topic Re: Men Making Christmas Present Returns! in Among Friends

Men Making Christmas Present Returns!

ECBG — Mon, 28 Dec 2020 21:29:28 GMT

SOME NEVER GET IT!!!!!

Re: Men Making Christmas Present Returns!

Boomernichols — Mon, 28 Dec 2020 21:42:58 GMT

@ECBG This cartoon speaks volumes and I have been on the receiving end of some house wares myself.

Re: Men Making Christmas Present Returns!

beach-mom — Mon, 28 Dec 2020 21:58:57 GMT

@ECBG - LOL! This reminds me of the time my high school best friend's husband gave her two bags of mulch for her first Mother's Day. She loved to garden, so he thought it was the perfect gift. He has never lived down the teasing he got from EVERYONE, even his own mom, and she never got anything like that again!

Re: Men Making Christmas Present Returns!

ECBG — Mon, 28 Dec 2020 22:12:55 GMT

@beach-mom

We were at the very beginning of our marriage and I told him anything for the house was in no way a gift for me! He would find it on top of his head!

I think we must have been shopping or it may have been a holiday where someone else got an appliance or dish.

Re: Men Making Christmas Present Returns!

Annabellethecat66 — Mon, 28 Dec 2020 22:15:58 GMT

A friend of mine's daughter worked at Victoria's Secret.

She said she hated Christmas because these men would come in and look at the 'barely there' bras and panties.

When the girl would say, "What size is she". The guy would say, "I don't know. Maybe your size or a little bigger".

Now this young girl wasn't much more than 100 lbs and was barely 5ft tall.

If she suggested something a little bigger, often the men would say, "No, that's too big. She'd kill me if I got that size".

Move forward til after Christmas. In would come the girlfriends and wives. The young girl would take one look and say, "Look at it this way. Your husband/boyfriend saw you as someone about my size..."

Often the ladies would leave there with a much larger size or just get their money back.

So, it also reminded me of the time I sent one of my daughters with my late husband. It was always Christmas Eve or the day before.

Just to make it easy(ier) for him, I'd write down a few things.

Well...this particular year he decided he was going to get me lots of lotions, perfumes, etc. But they all came from...(you guessed it) Victoria Secret!

The smell from these lotions, perfumes were terrible (to me).

I went back a few days later and said I'd like to return all of it and just put the money back on the card.

Well, the office manager was called in after the salesperson said they couldn't do that. She said I'd have to pick items from the store rather than have any money go back and forth.

Now I wasn't quite as heavy as I am now but...I'd say I was pretty chunky.

There was no way I could fit comfortably in their bras or underwear.

I finally said to the office manager, "Look at me! Do I look like I could fit into these under clothes?"

The office manager said, "Give her whatever she wants".

She just wanted to get rid of me. I wasn't rude or loud but I wasn't going to take back all of the lotions, etc that I'd never use.

We all have some kind of various stories like mine.

I posted here the other day that as soon as my girls got older I'd send them with their father.

He'd always come home with a beautiful piece or two of jewelry and always my favorite cologne then (Channel No. 5).

In fact when he died I gave one of the beautiful diamond rings to my oldest daughter. She was with him when he bought it so it meant something to her. She wears it on the same finger as her wedding rings.

I also gave her the very, very expensive diamond bracelet I picked out on my birthday. My other two daughters don't wear much jewelry, so I gave that to my oldest too.

I hope some of you would post some of your stories. Come on...fess up...it's just us here......

Re: Men Making Christmas Present Returns!

colliemom4 — Mon, 28 Dec 2020 22:28:17 GMT

No cleaning products or exercise equipment allowed.

Re: Men Making Christmas Present Returns!

colliemom4 — Mon, 28 Dec 2020 22:29:03 GMT

@Annabellethecat66 You're so funny. I get a kick out of your posts.

Re: Men Making Christmas Present Returns!

Pook — Mon, 28 Dec 2020 22:29:17 GMT

While I really do not want presents or care if I get any, I would welcome practical household items any day over frivilous gifts any day!! One year for my birthday my SO got me a cordless Panosonic iron that I absolutely loved and used for 20 years until it broke. One of my favorite gifts ever!

Re: Men Making Christmas Present Returns!

ECBG — Mon, 28 Dec 2020 22:43:00 GMT

@Annabellethecat66

Re: Men Making Christmas Present Returns!

KBEANS — Tue, 29 Dec 2020 00:43:27 GMT

@Annabellethecat66 I love your post too!

@Pook I say Le Creuset is one size fits all, and I don't mind receiving it from anyone, for Mother's Day, Birthdays and or Christmas. It's better for me to get something I'll use than have to run back and return stuff; or see the look of disappointment on my face. Also... Cash is 👑 King!

Re: Men Making Christmas Present Returns!

Bhvbum — Mon, 28 Dec 2020 23:33:38 GMT

I had a smart husband.

I also passed the information on to my sons, if they ever had to buy presents for their significant others. I would hate for them to learn the hard way, LOL.

My sister's husband early in their marriage gave her a pair of red and white striped flannel pajamas for Christmas with feet in them, she was furious.

Re: Men Making Christmas Present Returns!

beach-mom — Tue, 29 Dec 2020 00:13:02 GMT

@ECBG wrote:
@beach-mom

We were at the very beginning of our marriage and I told him anything for the house was in no way a gift for me! He would find it on top of his head!

I think we must have been shopping or it may have been a holiday where someone else got an appliance or dish.

You trained him well from the beginning. DH was pretty generous - until we had children. The jewelry slowed down for a while. That was OK, and he did give me kitchen appliances, but they were always ones I wanted, like the Kitchen Aid stand mixer.

Re: Men Making Christmas Present Returns!

ECBG — Tue, 29 Dec 2020 00:23:19 GMT

@beach-mom wrote:
@ECBG wrote:
@beach-mom

We were at the very beginning of our marriage and I told him anything for the house was in no way a gift for me! He would find it on top of his head!

I think we must have been shopping or it may have been a holiday where someone else got an appliance or dish.
You trained him well from the beginning. DH was pretty generous - until we had children. The jewelry slowed down for a while. That was OK, and he did give me kitchen appliances, but they were always ones I wanted, like the Kitchen Aid stand mixer.

@beach-mom

Of course if you ASK, it's a different thing all together!

Re: Men Making Christmas Present Returns!

jeanlake — Tue, 29 Dec 2020 01:09:10 GMT

Boy, it's been 42 years and hubs was relieved 40 years ago when I asked him not to make any gift decisions without talking to me first and I would do the same for him. After we bought our first home, mid 20s (our ages, not 1920s), he couldn't stop buying me dumb stuff to hang on the walls or dust-collector chatchke/knicknacks to sit around. Ugh, I don't do 'sit around' stuff. Wall stuff was signage like - WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU LEMONS, MAKE LEMONADE -- I LOVE KOUNTRY (stop with cutsie spellings) and PRAYING HANDS AND ANGEL STUFF. He had a cousin who made ugly wreaths so he was good for one of those a year. After getting his gifts I really needed those praying hands. Oh, and even though hanging macrame was passe in the early 80s, he found some. Our first garage sale, I placed his impulse gifts for me on the sale table with this sign: Free or best offer. Thus, our discussion about checking with one another first before buying gifts. I will say he's a stylish dresser and does okay with purchasing outerwear for me - like cardigan and jean jacket. In earlier years for anniversary, we'd have lunch and exchange cards with $100 bills. Then off to the mall to buy for ourselves then end the day at the movie theatre. That was fun. I kinda miss it.

Re: Men Making Christmas Present Returns!

tarsmom — Tue, 29 Dec 2020 03:53:48 GMT

This year we made a donation to a charity in lieu of gifts.

He knows I want a dog in the spring.

He also knows do not buy me anything for the house - boring!

He cooks (not all the time but often) and vacuums - I'd rather have that.

IF he does buy me gifts, it's gift cards for a massage (he doesn't give good ones lol).

Us ladies have to let the guys know what we like/don't like

Re: Men Making Christmas Present Returns!

AngelPuppy1 — Tue, 29 Dec 2020 11:44:53 GMT

Being surprised at Christmas or birthdays is not always a good thing and usually is not! I think it's great when DH asks me WHAT I want and then listens and actually buys it! In the past, he tended to get me things which he would want to receive and thought were useful, but were less than thrilling to me! I am not good at hiding my feelings, and I never wanted to hurt his feelings, so we eventually came to an understanding and now it's all good! And --- if in doubt --- gift cards are the key! Some might take offense by this, but I sure don't! Why waste money, time and effort buying things which are not needed or wanted??

Re: Men Making Christmas Present Returns!

Annabellethecat66 — Wed, 30 Dec 2020 03:52:20 GMT

@Pook OMG! You need to be friends with me. I love giving people gifts they can use but had no idea they needed or wanted it.

Sometimes I think I’m channeling my mother.

I’d go over her house and she’d pull out things, I swear even she didn’t know what “it” was.

I’d be like, “Mother it’s ...it’s cute...but... um what is “it” and what do I do with “it”?

She’d start laughing ( buying herself some time) then say, “Lin, it’s a ...it’s a coffee creamer thingy that also measures stuff.”

I’d say, “Mother...it’s kinda small. It doesn’t hold anything...it has a hole in it.”

Mother’d say, “as soon as I saw it, I knew you needed it”. Hummmm.....

So....If you came over to my house...and you see me leave the room...you can expect to find me cleaning out my cabinet, looking for some useless stuff I think you’ll need...

Mother would be so proud of me for finding a home for her (I’ll let you figure that one out).

Re: Men Making Christmas Present Returns!

chrystaltree — Wed, 30 Dec 2020 22:40:48 GMT

I had that problem my first few years of marriage and then I took matters into my own hands. Around mid October, hubby and I decide on a price range and we give each other a list of 5 things we would like for Christmas. Depending on the amount, we choose one or two things from the list. That way, we get something that we really want but we are still surprised when we open our gift. We've done it that way for the past 25 or 26 years.