Gift from MIL

kelkellett

Why does she insist on giving me her brand of facial cleanser and hydrating gel every year!?  I have eczema and I use a medicated cream from the dermatologist. I have told her this many times. Yet she still will give me these products as gifts every year (sometimes on birthdays too). Then she goes into this big speech about how great they are and her friend has dry skin too and raves about it. I try to explain that it is not just "dry skin". It is a medical condition (possibly related to allergies).  She is a pushy lady by nature, so this year I just said Thank You and moved on with my day. My friends are lucky. I just give the stuff to them!

Disneygeek77

That is all you can do, say thank you and move on. 

EastCoastBride

My FIL gets us Harry and David pears every year.  Even though we've told him we don't like pears.  Luckily we can find people to give them too, but I hear you - it's annoying. 

elizcornell@gmail.com

Maybe try mentioning next Thanksgiving how you have "just worn holes into my favorite scarf (or insert other common item here) and just can't seem to find a good one"... and perhaps giving her a gift-hint a few weeks ahead of the holiday will inspire her to break the pattern?  Maybe she just gives that to everyone... who knows what makes our MILs tick anyway?

FloppyWhoppy

My ex's great-grandmother (bless her heart, she was a sweetheart) used to give me a box of Ferrar Roche (spelling?) chocolates every year.  I hate nuts, but I never had the heart to tell her.  My father, on the other hand, loved when I passed them over to him!

backinpgh

mmm you can send the Ferrero Rocher to me if you don't like it!

ss+el

BluegrassBride2010:

Maybe try mentioning next Thanksgiving how you have "just worn holes into my favorite scarf (or insert other common item here) and just can't seem to find a good one"... and perhaps giving her a gift-hint a few weeks ahead of the holiday will inspire her to break the pattern?  Maybe she just gives that to everyone... who knows what makes our MILs tick anyway?

This doesn't work with my MIL. Every year she looks at my amazon.com wish list and then also calls DH to see what I could use. He gives her a nice long list of reasonably priced items and she never buys a single one of them. LOL  She usually buys all the 'girls' (her daughters and her DILs - five of us total) the same stuff anyway, so I'm not sure why she asks in the first place. I can't complain, she's a good MIL.

ss+el

BluegrassBride2010:

Maybe try mentioning next Thanksgiving how you have "just worn holes into my favorite scarf (or insert other common item here) and just can't seem to find a good one"... and perhaps giving her a gift-hint a few weeks ahead of the holiday will inspire her to break the pattern?  Maybe she just gives that to everyone... who knows what makes our MILs tick anyway?

This doesn't work with my MIL. Every year she looks at my amazon.com wish list and then also calls DH to see what I could use. He gives her a nice long list of reasonably priced items and she never buys a single one of them. LOL  She usually buys all the 'girls' (her daughters and her DILs - five of us total) the same stuff anyway, so I'm not sure why she asks in the first place. I can't complain, she's a good MIL.

foundmydr1

Could you call her two days later and ask her for a return receipt as you found (years ago) that you didn't tolerate the stuff?  Even if she didn't give it to you try to return it and maybe she'll be too embarrassed to pull this again.

I know, I know, harsh and I would need a few cocktails to pull this puppy off but really.

JESS04169

It happens to us all. I got scissors from my MIL. SERIOUSLY, she gave me scissors. A set of five, all shapes and sizes. I don't even do crafts. You just say thank you and pass it off to someone who might enjoy it. The best part was my DH got a Giants (football) jersey with his favorite player on it. Oh well, life goes on