Guest commenters wanted

It's that time of year again! Time for the possible onslaught of gifts you never dreamed possible. And by that, I mean the truly tacky and/or thoughtless gifts given to you by people who claim to be your friends or family members. C'mon, we've all gotten them.

One of my all-time favorite tacky gifts came from my grandma. With grandma's gifts, you just learned to put on that fake smile and say thank you. But this year was above and beyond her usual gift giving skills. She got my sister and me polyester mumuus. Oh, they were fanciful. I can't remember if I was in junior high or high school at the time, but clearly they were meant for someone over 70 on their way to a vacation in Boca. Luckily for me, I'm all about the tacky. So I took my mumuus, and those of my sister who was more than happy to be rid of them, and put them into my costume box. And yes, I have worn one. In public. Fear me.

So, what have you gotten for Christmas that's been, um, memorable? I'm inviting my tens of readers to take over my comment section to share/purge/find a happy place and tell the rest of us about the oh-so-special gifts you've gotten over the years. Remember, laughter is theraputic. And we're not laughing at you, we're laughing with you. Okay, maybe we're kinda laughing at you...

Wow. Um, thanks.

It's that time of year, the time when we give our facial muscles and our restraint a good workout. You know, trying to keep it together when you've gotten a really horrible gift? I got my start when I was a kid. Every Christmas, my grandmother would give my sister and me a box of socks and underwear. Not exactly the dream gift for a child, but I sure wouldn't mind getting them now!

As an adult, I think the worst Christmas gift I received was from an old boyfriend. It was a Rollerskating Santa Bear. While this might sound cute, let me explain. It was about 2' tall and made of hard plastic that was covered by fur and a Santa suit. It had a pretty scary face, too. And just to make it a real whopper, it neither skated when you turned it on, nor did it even stand up. So, I tried turning it on to watch it go and it immediately fell to the ground in a loud, plastic crash. Merry Christmas.

Just for fun, I polled some of my friends to see what kind of gems they've gotten over the years. Here are some of the responses:

From a brother, a Dairy Queen napkin dispenser (including a few napkins still inside) that he got from the thrift store. Why? Because she liked ice cream, of course.

From a grandma, numerous ruffly shirts. They weren't just ruffly, they were also plaid and sparkly. Like a holiday.

From a soon-to-be ex-husband, a printer and a camera when they already had those things. Sounds pretty good still, huh? Well, he got them for her because he was planning on leaving her and didn't want to have to buy them later.

From a mother-in-law, a 1000 page book on the history of cooking. Is that a hint?

From a husband, a cable wire to go with the new sound station he'd purchased. But it was beautifully wrapped!

From a mom, a poster kit to color that was part velvet, part paper. Kind of like a make-your-own velvet art piece. Oh, and she was in her 30's when she got it.

From another husband, a new exhaust pipe for the family car. Nothing says Christmas like exhaust.

Last, but not least, I have one friend who is really bothered when people give her Christmas decorations ON Christmas day. But hey, she can use it in another year!

So, do you have any horrible gifts you'd like to share? I'd love to hear about them! At the bottom of the post, in small blue letters, there's a link for "comments" - just click on that and spill! Can't wait to hear all about them!