10 Gifts You Should Not Buy Your Wife/Girlfriend for the Holidays
By Glinda
Guys, I’m doing you a big favor here. We women often are often the recipient of gifts that cause us to scratch our heads and go “Huh?”
I’m certainly not saying that the gifts you give have to be expensive, but they should, at the very least, be thoughtful and reflect her taste. You also get major bonus points for creative presentation.
1. Appliances. Unless for some reason you have been specifically instructed to get that Dyson she’s been admiring, don’t go there.
2. Tickets to a game for your favorite team. A CD of your favorite band. A DVD of your favorite movie. You get the picture. Right? If not, then there is truly no hope for you.
3. Perfume you pick because of the packaging. Unless you know exactly what kind of perfume she likes, the worst thing you can do is blithely choose a scent that she might likely hate. She won’t care if it comes in a pretty box or bottle if it stinks.
4. Lingerie. Dude, we know that it isn’t really for us.
5. Fake jewelry and try to pawn it off as real. Nothing could be worse. Nowadays the technology for some of the manufactured stones produces some fantastic looking jewelry, but if you do go that route, never try to pretend otherwise.
6. Tickets to travel somewhere. Unless you have gone ahead and made all of the necessary advance reservations for car, hotel, and anything else. The only things she should have to do are pack and get on the plane/in the car.
7. A gift card. I think that gift cards are handy things you can get for people whose taste you don’t know very well. That group hopefully doesn’t include your significant other.
8. A magazine subscription. No. Just, no.
9. Books with such titles as “How to Look Ten Years Younger” or about the latest diet craze. Unless your goal is to sleep on the couch for a long period of time. If it is, then be my guest.
10. Any gift in which it is obvious you bought in a last minute, desperate attempt to buy something. Anything. We can always tell. And then you are toast.
Ladies, care to chime in?
December 10th, 2008 at 8:10 am
Self-help books are the WORST! The only thing you can give back is an etiquette book…
December 10th, 2008 at 9:37 am
Do not think that buying something sparkly is a guaranteed win. Know her taste! For example, don’t buy gold if all she wears is silver, or something with a big ostentatious stone if she likes more delicate pieces.
December 10th, 2008 at 9:39 am
Poor guys are probably thinking “Okay, so that tells me what NOT to get, but what about what I SHOULD get?”
A tip: look at her for her day-to-day. What does she use? What part of her daily routine irks her? If she has a lot of hair and is complaining about the amount of time it takes her to dry it, get her a gift certificate for a few professional blowouts at her favourite salon. Does she do the bulk of the housework? Pay for a cleaning service to come in biweekly for the next 6 months. Does she always wear hoop earrings? Get her a new, good-quality pair.
Of course, your mileage may vary, so it pays to pay attention to what gifts in the past have made her squeal with delight, and which ones have only elicited a lukewarm response.
December 10th, 2008 at 11:24 am
Well — I did ask for this, but a boyfriend got me a belt sander once and I love it. And my husband got me a subscription to People magazine a few years ago, also loved.
But yes — usually I don’t want things as much as I want time — I want my husband to take salsa dance lessons with me. I love getting a pedicure, but feel that it’s too much an indulgence for everyday, but a gift cert. for five pedicures? That would be fabulous.
I got a trash can (a nice one!) instead of an engagement ring. I don’t like wearing rings. If we’re going to spend $1000s of dollars, I’d rather take a trip to Paris together. The trash can, I use every single day and I was sick and tired of the awful, short trash can in his apt. that had to be opened with a lever on top, which meant I had to lift my foot 14″ every time I wanted to pop the thing open. I also had to bend over every time I peeled an onion. Now I have a pretty, tall trash can with a foot opener. (PS We did take a nice trip with the rest of the ring money.)
December 10th, 2008 at 11:52 am
The one acceptable appliance to me would be a roomba or scooba, because it does all the work itself. Maid service would be better.
It’s mostly about showing that you thought about it and made an effort to show your appreciation for the other person.
On the flip side, I have as much trouble finding the right gift for my hubby as he does finding the right gift for me.
December 10th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Merry, my husband buys what he wants when he wants it. (Yes, he was raised in more affluent surroundings than I.) He was dying to get the new superduper radar detector (isn’t it just easier to drive the speed limit, esp. for someone who works from home?) last summer. I asked if he wanted that to be his Christmas present. He was happy because he got what he wanted and I was happy because I didn’t have to try to think of something to get him.
December 10th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
You’ve all seen the Doghouse Video, right? (Put out by Penney’s jewelry dept.)
Gifts aren’t really a big deal around my house (and I do mean that — some women say it and then are offended when they don’t get much), but it is nice to get something special, even if it isn’t very big. One thing I’ve never understood: buying a present for myself from him. If you buy it yourself, it’s not a present.
December 10th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
LOL love it! I’m going to have to post this list in loud colors on the refrigerator. How about SOCK! Give me a break – I’d expect that gift from the grandparents not a husband. And his reason for giving such a gift “But Babe your feet are always cold.” Hmmmph!