Chit Chat

Is you SO a good gift giver?

Mine insists on buying me things that I say I don't want/ need. Once in a while in bed I check TK and FB on my phone. But it's not that often since I see it at the computer screen all day. He's been saying for months that I should get a tablet with a big screen to do that at night and I literally told him 100 times that I'm not interested in a tablet. We have a laptop, we have smartphones, it's just not necessary at all. And I'm not a "techie" person at all- he literally forced me into a smartphone in 2014.

So of course last night, he was all excited and saying how we never celebrate Valentine's and he was just in the mood to celebrate it this year and hands me a brand new tablet. I felt like a bitch by not being excited, but I said many times that I didn't want one so I don't know what reaction he was expecting. You know how some people coyly say they don't want something, but they really do? That's not me! This is the third time he's done this and I'm like why haven't you learned by now that I mean what I say when I'm genuinely not interested in something?!

Of course I thanked him, and I'm sure I'll eventually use it so it's definitely a FWP and I shouldn't be complaining. But I have to shake my head and laugh since he's done this before. What about your SO- are they a good gift giver?

                                                                 

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Re: Is you SO a good gift giver?

  • H is the opposite, ha. I like surprises and he doesn't. So if he's wanting to get me a gift he begs me to just tell him what I want and I say I want to be surprised. 
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  • H is an awesome gift giver. Most of the time I'm fairly certain he's only half listening to me and rarely remembers things I tell him, but he's very good at remembering things that I mention I would like. I don't think he's ever given me a bad gift. I actually got a tablet for Christmas this year and LOVE it. For birthdays he usually lets me pick out whatever I want and he'll get it for me but he keeps Christmas a surprise.
  • FI is very thoughtful with his gifts. He will search for months to find one things. Granted, what he gives me is not what most women think of as "good" gifts, but I love them. He's surprised me with a KitchenAid, a new knife block, a Dyson sweeper. They were all things that I would just say I want in passing. Yes, I go crazy for household items!
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  • DH is an awful gift-giver. I've asked him to stop giving me gifts, but he hasn't yet. It's very sweet of him to get me things, but I think he's gotten it right less than a handful of times in all these years...
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  • H is THE WORST! But he knows it. For our first xmas together he got me cocoa tea. I was gracious about it...but still. Since then I just tell him what I want. It's not very exciting, but that bag of tea is still mostly full in the pantry, so there's that.
  • DH is probably one of the best gift givers I know. Not just for me but, for everyone in his life. He somehow can always think of the perfect gift for different situations. Somehow he can always surprise me with different things that I swear I've never mentioned to him. 
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  • V is awesome at it! Then again we kinda cheat and make lists. They are all things both of us want but we don't know what the other is picking. So its a surprise I know I'll like!
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  • Awww, well that's sweet! You will learn to love your tablet. I didn't want a tablet myself, but won an iPad last year at work. I LOVE that thing!

    FI is a pretty good gift giver. He gets me things I need. Sometimes I'll tell him what I want, but I prefer to be surprised. For example, last year for Christmas he got me a bunch of boxing wraps, a laundry mesh thing to wash the wraps in, athletic socks (I never match my socks because I always lose them), a Nike thermal jacket (I was training for the half marathon and was starting to go on outdoor runs, but had a horrible jacket to run in), and I can't remember what else. I remember those gifts though, because they were all things that I really needed for my training. So he does a decent job at getting me stuff :)

    Oh wait, the last gift was a necklace from Tiffany's. He took me there, and let me pick one out. That was pretty awesome!
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  • Mine goes way overboard on Christmas and Birthday. He is definitely good with giving those because it is stuff he knows I wont spend the money on myself.  and what I spend on him is usually way less because I try to be thoughtful with my gifts but not spend a fortune but I always feel bad that I never will meet him dollar for dollar.  Doesn't do much for any other holiday or celebration, although all I ever want anyway is a card!

    Picking out jewelry is not his forte, he tries and I'm not big on jewelry and have never asked for anything anyway but he's tried twice and spends way more than I would ever dream on stuff that definitely isn't my style.

  • pinkcow13 said:
     

    Oh wait, the last gift was a necklace from Tiffany's. He took me there, and let me pick one out. That was pretty awesome!
    Jealous! That would never happen to me lol

                                                                     

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  • He has his moments.  He tries.  For the most part he can't keep a secret, so that is part of it.   Or he will take me into a store and say "try this on" while handing me a ski jacket.  But then we just walk out the store.   Umm, I wonder what I'm getting for xmas?  The ski jacket was needed, so it was a nice gift.  I guess his approach is not the best.

    I'm still confused on the super high-power salon grade hair dryer I got this year for xmas.    I dry my hair every other day this time of year.  Hardly at all in the warmer months.   He was so excited over this hair dryer.    I thought my Revlon worked just fine.   Now it is a nice dryer, but still a weird gift.






    What differentiates an average host and a great host is anticipating unexpressed needs and wants of their guests.  Just because the want/need is not expressed, doesn't mean it wouldn't be appreciated. 
  • lyndausvi said:
    He has his moments.  He tries.  For the most part he can't keep a secret, so that is part of it.   Or he will take me into a store and say "try this on" while handing me a ski jacket.  But then we just walk out the store.   Umm, I wonder what I'm getting for xmas?  The ski jacket was needed, so it was a nice gift.  I guess his approach is not the best.

    I'm still confused on the super high-power salon grade hair dryer I got this year for xmas.    I dry my hair every other day this time of year.  Hardly at all in the warmer months.   He was so excited over this hair dryer.    I thought my Revlon worked just fine.   Now it is a nice dryer, but still a weird gift.
    hahhah that's adorable. Maybe his mom or coworker was raving about it?? That is really random and funny

                                                                     

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  • I'm the gift-giver in our relationship. I love giving gifts. SO isn't that great at doing gifts. Some years I get a Christmas present, some years I don't. He rarely does birthday presents, he just plans a fun date. We don't do presents for anniversaries or valentine's day. It's never bothered me. But when he does give gifts I always love them.


  • jenna8984 said:
    pinkcow13 said:
     

    Oh wait, the last gift was a necklace from Tiffany's. He took me there, and let me pick one out. That was pretty awesome!
    Jealous! That would never happen to me lol
    Me either. My H is very thrifty. I have to say that he always picks out really creative, thoughtful gifts. So in general I'd say he's a good gift-giver. But I've accepted the fact that I'll never get jewelry for any occasion (well, except for my E-ring!).


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  • jenna8984 said:
    lyndausvi said:
    He has his moments.  He tries.  For the most part he can't keep a secret, so that is part of it.   Or he will take me into a store and say "try this on" while handing me a ski jacket.  But then we just walk out the store.   Umm, I wonder what I'm getting for xmas?  The ski jacket was needed, so it was a nice gift.  I guess his approach is not the best.

    I'm still confused on the super high-power salon grade hair dryer I got this year for xmas.    I dry my hair every other day this time of year.  Hardly at all in the warmer months.   He was so excited over this hair dryer.    I thought my Revlon worked just fine.   Now it is a nice dryer, but still a weird gift.
    hahhah that's adorable. Maybe his mom or coworker was raving about it?? That is really random and funny
    Well his sister is a professional hair stylist.  I know she gave him the recommendation (after he asked).  His mom was one too, but she has a cheap ass hair dryer.   


    It does work better the Revlon.  I will give him that.   Now I feel compeled to style my hair :sad: 







    What differentiates an average host and a great host is anticipating unexpressed needs and wants of their guests.  Just because the want/need is not expressed, doesn't mean it wouldn't be appreciated. 
  • Yep, FI is pretty thoughtful and tries to get me things that he knows that I want/need.  He's given me a couple pieces of jewelry and he does a good job. 
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  • He's not a great gift giver. He's gotten better though, especially when I've made online wishlists (especially at ThinkGeek).
  • H is an AWESOME gift giver. He always picks up on things I mention... like when we had first started dating, I was randomly bitching about my total FWP of not being able to efficiently make creamy soups, because I only had a stand blender and you can't blend hot soup. That Christmas, he bought me an immersion blender. Then we went on a cruise and I was swooning over the rose gold Michael Kors watches they had on sale the last day, but decided I didn't want to spend the money on one... a few months later, he bought me one for my birthday (AND threw me a surprise party, which I loved)! He'll randomly bring flowers home or send them to my office too, not just for special occasions. He even consulted with my sister to make sure he picked an engagement ring I would love.

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  • DH really isn't into buying gifts. It also doesn't help that we both shop for ourselves whenever we damn well please (it does kind of piss me off that December 12 he'll be like "oh I want this" AND THEN BUYS IT HIMSELF. ARGJSSKDFJLSJFJLASFE).

    I do tend to hate when people buy me jewelry because it's NEVER really my style, so I have to feign excitement and then actually wear the piece (even though I have my own stuff that I like way better).

    But long story short: No, DH isn't really a gift giver. For Christmas I was going on and on about how I wanted a pearl necklace and he just told me that he'll buy it for me for Christmas. If it weren't for that he probably wouldn't have gotten me anything.
  • amelishaamelisha member
    First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    edited February 2015
    Mine is very, very good. He keeps a list on his phone whenever I offhand mention that I want something, and then refers to it whenever he has a gift-giving occasion arise (and tells his family too - like "oh, you should get her slippers for Christmas, she was complaining about how worn out hers are the other day," or "she lost the whisk for her stand mixer when we moved and I know she misses it.") He is so, so thoughtful that way and really good for a guy at picking things out for me.

    He's bought me a couple pieces of jewelry that are exactly my taste, but where he really excels is at little things - one year on my birthday after I'd just bought an expensive light-coloured purse, he bought me one of those little purse hangers that you stick on the side of restaurant tables and stuff and included it with the "big" gift he'd bought me. It was just a little thing but it was so thoughtful and useful. Or our roommate broke my favourite glass mixing bowl and he spent weeks trying to track down a replacement from Williams-Sonoma. That's the kind of thing he's very good with.

    We don't do a lot of gifts for each other, and this year we didn't even do Christmas, but when we do he always picks out stuff I want and need. It's not usually extravagant and he's not a spender, but I would a million times rather have the stuff he picks out for me than generic expensive stuff.

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  • FI is pretty good.  If I was adamant about not wanting/needing something he would not get it for me.  Most of the time he will choose practical gifts,(i. e. car mats this year for Christmas)  which I like because I know I will always use it, and sometimes he will surprise me just because with jewelry or a purse he knows I've been eyeing or something. 
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  • @plainjane0415 frigen loving that halftime gif hahahaah 

                                                                     

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  • Well, for example, this most recent Christmas he mostly stuck to my wishlist and also got me a necklace.  For our anniversary last year he got me a massage certificate thing, which is awesome.  So, yeah I guess he is a good gift giver.
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  • FI is fantastic. He got me the entire Harry Potter movie collection on bluray this past Christmas, along with a stuffed snowy owl, a Doctor Who hat that it's never cold enough for, and a little minion to play with the one he got me for my birthday.

    He's also clever with the delivery. I mean, my Christmas presents were wrapped, but he gave me my birthday presents this year by setting his iPad up on top of the game he got me and setting a little note beside it that said "Papoi, para tu" (toy for you in minion speak?) and then an arrow to the iPad that said "press play". On the iPad he'd set up a "happy birthday" minion video.

    Another, off topic takeaway: clearly I am too obsessed with minions to actually be 26.
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  • FI is EXTREMELY thoughtful and very good at giving gifts.

    He does forget that I get all the notifications for Amazon though, so I know what he got me for valentine's day.
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    I'm the fuck
    out.

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  • H is such a good gift giver. I never know what I want and he is great at picking out something I love. I'm the opposite. I'm awful at gifts. I always buy useful things like boots or a coat. While I know they are expensive gifts, just not fun and exciting gifts.

  • @beethery ooh what is it? 

                                                                     

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  • jenna8984 said:
    @beethery ooh what is it? 
    Part of it is the Golden Girls complete series on DVD. Lord knows I mention it any time he asks me what I want for Christmas. He said he got two things so idk what the other one is.

    I still gotta do my spa day from Christmas.
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    I'm the fuck
    out.

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  • beethery said:
    FI is EXTREMELY thoughtful and very good at giving gifts.

    He does forget that I get all the notifications for Amazon though, so I know what he got me for valentine's day.
    DH has a perfectly good club to receive packages.  There are only a handful of people, every knows him.  Unlikely to get lost.  

    Nope he sends everything here.  Then he gets mad that I've seen where the package if from.   

    Umm, I work from home dude.  Pretty much guarantees I will be receiving the packages.






    What differentiates an average host and a great host is anticipating unexpressed needs and wants of their guests.  Just because the want/need is not expressed, doesn't mean it wouldn't be appreciated. 
  • lyndausvi said:
    beethery said:
    FI is EXTREMELY thoughtful and very good at giving gifts.

    He does forget that I get all the notifications for Amazon though, so I know what he got me for valentine's day.
    DH has a perfectly good club to receive packages.  There are only a handful of people, every knows him.  Unlikely to get lost.  

    Nope he sends everything here.  Then he gets mad that I've seen where the package if from.   

    Umm, I work from home dude.  Pretty much guarantees I will be receiving the packages.
    Yeah he told me not to open anything, which is fine because I haven't ordered anything since before Christmas. He could also send things to his mom's house but nooooooo.

    I play his ass EVERY YEAR about not being able to get _____ thing he wanted because I couldn't find it for less than $$$ or they didn't have it, or it's not coming until after. I get everything shipped to the office or my parents' house and drag it out in time for him to wake up.

    It was a huge bitch to bring his big-ass chop saw upstairs to wrap it, then all the way upstairs to put it in the closet, then back down christmas morning before he woke up. I'm lucky he's a heavy sleeper.
    --

    I'm the fuck
    out.

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