Coming Clean About Regifting

December 28th, 2006 by Barb Lattin · 9 Comments

soap bubbles
I don’t have a problem with regifting. In fact, I like it! I think of it as a form of recycling, and recycling is very high on my list of priorities.

I don’t even mind being regifted several gifts from one person/couple in one season, either. Hey, if it’s appropriate for me, give it to me!

But I found out a couple of days ago that I do mind being regifted (or just gifted) some types of items. You see, my parents-in-law seem to have gifted my entire family with items they’ve had stored in their basement for years… some they’ve even used! And from none of them can I tell that they gave any real thought about the gift receiver.
The list below is of just the highlights; if I tell you I gave an item to somebody, they knew exactly where it came from.

Another set of holiday-themed dishes (about the fifth year in a row, although this year it wasn’t the same theme as any of the others, which has happened before). Opened the box of mugs and found a gift-tag inside with my mother-in-law’s name on it. I also got another (serving?) platter - I guess I should really point out that I don’t decorate my home for the holidays as extensively as my MIL does.

I gave these to my youngest sister.

A feather boa. This was actually in wonderful shape; I wonder why my MIL gave it to me as she has them decorating her entire house at the holidays. She said “they’re wonderful to wear around the holidays”, but this one was definitely not for wearing. The feather quills were sticking out of the wire-wrapped string along the entire length. OUCH!

I gave this to my mom.

Four jewelry gift boxes with jewelry from the 80’s; one piece worn so often that the finish had rubbed off on most of it. And I think I actually owned the same exact pair of earrings when I was in college. Okay, I actually kind of enjoyed a CloisonnÃ©-style angel pin.

A Betty Crocker’s Parties For Children book, published in 1964. This is even older than my MIL’s natural-born children (my husband is her step-son). It’s in really good shape for its age - I think I’ll look through it for some new/old ideas. Or it may become my first altered book activity.

My youngest son - 21 months old - adores balls of all kinds. He’s ball-crazy! He was given a soccer ball and just LOVED it! When I was playing with him and the soccer ball after dinner, I realized it was flat. Upon closer inspection, I saw that it had a big gash in it. I suspect that it was actually purchased for, and used once by, my parents-in-law’s dog.

I’ve saved the piÃ¨ce de rÃ©sistance for last; there are actually two (deux ):

An opened, and used, tin of Chocolati cocoa powder. My MIL said it’s delicious.

And finally… (drum roll, please) a bar of soap from The Hilton! The same tiny slab you find on your sink when you check in. The brand was Neutrogena. I told my husband I actually would have loved it had it been an “all-natural” or “organic” bar of soap.

Okay, I didn’t come here only to complain. I came here to educate you about re-gifting. Well, at least to point you to some resources. Read up on these so that you’re prepared for next year; get everything ready now ‘cuz you’ll probably forget where you read this in 51 more weeks.

MP Dunleavey wrote a wonderful list of tips on re-gifting here: 12 rules for ‘regifting’ without fear. My parents-in-law actually only broke a couple of them, but I think Ms. Dunleavey needs to add a rule about hotel gratis-items. They’re not actually gifts from the hotel. If you read this article, you’ll also learn that the term is not quite as old as the behavior.

There are a few more tips at Regifting 101. If you’ve got your own story, you can register to win their Regifting Story Contest. ~~I’m going to have to see if I can enter this post somehow. If you see parts of this post there, vote for me!~~ Updated: Go vote for me - I really shortened this post and it’s called “Parent-in-law stash”.

You can also write your own post like mine, then link back to this post at A Mama’s Rant. I’m hoping my used cocoa and Hilton soap are worth some books or coffee! I’m hoping you’ll link back to this post here at GNMParents as well.

Happy New Year and happy regifting!

[tags]regifting, recycling gifts, holidays[/tags]

Photo by MissDJT via flickr

Tags: A Little Greener · Holidays

9 responses so far ↓

Alice // Dec 29, 2006 at 3:16 am

I’m like you…I see regifting as a form of recycling. But it definitely has to have some thought put into it!! Only regift to someone that you think will truly like/enjoy the item. And used products?! That’s a no-no!! My goodness. Well, it’s good that you have a great sense of humor about it. Hee hee…you would never regift the same gift to the person who had given to you right? LOL!

Thanks for sharing!
Barb // Dec 29, 2006 at 3:23 am

Alice,

Exactly! Don’t regift stuff to people just to declutter your house! That’s exactly what I felt my PILs were doing - trying to clear out their overstuffed basement of things they’ve saved for 40+ years.
I told my husband that next year we should tell them, “If you’re going to give us stuff from your basement, at least let us “shop” there so that we get stuff that’s useful to us.
I *know* I’ve told them about FreeCycle, but maybe being older (they’re in their 60’s and 70’s), they’re uncomfortable having strangers coming to their homes.

They’ve been regifting to us for years and it’s never been a problem until now, when every gift was a regift and much of it was junk or garbage. Ah well. At any rate, I’m not going to let it happen again next year.
jennie // Dec 30, 2006 at 5:44 pm

A bar of hotel soap? Now really, that is just too much.

I was once given a gift from my sister-in-law that I had given her the year before. It really bothered me, not that it was regifted, but that I could tell that she had no idea she had given back a gift I’d given her. She even told me where she bought it, which I knew wasn’t true because it was the EXACT same package that I’d given her. That just made me feel bad.
Barb // Dec 30, 2006 at 5:56 pm

Jennie,
Yep. This one wasn’t wrapped, though - it was put in my stocking.
Have you ever told your sister about that gift? Maybe it’ll be something to laugh about one day? Sounds like she needs to follow the tips to which I linked above.
Or maybe you can re-regift it to her next time? It can become the gift that you just keep passing around - some sort of joke.

Now I’m wondering exactly what the gift was.
Annie // Dec 31, 2006 at 2:30 pm

My husband’s family are devotees of “dumping”…oops, I mean “regifting”. My mother-in-law is particularly guilty of this.

There’s even a running joke in his family…there’s been a particular “singing bass” that’s been re-gifted to various members for the past 5 or so years. Robert just got it back this Christmas, and he’s planning on sending it on with lots of love. LOL. *roll eyes*
Barb // Dec 31, 2006 at 3:58 pm

Great, Annie! That’s just what I was suggesting to Jennie. I bet I’d quickly tire of that joke, though.
Alice // Dec 31, 2006 at 5:06 pm

It might just be EXTRA fun!! I don’t know if you’ve heard of these two sisters that travel on planes a lot. But the “regifting” game that these two have is to see how they can get the other person to take the sign to another city on the plane without them knowing. It’s been going on for over 10 years!!!

Barb, I’m all over you going there to shop yourself!!
maggie // Jan 3, 2007 at 7:59 pm

I love this post! I too think of regifting as recycling - keep it going round and round. But not open food! And nothing dirty or used! Only nice stuff that somebody other than me is going to love!
Barb // Jan 3, 2007 at 10:48 pm

Thanks, Maggie. Open food put me off. But I was really upset about the ball for my ball lover - why give a toddler a ball with a hole in it? (Still, we play with it several times a day inside. In its partially deflated state, it can’t go too high :lol:)

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