When I was home from college 100 years ago, my mother asked me to wrap and hide her gift to my father, which I did. Then my father asked me to wrap and hide his gift to my mother. I agreed. They had each bought the other a TV for their bedroom. My siblings and I made sure they each received the other’s gift to unwrap at the same time. Hilarity ensued!

When I was about 9 years old, I was really into dance and gymnastics. My grandpa gave me a new leotard for Christmas. I went to try it on after we opened presents, but I couldn't figure out why it didn't fit correctly..... Turns out it was a thong-style leotard!! LOL I'm sure that he didn't realize that when he bought it! Makes me laugh every time I think about it!

One Christmas I was helping my dad assemble a rideable fire truck for my little brother. I must have been about 16. Some sort of recalcitrant fastener got the best of my dad and he threw down his screwdriver and shouted “you shouldn’t have to be a rocket scientist to put one of these things together!!” I turned to my PhD physicist Air Force Colonel father and said, quietly, “but Dad, you are a rocket scientist.” He paused for a few seconds and huffed “well, you shouldn’t have to be a brain surgeon to put one of these things together!!”

Still one of my favorite Christmas memories.

Hold up.... Say whaaaat?

"I can't stand those free gifts from makeup counters."

I didn't know people said things like that, lol!

There's no funny story that stands out to me right now but I'll report back if that changes.

Well, the first year I was single, after my divorce, I had asked for some tools. I needed a hammer and a screw driver-I was tired of using my high heels and a butter knife. So my Dad got me some basic tools and my brother got me a nice MagLight flashlight. I was thrilled and they cracked up-surprised that those made me so much happier than the new clothes my mom got me.

But to me, the funniest gift I ever got was a tee-shirt the kids had had printed with "HELP! Police!!". I laughed so hard I nearly wet my pants. Inside family joke. Years earlier I had gone out to the car at night to get something out. My stepson was hiding in the bushes (as subtle as a bull in a china shop) and I had seen him there. He jumped out and tried to scare me but failed miserably. Over the years the story evolved and kept getting embellished with each telling to me falling to the ground, crying out Help!! Police!! And DH and the kids all witnessed this, of course. I stopped trying to defend myself and just went with it. So when they had that shirt made for me I proudly wore it.

My MIL means well, but she does enjoy a bargain. One year she bought DH a pair of flannel lounge pants off some sale rack. Nice, but they were XL. DH weighs 140 pounds. He and I could have fit in them together. I think they went to the Goodwill bag.

Dragon, that's just too sweet!

Aok's story reminded me of what I think was a hideous gift from my mother. Please tell me your opinion on whether you also think it was hideous, or I was being ungrateful?

Mom had money so she could afford a decent gift, like the time she went to NYC for the first time and brought me home a ceramic cat from Tiffany's. She was only in her 50's too which made this gift worse.

I opened the gift and it was a 100% polyester robe/gown thingy. It was a pull over with the zipper going down the chest. The material was thick and robin egg blue. Ugly. The kicker? It belonged to her recently deceased twin sister who always wore it and she wanted me to have it.

I put it on while she was there and I must not have done a good job shaving my legs because the material kept sticking to them! lol

I threw it away after a few years. I adored my aunt, but it was a bit morbid.

Do any of you watch SNL? I gave up on it until last year, and now it's really good. The clip below is from last Saturday, it was their Christmas show and the last show of the year. The whole show had me ROTFLOL.

Can you relate to this video?

It got millions of reviews in just 5 days!

That was a good clip, Oakley. I don’t remember any family Christmases being that bad, but it’s funny anyway. Love Matt Damon.

I can’t think of too many horrible gifts. Except one year when I was a kid, I wanted a real baton. For some dumb reason I guess I thought I wanted to be a majorette. It should have come with the ‘you’ll shoot your eye out’ warning. Of course my mother wouldn’t hear of my using it in the house, so I was outside twirling away and then tried to throw it in the air, and down it came on my head or forehead, numerous times. I’m fairly athletic, but could never get the hang of that thing. I did much better the year my brother got the BB gun.

When I was 15 and my sister was 14, she received a child's picture book from one of our aunts, titled "Trudy and the Milch Cow." I sure hope we were able to disguise our disbelief so we didn't hurt her feelings. But over the years whenever we need gift ideas, that book is always referenced, to great hilarity.

the most embarassing New Years was when we went to our family to Boston(we always did when living on East Coast) and I prepared a gift for everybody

but no one prepared a gift for me

they thought -it's only kids who get gifts that year

but I had no idea, I thought everybody gets something..

I had two broken ribs back then, and that Saks Fifth was the store across from us as we lived in a downtown apartment complex so I really was in pain getting these gifts ..I could walk already but not great yet and just for a short time. That Saks was the closest..lol))

just made them uncomfortable is all

as the best gift I somehow remember the most one New Years' when I was either 9 or 10..the gifts customarily waited under the tree for us in the morning back then, I always tried not to sleep to catch the moment when Farher Frost brings them in, but always failed..Father Frost always won:)

It was two books, a something I admired for a long time from the store front( a doll with things to sue for her, fabrics, needles, threads, all that jazz), and something else

Interestringly, I never learned how to sew decently. Yes I was taught but I'm extremely impatient and my fine motor skills were always in need of much improvement

So I don't understand why I wanted this sewing kit so much. and why I got so excited it's there, and why I remember it being one of the happiest gifts till this very day.

About 30 years ago my MIL was very excited about the gift she had for me. She had explained in detail how she noticed I almost always wore tiny stud earrings, but lately I had worn a pair of dangly earrings. She thought they looked great on me so she bought me a handmade pair of dangly earrings from an artist in The Village. (The Village is Greenwich Village in NYC.) Well, I opened the box to find a pair of anatomically correct female genitalia. I must have looked very surprised, because she took one look grabbed the box and said, "On second thought these are not right for you." She replaced the earrings with small studs I still wear to this day. We never talked about it, but my husband and I had a good laugh later as we knew my MIL never realized what she bought till she saw them through my eyes.

One day close to Christmas when I was an older teenager, my one aunt and uncle came to visit along with a few other relatives for the afternoon. My aunt was by then in her 70's and very, very proper (think Queen Elizabeth and you get the idea). She was a very nice woman. but they were childless and our madcap, crazy household of nine kids was more than Aunt Corinne could handle for very long. Two hours was about the max. Anyhoo, we were all sitting quietly and visiting nicely with Aunt and Uncle when my then 4 year old brother spoke out in a very loud voice asking, "Aunt Corinne, do you have a penis?". My father spewed his drink halfway across our living room. So did a few of my other uncles. My three other brothers and two youngest sisters erupted into hoots of laughter, rolling all over the floor, spilling appetizers, drinks and Christmas decorations everywhere! My poor mom was so embarrassed! My aunt turned beet red, sputtered for a moment and then came back with, "Well, I should hope not, but I haven't checked lately!". That brought a hearty (and relieved) laugh from everyone. Aunt Corinne had a sense of humor after all! All these years later, we still tease our little brother about that one! It's the ice breaker we use between us when things get too serious or boring (LOL).

I have kind of a cute story. In 1982, I was a recent college-grad, newly moved to San Francisco, and during the Christmas season, I walked past the SPCA's adoption event on Market Street at lunchtime one day. I've always been a huge dog lover, and impulsively decided I wanted to buy all the dogs chews for Christmas, so I stopped for a few minutes to talk to the woman in charge to find out how many dogs there were in total, where I could drop the chews off, etc. We had a good 10-minute conversation. During our conversation, I was slightly aware of a youngish man standing off to the side of us, but Market St. is a busy street with lots of people around, so I didn't pay him much attention. Anyway, after I made a plan with the volunteer, I walked quickly away, because by now I was a bit delayed getting back to work after lunch. Half a block later or so, I suddenly, I felt a bit of a tug on my arm and turned to see the young man who had been listening to my conversation with the SPCA volunteer walking quickly as if to catch up with me. "Excuse me," he said, with a heavy Eastern European accent. "I sorry to be nosy -but I never see this before. You are buying shoes for all the dogs for Christmas?" It just cracked me up, to think of him sitting there thinking, "These crazy Americans, they buy shoes for their dogs!" I think I got him straight, but the funny thing is now, nearly forty years later, it wouldn't seem all that bizarre to buy shoes for dogs!