@Sooner wrote:
@Moonchilde wrote:
@millieshops wrote:
Hopefully the gift was something he really wanted and you had spoken with him about it.
I don't do surprises any longer - at least not for those over 10 years old. Seems like almost everyone I know prefers to shop for themselves - or they give a very detailed wish list to those shopping for them, so what we'd buy wouldn't really be much of a surprise. I dislike those lists almost as much as I do gift cards to specific shops or restaurants. If that makes me a curmudgeon, then that's what I am.
What I don’t do any longer is waste my money on gifts that I think a recipient “should” want - either because it’s age-appropriate, sex-appropriate, or because I want them to have it, period.
I was often a victim of that - my mother and sister knew what I didn’t like as far as clothing style, material and colors, and what I did like. It made no difference to either of them - they bought me what they wanted to buy me, and I was just nuts if I didn’t love it too - never mind that it was the garment created for me to hate as far as color, fabric, style and fit. What I wanted was immaterial - what they wanted to get me was what I received. I never wore any of it.
These days I ask, and pay attention to the answers. If I just have no clue but know where interests lie, I’ll get gift cards, because the point is that when I do that, I know I’m getting them something where they can choose exactly what they actually want. Just me, but I’d rather do that than spend the same amount on something they will wad up and toss in the back of the closet or shove under the bed - or regift.
@Moonchilde Bless you for saying this! I think so often when something is a surprise, something they wouldn't buy for themselves, or something you just THINK they would like, it turns out to be a big dud for the recipient. I know this because I used to try to surprise someone with my cleaver gift and boy did it bomb a number of times.
Also was an expensive bomb a couple of time. . . so there you have it! Bad on me. Just ASK. If they don't want anything specific, gift card or cash. I don't think many people don't like C A S H !
@Sooner, I know it’s traditionally been thought through most of my life that gift cards “showed no effort” and are “the easy way out”, and were considered a lazy, sloppy, “bad” gift. I don’t think that’s the case for maybe the last 10-12 years or so. Look at the multiple racks of gift cards in supermarkets and drug stores - literally something for everyone.
If you know someone shops at Store X but not their size, why not a gift card to Store X? If a giftee and/or hubby like to eat out, what better than a GC so they have a meal “on the giftor.”
In my case I have three boys to buy for - 17, 13 and 12. The oldest loves gift cards. He isn’t driving/doesn’t have a car yet and was thrilled with an Uber card for his b/d. He’s getting another for Xmas and an i-Tunes card. The two younger, whom not even their moms have a clue what to suggest, I got GC’s to Toys r Us and i-Tunes. No discarded items they will never look at again once the box is opened.
Life without Mexican food is no life at all
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