The holiday shopping isn't going too badly this year. I have a small family, and this year I was told exactly what to buy for two family members, which eliminates a good bit of the hassle and headache. But when I go shopping, I tend to end up looking for things for myself. I don't do it intentionally; I just think, while I'm here I should go look in the men's section. Sometimes I use it as research to give other people ideas for what to get me, but I often don't end up getting the things I ask for.
I'm not sure why this is. The Mrs. doesn't like to rely on lists for me because she feels that after more than a dozen years together, she should be able to come up with gifts I'll like without any help, but in recent years she has kind of given up this noble stance and asked for a list. One year she just took me shopping and had me pick out some things I liked, which was fine with me but disappointed her.
This year, I haven't even given her a list yet, and she doesn't seem much in the mood for shopping anyway. Yesterday we went back to the schmancy new mall in Natick that I wrote about a couple of months ago. She got herself some stuff at Bath and Body Works, and I ended up buying a couple of pairs of corduroy jeans, which I like to wear in colder weather. But neither of us bought anything for each other, or for anyone else for that matter. She said she won't be going near another mall until after the season is over. I get where she's coming from, and if I didn't go to a mall again for the next few weeks, I wouldn't be too troubled. But I was thinking of maybe heading out this afternoon, to check out the markdowns in a couple of places. And our friend Sandra wants to go to the Wrentham outlets tomorrow...
Yeah, we ended up not going to Wrentham for fear of Patriots traffic. But fyi, I am PERFECTLY content with getting gifts that come from the post-Christmas-markdown craziness. It's rare that you and I trade gifts exactly on Xmas Day anyway.
ReplyDeleteBut hey, my plea still stands: unless it's a fantabulous/xpensive gift that I really need, please don't combine my birthday and xmas gifts. I know my birthday is 15 days away from Xmas. I'd rather get my gift in July, when I really need stuff:) If the missus is not in a buying mood, I'd rather wait until she is in the mood. I'm so tired of Xmas being about pressurized-cooker shopping marathons anyway. I think christmas craziness should be reserved for blood relatives/spousal equivalents, and we create a new gift holiday on New Year's Eve or later in January for friends.
I'm always surprised when little things aren't considered when gift-buying. For my son's 4th bday, someone gave him a book meant for a 3 year old. There's a big difference in those ages, bookwise. He already knows his numbers. That book went happily to a toy drive, however, something I wanted to do, anyway, for Xander -- instill the "let's give one of your gifts to someone who needs them." I also put away some of the toys he received right away to bring out later, when he'd appreciate them more.
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