sister-in-law or boss! On the other hand you can give sexy undies to someone you are intimate with already, and who is likely to try it on right there under the Christmas tree, but beware not to seem like you are giving her a gift that is really only for your benefit.

4. Appliances are a difficult item to choose for a Christmas gift. Some household appliances make the recipient feel like you just want the house cleaned, and a household appliance is really a gift for the household not the woman. "Thanks for the vacuum cleaner", just doesn't have the same ring to it as "thanks for the ring or lap-top". Different women relate differently to different appliances, I for example would love a new Kenwood food processor, but I wouldn't fancy a dust-buster. The appliance should make the person's life or job easier. My conclusion is that if you give an appliance as a Christmas gift, hide a smaller package inside with something more personal like jewelry. Every appliance should come with something that has taken a little more thought and effort to buy. Here are some ideas of Christmas gifts that young girls would like to get

5. I can't stand getting Christmas gifts that need to be on display. If someone gives me an ugly painting, a statue of a dog, a magazine stand or a vase of artificial flowers I just move it around from one corner to the other until they end up in a box in the garage. Then the person comes to visit and asks "where's that beautiful statue I gave you of a walrus", and I don't know what to say! So the rule of thumb for this kind of Christmas present is choose something they will be able to exchange or choose what to do with.

The exception to this rule, and all the above bad Christmas gift rules in fact, is if you know the person really, really well, then you can buy them whatever you think they want. But do we ever really know people well enough to choose their gifts?

Maybe just ask them what they want!

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