Quote Originally Posted by Tri Girl View Post
Lately I've started painting for people. They're not paintings worth anything, but at least I try to pick scenes they might like.
Oh Tri Girl, you're nothing like what I meant! I don't mind "crappy" (i.e. inappropriate, useless, not-my-type-of-thing) presents, if they come from someone who truly doesn't know me that well, or who obviously means well but just has different taste. I get presents like that all the time, from neighbours, or my mother-in-law or whatever, and they just make me smile. In fact gifts like these are sometimes the ones that make most happy, because they turn up out of the blue from someone unexpected :-)

Honest - if my mother had made me anything, ever, by hand, I would treasure it even if it were pink earwarmers with little gold piglets on...

And fwiw, I was brought up (by her...) to never, ever criticize a gift, so it took me years to pipe up that I would in fact just prefer a nice card.