My aunt got me a ceramic duck lamp for my birthday 3 years in a row and I finally get why
Every birthday from 2019 to 2021 my aunt Carol from Sacramento gave me the same ceramic duck lamp, just wrapped in different paper each time. I thought she forgot she already gave it to me, so I stuffed them all in a closet and laughed about it with my roommates. Then last month she stayed with me for a week and I watched her pull out her phone and write down every single thing anyone mentioned wanting, like "niece, ducks, reading light." She has short term memory stuff going on and started keeping notes because she was scared of getting gifts wrong. Three duck lamps later and I feel like a jerk for every joke I made about it. Anyone else got a family member who repeats gifts on purpose and you only find out way later?
Wait, why do you feel like a jerk? You didn't know. Nobody tells you these things until you happen to see the phone. My uncle did the same deal with books. Gave me the same hiking guide three Christmases in a row and I rolled my eyes every time. Turns out he had it written on an index card in his wallet that said "Dan, hiking books" and just grabbed whatever was on sale at Costco. The repeat gifts weren't him being lazy or forgetful. That was him doing the work, just with a system none of us could see. Honestly the duck lamps sound kind of great. Three reading lights for three rooms is not a bad deal.