What are YOU asking for Christmas?

Parent Cafe
41

It’s going to be up to S to surprise me with a gift this year. Everyone else is getting me exactly what I asked for: H is getting me a Clarisonic brush, D is getting the Homesick Texan’s Family Cookbook and my mom got me a lovely purse (I know because I went out and purchased it with her credit card while she was recovering from surgery). I’m not a big fan of surprises and would prefer to have useful gifts.

H, on the other hand, loves surprises and refuses to give me a list of suggestions. He’s getting a bar cart from WestElm from me and martini glasses from D. S will pick up something last minute - probably a bottle of vodka.

42

I put a few items, like a cookbook I want, on a list since the kids want to give me something and I don’t want them to spend much, but I do want to encourage them to be good givers and not just recipients.

We are taking a family trip shortly after the holidays and we’re going to a place where I know we’ll want to buy some stuff so hubby and I agreed that is our gift to each other.

43

Thanks for the ideas. Just sent the kids a text–want a mix CD or flash drive that they make and a meal or two. Will see what they end up gifting–should be interesting. We REALLY don’t need more “stuff” and have what we want and need.

44

Got us a Christmas gift today! A Tempur mattress set from Costco. :slight_smile: Delivery in 3 weeks or so - fingers crossed! Our old mattress is almost 16 years old and just started to show its age.

45

I have nothing particular on my Christmas this year. I feel like I’m being difficult, and have come up with a few ideas for people who ask, but I am happy that all kids will be home and my son’s significant other from Singapore will be with us. It’s the first time with an SO,and she doesn’t normally celebrate Christmas, so we will make it special for her.

46

I don’t want anything. But if I had to come up with a list:

– The gift I always ask for but rarely get anymore: Car maintenance! Like an oil change, or car detailing, or even a car wash. But you have to actually take the car in for me!

– A few hours of handyman service! I have some pictures that I need hung, and I need some help doing it. Same with light bulbs that need to be replaced in high up, awkward spaces.

– Gift certificate to a window-washing company!

– Refills on my makeup staples: Lancôme Definicils mascara, Smashbox primer, Smashbox loose powder in “Light”, Nars Orgasm blush, Smashbox light bronzer. Shu Uemura eyelash curler.

– Some miracle eye cream that I don’t know about yet but that will change my life. Ditto for miracle undereye concealer.

– Teeth whitening strips. (Come to think of it, I should actually do this at the dentist.)

– Spare iPhone charger.

– New super thick white terry cloth robe.

– Thermapen instant read thermometer (but I know if I actually asked for this, someone would get me the wrong brand. It has to be this one).

– All Clad 12-inch skillet

– Shallow fitted sheet that will work on my new American Leather pull-out sofa-bed mattress.

– Wolford tights

– Diptyque candles, any scent, but no other brand.

– Gift certificate to Frog Hollow Farm, to be used in peach season.

– Always welcomed and appreciated: Wine or champagne. In fact, is there an easier, better-priced, and more well-liked gift that can be picked up at almost any grocery store than a bottle of Veuve Clicquot?

– Coffee pods for my Nespresso machine.

– All-expenses-paid trip to New York, with a room at the Four Seasons, show tickets to Hamilton, and dinner at the hot restaurant of the giver’s choice. (It is a fantasy list, after all!)

Okay, I guess I do want stuff.

47

We should start a virtual CC gift exchange. Pick a price range, get assigned a partner in that price range, and exchange a gift from your respective lists. For ease of use and to avoid unnecessary shipping charges, each person will buy his or her own gift, but will send a thank-you PM to other person.

48

I normally never “ask” for anything, but last year I told H I would like a bluetooth speaker for my laptop. He gave me…nothing. At all. (Not for the first time.) Eventually I bought a speaker for myself.

This year he had the temerity to tell me he wanted a bluetooth headset. I said, “Oh yes, like the speaker I wanted last year.” I don’t think I’m going to get it for him. I usually get him something like a book or two I think he will like, and/or a clothing item. I don’t stoop to his level. This year I think I will save the $$ and spend it on myself instead.

He thinks he is revolting against commercialization. Years ago, I recall he cut an article from the NYT about people who were “cutting back” on Christmas spending and left it out for me to see. They were “cutting back” to about two or three times what we ever spent. I was really offended. The fact is that he is simply the Grinch. And cheap.

49

Oh no!! Mr. says we have to put the new mattress under the tree. Lol. That would be all over kiddo’s FB! :smiley:

Nottelling, with a few small exceptions, your list mostly reads like “experiences and consumables.” Good list! :slight_smile:

50

@Consolation - By two, one for him and one for you, wrap them both and put them under the tree.

51

@doschicos, but I don’t WANT a bluetooth headset! :slight_smile: Also, I would have to pay for both of them. If only I could figure out a way for him to pay for it…

52

@Consolation I meant buy the bluetooth item YOU want from him. Are your funds not comingled?

53

@Consolation – Why not tell him that this year each of you will buy and wrap your own gifts? In other words, buy yourself something and put it under the tree, and don’t buy anything for your husband. Sounds like you will be less resentful and your husband won’t really miss his gift. Since gifts presumably have been a longstanding source of friction between the two of you, your husband will probably be relieved.

54

@doschicos, our funds used to be fully commingled, but are not now.

55

“We should start a virtual CC gift exchange. Pick a price range, get assigned a partner in that price range, and exchange a gift from your respective lists. For ease of use and to avoid unnecessary shipping charges, each person will buy his or her own gift, but will send a thank-you PM to other person”

My h and my BIl have been doing this for years. They spend half of the fall texting each other about gift ideas, then a couple of weeks of serious silliness about whether my H is giving my BIL good enough golf clubs for the big screen TV my BIL is giving him. It gets pretty funny!

56

@Consolation, wow, it sounds like you are going through a rough patch in your marriage. I’m very sorry. Maybe you should suggest a few sessions with a couple’s therapist in lieu of gifts this year? Anyway, sending virtual hugs for what sounds like difficult times.

57

My Christmas present to me this year was

Instant Pot IP-DUO60 7-in-1 Programmable Pressure Cooker, 6Qt/1000W, Stainless Steel Cooking Pot

I have had it for about a week now and I absolutely love it, and hubby benefits from all the food also LOL, next project cheesecake in pressure cooker

58

OP here, first of all- yes, hugs to Consolation. Holidays can be difficult. Now, nottelling- I have to say I am stealing some of your ideas. I won’t get them but I like the idea of a handyman. I need someone to hang a quilt way up high. DH will say he will do it but… I also like the idea of getting the windows washed. We need a new roof so maybe later this year after the roof is put on. I have gotten some ideas from all of you. I also found a few fun things on Etsy to put on my list as well as a crock pot (the old one is disgusting) and some new stone coasters. Keep posting, people and help each other out.

59

Consolation, I’m so sorry. It sounds like there is more going on than just who handles the shopping chores. Hugs to you. If it’s spending your money on your H and him not spending his on you last year, then why wouldn’t you follow his example? Buy your own present!

60

I don’t want anything that can be bought in a store, all I am looking for at Christmas is hope, hope that next year will not be so stressful, that I won’t feel continuously like so much is on my shoulders both at work and at home, and that I can start finding myself again, instead of being in survival mode all the time. I shouldn’t be complaining, and I apologize to people on here who have faced and continue to face major issues in their lives that make what I am complaining of seem trivial, people with major health issues, serious issues with finances/children/parents, in that I am blessed right now…but I also am for lack of a better word completely shot and overwhelmed by the way I am living my life, so my big wish for a Christmas gift is that life slows down and I can enjoy it a little. It is funny, for something that doesn’t cost anything, it is one of the hardest gifts to get it seems…