10 Gifts not to buy your wife

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Not to drag the thread down into seriousness, but I think the real reason why women get upset about their presents is because a present totally out of character or that screams “I was bought the day before because I was close to the register” sends her a message saying “you are not worth my time or attention to figure out what you’d like.”

A present need not be expensive to be great. My husband spent WAY more money than I thought he should buying me a pearl necklace/braclet/earring set one year. I hate it. There is probably one chance in a hundred that I would wear them. It isn’t “me”. But to the woman who got her bum pinched in a toilet seat with a crack in it, a new toilet seat might seem like a great gift. (especially if it matches the decor and is not covered with NASCAR pictures. Score extra points for that “paying attention thing.”)

What women really want is to know that their husbands actually pay attention to them enough to know what they’d like or need, and to take the time to go and get it.

Some women are more practical and the most expensive luxury gift to her would just be money that could have been used for the desperately needed new practical item.

Some women think practical gifts are horrible and want to be pampered with luxury gifts. The point is, that if the gift giver doesn’t pay attention enough to know which type he has, then he is in for a rough ride.
 
Ha, one year I got from my husband a waffle maker, a blender and some other kitchen type appliance (I don’t remember what). Now they were all nice gifts, but I was a little unexcited by them. You don’t exactly feel like saying, “whoo-hoo, let’s go make waffles!”

But I love him, he tried. 🙂
 
I have to brag on my husband …and maybe give other guys an idea 😃 . The absolute best gift he ever gave me was a packet of coupons that he typed up on the computer. They were for things like a foot rub, a back rub, an uninterupted bath, and other stuff that he knows I like for him to do but that he doesn’t always do. It gave me a way of getting what I want without having to ask. If I wanted it, I just handed him my little coupon and he did it. He didn’t spend any money but he sure made my day!!!
 
For our first Christmas as newlyweds 10 years ago, (when I was 20) I bought my new husband several gifts but the best was the Craftsman tool set he had been drooling over for a year!

I opened my box to find a plum purple sweatsuit. The pants had pockets and tight ankles. The shirt had a design on the front of glittery hummingbirds and flowers! My grandma would have loved it!!! He coupled this gift with a large array of trouser socks with various designs and prints and colors. In his defense I told him that I needed some sweats to wear around the house… I was thinking from Gap, not the Granny section at Walmart.

**The next year I was pregnant and he gave me a Christmas ornament of a house that said “Our Home” and a green body pillow. We were in a new house, pregnant and I lost my job, so we were poor! I was greatful for the thoughtful gift because he knew I would need a body pillow while pregnant! **

**For my birtday four months later, he gave me a white ceiling fan! I can’t stand ceiling fans and he knows this! They dry out my contacts. This gift annoyed me. 🙂 **

Over the years I have recieved a food processor, a vaccum cleaner and all kinds gifts that I have chosen. I choose all my own gifts now… go figure! A few years ago he suprised me with a new camera, which was the best gift he has given since we were married!

**Just once I would love for him to take the time to buy a really sweet gift! **

**I told him a few years ago that I wanted a new pair of simple white pearl earrings to wear every day. The cost is between $20 - $50 generally. He bought some during a trip to Spain, gigantic black pearls. I can’t wear them or my ears swell up and become sore! **

**He is a great man, but he can’t seem to get the present thing in gear! **
 
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MamaCarnie:
DH bought me tupperware one year. He raved for two days about what a great present he had bought me, and would take people into the bedroom to see the phenomenal gift… when I opened it I nearly choked!!! I couldn’t believe that was his gift.

I think he’s learned his lesson since then.
:rotfl: :rotfl:

I am cracking up at this… poor man! Can you imagine the people he was taking behind the scenes to see the gift? They probably had to fake their reaction!

Perhaps he was noticing that your tupperware collection needed an addition? Maybe he saw a tupperware flyer with a “wish list” checklist on it and thought “Wow that must be something women really want!” LOL
 
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deb1:
For all the hubbies that have difficulty buying their wives presents…why not simply explain to your wives that hints do not work and ask her for a list of maybe ten items within a certain price range. I think that wife’s could do the same thing but actually write the list down, hand it to him and tell him not to get you anything not on the list. WOuldn’t that make everything easier?
LOL this is what we sort of do, but my poor husband always tries to go beyond the list… like giant black pearls from Spain that have gold coated backs rather than the simple little white ones I asked for, LOL

Or the “fancy” purple hummingbird granny sweatsuit, rather than the simple sweats I had in mind!
 
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ConcernCatholic:
I have to brag on my husband …and maybe give other guys an idea 😃 . The absolute best gift he ever gave me was a packet of coupons that he typed up on the computer. They were for things like a foot rub, a back rub, an uninterupted bath, and other stuff that he knows I like for him to do but that he doesn’t always do. It gave me a way of getting what I want without having to ask. If I wanted it, I just handed him my little coupon and he did it. He didn’t spend any money but he sure made my day!!!
I did this one year and he thought it was the craziest thing ever and never used the coupons! I always do that stuff anyway! One year he did it and then every time I would ask for a back rub etc. he would say “Where’s your coupon???” so it totally backfired! I wonder if he made the coupons disappear on purpose… hmm…
 
Ok, I have to fess up on my buying disasters.

Since we have been married, I usually do a pretty good job, but when I was in college I asked him what he wanted and he said…

“Toys, you know, I like toys.”

I thought it was really strange… but I went to the local toy store and found the most interesting toys I could find for his dorm room. A ball called a swirly girty, jenga, various party games, etc. My parents were always buying toys for their adult kids. My sister collects Barbies and other dolls, my brother always wants video games and quirky toys like singing hampsters or comic book collectables… so it wasn’t totally out of the realm of reality. I just didnt’ realize *he *would like toys.

I felt so stupid when he opened the box and was like “um… wow … that’s cool…” :hmmm:

Little did I know he told me later that he meant “toys” like craftsman tools, electronics equipment, accessories for his car… etc.

I felt so stupid buying him toys. He should have been more specific! From that Christmas on I always buy him BIG BOY “toys”
 
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ConcernCatholic:
I have to brag on my husband …and maybe give other guys an idea 😃 . The absolute best gift he ever gave me was a packet of coupons that he typed up on the computer. They were for things like a foot rub, a back rub, an uninterupted bath, and other stuff that he knows I like for him to do but that he doesn’t always do. It gave me a way of getting what I want without having to ask. If I wanted it, I just handed him my little coupon and he did it. He didn’t spend any money but he sure made my day!!!
we do that for our Mom… she absolutely loves it!

Laura 😛
 
Hey, I wouldn’t mind a toilet seat for Christmas. One bathroom, 6 kids (ok, 2 are in diapers), and a broken toilet seat that I have to re-install every time I need to go… and 3 of the kids are
“sprinklers”, if you know what I mean! I dream of a nice toilet seat, with metal hinges that won’t snap when the 2 year old climbs upon it to eat the toothpaste… it beats my “usual” Christmas present which is a jewelry box (3 years running). Don’t own any jewelry, not even a real wedding ring, but if I ever do I have plenty of places to put it!
The worst gift my DH ever got me was, he took me to the store to pick it out myself. I picked out a nice but not expensive earring and necklace set, and when I put it on the counter so hubby could pay he goes, “I’m not buying you that, it looks so cheap and tacky!” This after I spent 2 hours shopping and picking it out.
Sigh, will they ever learn? I’ve also gotten cutting boards and coffee makers, and a hair dryer with a diffuser. (I NEVER blow dry my hair, already own a hair dryer, and don’t have curly hair).
 
Oh, I forgot to mention, not only do I tell him and hint what I want, I actually CUT OUT PICTURES and tape them to a page along with the name of the store. And still I get a jewelry box.
 
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mommyjo2:
Oh, I forgot to mention, not only do I tell him and hint what I want, I actually CUT OUT PICTURES and tape them to a page along with the name of the store. And still I get a jewelry box.
Maybe he is hinting that you should but your own jewelry?!:eek:
 
I actually CUT OUT PICTURES and tape them to a page along with the name of the store
We used to do this with Mom when we were teens. She has this weird system of remembering things by association. My brother asked for a Phil Collins CD, she went to the store and asked for a Tom Collins. Sorry Mom, wrong type of store. Another time a Cinderella CD (the rock group) was asked for, and Mom bought… you guessed it! Disney! Thus it was easier to just cut out pictures, store info etc. and hopefully the clerks would be able to help Mom out.

(For the older crowd, remember when VCR’s first came out there were two basic formats for tapes, VHS or Beta? It was very important to buy the right kind. Mom was sent to buy VHS tapes. When the clerk asked her which format she needed she replied Very Hairy Snake! Apparently another one of her “associations” to help remember.)
 
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