The craziness has begun. We see it every year. Buy the biggest, most expensive gift and she'll love you forever. Cars and jewels...dude, really? That's all it takes for romance to thrive? LOL It's a pet peeve of mine I admit it, but I cannot stand the commercials that seem to say: buy her a brand new car and she'll stay by your side through sickness and health, otherwise nada.
Also, let's not forget the commercials that play up to our kids. "As Seen On TV" Those items your kids will no doubt add to their list and if you don't get it you run the chance of ruining a kid's Christmas. I hate those 'As Seen On TV' toys. They're almost always expensive AND a huge let down. And what happens almost every single time? The toy you bought that just seemed like fun, ends up being the toy they play with forever, not the crap you saw in a TV ad.
Then let's not forget the gift that companies will purposely make a limited quantity of just so they can watch parents scramble around trying to find it for their child. I'm convinced there's some sort of camera. The manufactures are watching us on some big screen, taking bets like it's a horse race or something. No price is too high, no store is too far, because little Johnny really wants that thing. Even though we all know he'll lose interest inside of a week.
A few of the best things to buy that'll always be a sure thing. DVDs. Movies will never go out of style. Books. A new book or gift card to a bookstore will always light up my eyes, my girls too. Adding a new item to the 'collection'. Almost all of us have things we like to collect and nothing says 'I get you' better than a new addition for his/her collection. When someone listens to us talk and mentally takes notes, that's a cool thing. I realized someone was paying attn around my house when my birthday rolled around and I saw that my daughters had bought me the first season of Supernatural. They get me. I loved that they bought me something they knew I would love, simply because they paid attention. Those are the best presents. Not a new car, not a new diamond bracelet, those things wouldn't be for me, those are for the giver. It's an ego boost.
My girls both have things they love. For Kati, if it's pink she's gonna love it. Clothes, shoes, hair dye. LOL She LOVES pink. For Alisha it's games. And she's good at them too. Motorcycle games, war games, she loves mastering new skills and getting to the next level. And of course they both love new accessories for their 'gadgets'.
So what was the best gift I ever received? I think the best gift was from my husband and kids. Without me knowing it they printed all my poems out, then my husband took the time to make a hard cover for them and they presented me with my very own book of poems. That was so thoughtful, so clever too. I cried buckets that day, I really did.
What was your best gift? Was it from your husband, kids, parents? Tell us, we want to tear up too!! LOL
18 comments:
Wow! That's an amazing gift from your husband!! Very creative.
Anne - I can't think of one spectacular gift that surpasses all others. I do remember the stinkers though. A glue gun and a garage door opener from my former he-who-must-not-be-named.
Ahem.
As for the commercials, I have two words for you:
MUTE BUTTON
God bless the woman who invented the mute button, which can be found on most TV remotes.
:)
G.
Thanks, Kelley! It really tickled me that he took the time to do that and get the kids involved. :)
Genella--A mute button? Wow, cool! I had no idea! LOL
But no, I didn't use the mute, we just popped in some Christmas movies and watched them instead. Way more fun that way!
I'm with you, Anne! I hate those give her a car or expensive diamond for Christmas and she'll love you forever comercials. The best gifts are the simple ones that don't cost much or nothing at all.
I agree, Susan! Esp. with the economy the way it is!
I guess we're a bit unAmerican in my house. The Boob Tube has not been switched on in some 4 years now. (And with the amount of dust in it, I'm a bit scared to turn it on)
Best gift received? Probably the time my son gave me the Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe. And the time he was 7 and he gave me his hand prints in a tray of plaster.
Best gift I've given? During our years of being care givers my wife suffered some pretty heavy bouts of depression. About a year ago, I took her out for a decompress session. Facial, manicure, pedicure, clothes shopping and dinner. I can't remember a time when she looked happier, except our wedding day of course.
I'd spent a whole day making her the center of attention. She reciprocated that night, in the most wonderful ways.
I love gifts that show people get me. It's sadly rare, because I think I'm a pretty open book.
The ad I HATE is about a woman getting a car, and remembering when she was little and got a pony and how her friend was so jealous---what an ugly message. "Get this car and make all your friends jealous!" Does that really inspire anyone over the age of 12?
Dr. Karl, I'm a big fan of Poe. For my birthday one year my mother gave me a five volume set of books printed in 1914. The best set of books on my shelf, hands down!
I love what you did for your wife. It was thoughtful and proved to her that someone appreciates HER. :)
Mary--That's THE worst commercial ever. OMG, what a horrible message! It (partly) inspired this post!
What a great gift and what a great guy! Hang onto him. I'm with you on the commercials. I am so totally sick of commercials anyway-the music, the idiotic things they do to try and sell things. The only commercials I really like are the ones with Mr. Bill, and I think those are hysterical. The best gift I got from my husband? My acoustic guitar got broken and he snreaked it out of the hosue, ahd it fixed and restrung and brought it back home to me.
PS. The guy with the glue gun and the garage door opener? I'd glue him to the garage door and fix the openeer to go up and down all the time.
Des--I love that he did that for you. That is so sweet!
and I'm LMAO over your glue gun/garage door idea. I wouldn't mind trying that on a few family members!
My favorite gift was getting Lasik surgery for my eyes. For someone who has always had glasses or contacts it was like a miracle to me to wake up in the morning and see the clock. I burst into tears over it. Wonderful gift and my son will be getting the same thing for Christmas this year.
Damn..I hate how they promote these new toys and gadjects and machines and then don't make enough available. That's just MEAN.
Great blog Anne. I totally agree with you about the commercials. It's completely ridiculous, especially in our current economic situation.
I've had a lot of meaningful gifts from my hubby. One that brings a smile to my face, almost everyday, is my digital picture frame. I just put my memory card in and it scrolls through the pictures I have saved -- the girls, trips, family, etc. It's awesome!
Regina--It's so cool that there's a way to correct vision now. What a great breakthrough!
Sophia--I really want one of those frames. I love those! And I agree about the economy. I was chatting w/ my mail lady and she said she's even noticed that folks aren't buying stamps like they used to. So sad.
That's so awesome, Anne! My favorite gift ever was a journal that my husband kept of our relationship until he proposed. It brought tears to my eyes to read his feelings about us and to know that he'd taken the time to chronicle it for me. And one of my favorite gifts from our kids is a little hand-drawn book my daughter made for us, telling us about one of her favorite days. SO cute--we're obviously keeping that forever ;) Oh, as for commercials, we tend to TiVo and skip most of them. Yay!
Flchen--dang, I have tears now. That's the sweetest thing ever. He's definite hero material!
As to TiVo. We used to have that, but our box became outdated once Time Warner upgraded. We had two options, either upgrade our TiVo or get DVR through Time Warner Cable. It was cheaper to go with the latter. The benefits. We can tape two shows at once, which is so coo. Disadvantages. The remote sucks. We hit fast forward and there's like a delayed response when you go to hit play again. You end up fast forwarding through half the damn show. It's not nearly as nice as TiVo! I miss our TiVo!
I'm with you on the commercials, you are preaching to the choir here.
Very creative & amazing give from your family. That is a keep sake for like.
Greta--Thanks, I was thrilled when they showed me the book. My eyes still get teary. Such a sweet and thoughtful gift!
Post a Comment