A long time ago, DH gave me a t-shirt for my birthday. I was pregnant with my first child, and was planning to quit the small modern dance company of which I was a member, because it paid very poorly, and physically I would need some time off anyway. It was a hard decision. The shirt said, “Shut up and Dance!” I was so upset, and it went right in the trash! He hadn’t considered the implications of our pregnancy, and bought it because the local dance department was selling them.
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I love to give gifts, especially when I have a hint of the wishes. Example, I gave my DIL UGG slippers, that she liked so much, I bought myself a pair. I bought Bombas slipper socks for myself, SO, and grandson. He wears them often ( DIL sends pictures).: grandson liked his first Lego train set, so much that my son changed his wish list to a Lego set for himself. My DIL has informed me of her favorite candle flavors nd companies, and face creams. Also, her fav toddler clothes. She makes it so much fun. She gives me ideas and wants, and I feel free to expand with inspiration.
My SO shopped together, so he bought me an UGG robe, and I got him something he likes. Plus new electric toothbrushes for us. He is excited that i have a BD gift coming soon, and I start to worry. I am awful as a receiver of gifts.
The most wonderful idea I read about was writing clues and poems with the gift.
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One Christmas, we all agreed to write songs for each other as gifts. Recycling an existing melody was fine. It was a effort to buy less. We still bought each other stuff, but it was a lot of fun! My dad, in particular, killed the assignment.
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Until Christmas morning when everyone else has gifts to open under the tree…and you don’t. Ask me how I know!
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Not even for your birthday?
I was brought up Jewish, and we did exchange presents on Hannukah. Small things the first 7 days adds something a little nicer on the last night (earrings, for example).
In Israel, Passover os the gift-giving holiday. And of course Purim is the dress-up-in-costumes holiday vs Halloween here. No trick-or-treating though!
My parents were good about the late December birthday gift conflation, but H is terrible about it. I only added to this by picking a wedding date in that same week. So birthday, anniversary, Hanukkah and my family’s celebration of Christmas all fall in the same narrow timeframe (though Hanuukah can bounce around).
We quit doing regular gift giving a few years ago and go out for dinner or a weekend trip. H is really tough to shop for and it’s rare that I manage a hit despite best intentions. He suggested a ring for our 40th anniversary and I have been researching for the past year. I’m picking this one!
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I’m hoping you forgot to include a link for the ring you choose. I’m curious
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I get the ring thing. I wanted an inset for my engagement ring as an anniversary gift for my 20th wedding anniversary. I shopped for about a year before I getting something I was happy with. (BTW I don’t wear it much - I usually just pop on my old wedding band instead.)
We were young and too broke for an engagement ring back then. H was thinking about a ruby anniversary ring, so I started looking and realized that I preferred the darker color of garnets to rubies. But I’m hard on my hands, and garnets aren’t super hard stones.
Then I fell into a rabbit hole looking at diamond anniversary bands, started reading about lab diamonds and have been learning and researching ever since. Have a design in mind, but am thinking about sourcing the stone from one place and getting the ring manufactured elsewhere. I’ve been researching manufacturers, too.
Markups for certified lab diamonds vary wildly – there’s a huge database of stones, and many companies offer the same stone on their websites. Hunt wisely and you can get a great stone for much less. Lab diamond prices have been dropping, too (as have mined diamonds).
This is such a different turn for me – I don’t wear much jewelry, but the search has been fun!
So no ring yet, but that’s on me. So many other things going on that I can’t ignore…
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I got socks and an ear-cleaning apparatus for Christmas this year – I believe my exact response was, “Ha ha ha – very funny. Thanks, dear.” hehe
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GOOD socks are so personal, I’m reluctant to buy them for others. I’ve tried a lot of brands. I like Thorlo but am also trying DarnTough as well as Bombas and Costco wool socks.
For me, the best thing is knowing H is completely supportive of anything I choose to purchase as I am of whatever he buys. At this point in our lives, we do better purchasing for ourselves as we know if we really want it or rather not add more clutter to our lives.
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Hahaha! Guess someone hopes this will help you hear them?!
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It’ll be glasses in March (birthday)…
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If you don’t like ear cleaners, they may be a funny white elephant swap.
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I have a modest sized diamond on my engagement ring. It suited the budget and my tiny hands. For our 25th, my husband really tried hard to convince me to pick out a bigger/nicer ring. I had zero interest, just too romantic to swap out what I have. But we did decide to have my ring serviced to fix the prongs that were worn. (At jewelry store pickup, he did get me a lovely set of pearl earrings. Yea, I’m fortunate - he’s a “keeper”, despite whatever venting I may do on other threads.)
In general I’m the one that could be accused of giving overly practical gifts. But we both like doing something (a show, a mini vacation) in lieu of a gift. At anniversary time, it takes the pressure off both of us.
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