What gift would you ask for from DH?

[Radosti]

So, DH never attempts to get me anything without me threatening divorce first. I didn't get anything for my first mother's day, or for the first birthday after Aaron was born... or many other gift-giving occasions. For my first mother's day, I tried to prepare myself and told him to just tell me outright if he didn't have anything for me. He acted all insulted and said that it was a surprise. Well, Mother's day came and went and I finally asked about it and he acted all indignant and told me he was not given the time to shop. Ahhhhmmmm.... what????

For the following birthday, I did several hints, like sending him Blue Nile links and coupon codes and walking him into jewelry stores. He got me a gorgeous necklace that I get compliments on every time. For the next mother's day, he got me an awesome digital picture frame for work, but a few days before someone stole the department's digital camera and several laptops walked, so I didn't feel comfortable taking it to work. It's sat in the cabinet since then unused. Doh...

So, hanukkah came and went, and I got nothing. I shopped for him and his entire family for christmas and got them all thoughtful gifts. I got DS all his Hanukkah gifts. I got nothing, nada, zilch, , not even a card. So, my birthday is in 3 days and I told him that he HAD to have a gift for me. He is again at a loss (besides the $100 gift certificate to my salon/spa which he's gone for wayyyyy too many times in the last number of years). Heck, my parents gave him a GPS for his birthday and he loved getting it. He needs to get me something I'll love.

So, now he wanted an idea. I mentioned the Ipod Shuffle. I have an older Ipod, but it's big. I want a teeny ipod to walk with, but I am afraid I'll miss the screen. And my music is a mess, so if I get a shuffle, I'll need to clean it up into playlists. I have a great digital camera, so no need for that. I have no idea what else I might like.

I guess the idea of asking him to get me a gift for my birthday is to make sure he thinks somewhat about it. I can certainly find better deals on stuff I can think of wanting then he can. So, why do I need him to go shopping for something I thought of. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure that Plan A is to get me to tell him something, Plan B is not getting me anything at all.

So, I better think of something to ask for. And quickly. So, I need suggestions. Please.....

[rachelh]

I can totally relate! My bday was Dec 2nd and DH still has not given me anything. I feel like I just need to buy my own bday present which kinda defeats the whole purpose. DH also totally does not get the hints - my sister-in-law was wearing really nice earrings. I knew they couldnt be expensive so I was dropping hints "Hey aren't sis-in-laws earrings so pretty and different..." His response was "Why dont you ask her to borrow them?"

Anyways...since my bday was almost a month ago already Ive had alot of time to think.

Here are my ideas:

1) Autmoatic car starter - can totally use one with the cold weather!
2) espresso machine - alot of $$$ but maybe we will spurge (or I was thinking to get it as a joint present for both DH and myself for our anniversary
3) nice watch
4) ipod
5) nice designer leather planner

Good Luck! Let me know what you get - maybe it will give me some ideas...

Rachel

[dotgirl]

I actually read this post to my husband, and he was a little speechless. Which is pretty rare for him. ;)

Anyway, my DH wouldn't let an occasion like Christmas or Mother's Day go by without getting me a present, but I do have to hint strongly about things that I want, just because it makes it easier for him.

Some things I did was say "Oh, I'm sending you a URL of this necklace I want - do you think it would look nice on me?" or "Man, my hands get so cold - I wonder if I should get some cashmere lined gloves?" - that usually sends him running to his palm pilot to make some notes. ;)

Some other things you could ask for would be:
a simple pair of pearl earrings (inexpensive)
some sort of birthstone jewelry - Lenox sells some nice stuff
an iPod-like thing
some cozy down slippers (like the ones they sell at Brookstone)
a digital photo keychain (again, Brookstone has some nice ones)

[kijip]

I am in love with the cashmere gloves and hat my husband or Santa left in my stocking today. Very nice. They are from Banana Republic, and he could take advantage of the sales now!

[JustMe]

I'm single, so take this with a grain of salt, but is the idea of having him pay for a babysitter and take you to a nice restaurant of your choice sound appealing? I just thought of that because if he is not one to pick something out, and you don't really have anything in mind, it might be a nice way for him to do something for you.

[SheriRae]

I love my ipod shuffle for running. I think you would really like it. It's so nice clipping it to your shorts and not worrying about the bulk of the bigger ipod. You may miss the screen of your larger ipod at first, but I got over that quickly.

UGG slippers. One of my favorite gifts from last year. They are like a dream on my feet.

[Jen841]

Charm bracelet that DH is told to add to on gifting occassions- it is from he and the boys. Would give him something to get you each occassion.

I love my ipod Nano, and received new accessories for the holidays.... boom box, and car adapter. Bought DH an alarm clock. Want a new Nano? They are small. I have a great Nike case that is great for exercising.

PJ's and comfy home stuff... DH apparently hit a sale at Macy's and I got both.

Bluetooth? DH got me one that fits on the visor of the car vs in your ear. Charging now, so the verdict is still out.

For the first holiday I LOVE all he gave me, and won't be returning a thing. He is not a deal shopper like me, so that part kills me to imagine what he spent. Since he only shops for me and I shop the sales for the rest of the gang, I am ok... I guess.

Gave parents 1000 count sheets (Target day after Thanksgiving sale), new down comforter and down pillows (Kohls Sale on Tuesday). New bedding sounds like a gift to me... and he can benefit from. A well rested Mom is a happy Mom!

Oh, and I got a new oven... not exciting, needed item so we called it Christmas. He did get me a new therometer probe so we could check the temp.

[elizabethkott]

I am totally in love with my LLBean wicked good mocs that I got yesterday...
And my pajamagram pjs...
And someone correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the new nano have a screen of some sort?
And I'm ***totally*** for Rachelh's idea of the automatic car starter... a friend just got this and she said it was like $250 with the install included, and she won't stop raving about it! Since you're from PA, that's probably something that would kick some major booty, right? :)

[egfmba]

Ask for an iPod Nano. It's small, really thin, but still has a screen. My DH got me one for Christmas and I can't wait to run with it (running is something of a pipedream for me right now - no time for me, etc.). You can buy an armband that the Nano slips into for running and it's so light you won't feel it.

The Shuffle is cute, but the Nano isn't much bigger and you get that great screen!

Good luck!
eva

[Marisa6826]

Jonathan totally sucks at giving presents (though he wasn't bad this time - I got an IOU for a Slanket - a gianormous blanket with sleeves for watching TV, and an Anatomy colouring book for school). So, usually, I buy whatever I want and thank him. ;) It's been that way for years, kind of like an understanding that he sucks at it, and it's just easier than returning the wrong stuff.

I would just kind of accept that you're not getting anything (or anything good) and go that route. I'd also stop getting HIM anything, too. What's good for the goose, is good for the gander, you know? Present the idea to him as a new concept for 2008 and tell him to stick it in his pipe and smoke it. ;)

If you REALLY want a new toy, the Nano is tiny. They have them at Costco (where you can return w/o a restocking fee, unlike Apple). Jewelry is always awesome, but you might want to wait till the new baby for that.

A nice handbag is usually my new present to myself. It gets used regularly and it doesn't necessarily scream 'big present'.

Good luck!

-m

[bubbaray]

Get the new Nano instead of the Shuffle -- you get the screen, more storage and its really small now (and lightweight).

If he d/n get you any gifts, stop buying for him and make him do his own family's shopping. He'll get the picture -- my DH did! :)

[chlobo]

Your DH sounds like mine. I did all the shopping for my family and his family and our immediate family.

I got windshield wiper replacements that he admitted were an impulse purchase on Christmas Eve Day. He just sucks at it. Doesn't get the concept of gift showing appreciation.

I agree with Marissa. Get yourself something nice & thank him for it. Avoids disappointment.

[Jen841]

... That reminded me DH bought me a Kate Spade after #1 was born. I love it! With my timeless Coach bags and my KS I am set for life I think.

Dad has discovered Tiffany's and orders my Mom a piece each year for Christmas. She told me at least you will know all my jewelry is real when I kick it.

[bubbaray]

Dad has discovered Tiffany's and orders my Mom a piece each year for Christmas.

Yes, my DH has *finally* discovered Tiffany's. I got a lovely necklace yesterday, to match the bracelet I got last Christmas. He has also discovered Pandora jewelery, so can add charms to my Pandora bracelet.

Of course, it took about a decade for him to figure this out. And a lot of tears on my part. But, I totally scored yesterday, got a lot of nice stuff that I was hoping for! :)

[Radosti]

Well, if I do all the shopping, we spend considerably less money than if he went shopping. I do a lot of Amazon purchases and such. Deals everywhere. He'd pay 3-4 times as much for crap for his family and I can't afford to spend that much on them.

I started the day with saying that one of us would take DS out for a while and the other would get the house in semi-order. It's a disaster all around. From the fact that we were doing painting and closet organizer installations, so there are closet contents all over the hallways. To the fact that we were painting on the day the cleaning lady was supposed to be here and I cancelled her. To the fact that we were petsitting for 4 days and had a total of 5 dogs and 4 cats in the house. And all the gifts we brought back yesterday that reeked of cigarette smoke from the IL's house.

I asked him which he wanted to do and he shrugged and said "Well, you're pregnant, you pick." I wanted to leave, but I just said "You know that I am already very dissapointed in you." He was all perplexed and asked why. I told him it's because I wasn't getting anything for my birthday from him (or from DS since DH would have to do the shopping). He got all in a huffy and said, "Fine, Aaron and I are going out!" It took him a while to leave, but they've been gone for a while. I got the downstairs semi-organized and am starting on the upstairs. Cleaning lady will be here tomorrow.

I did tell him to check Costco for the Ipod Nano 8GB. We'll see what the man does. If he still doesn't have a gift after being out all day with DS, I will not speak to him again for a very long time.

[JoyNChrist]

I don't really have any ideas, but I just wanted to let you know that I've quit holding out for DH to come up with something nice for me on his own.

A couple weeks before any gift-giving ocassion (I usually give him a month for Christmas), I send him an e-mail reminding him of the date of the occassion, how many shopping days he has left, and a detailed list of things I would like with prices and links.

Not very romantic, but this Christmas I got about half the things on my list (it was a long list), and I couldn't be happier. And DH really appreciates being able to get me things that he knows I'll like, instead of putting a lot of effort into shopping for me only to find out that I'm not crazy about what he got. (And he sends me wish-lists too, by the way.)

The only occassion we don't do wish-lists for is our anniversary - we do an "event" gift for that (a mini-vacation, a great show or concert, a special dinner, etc.).

[Radosti]

He was out for over 5 hours with DS today which was a gift in and of itself. It let me do so much stuff in the house. I make Arroz con Pollo for dinner, the oatmeal bake (breakfast) and baked apples. I did all the laundry. I cleaned up so many toys and put up the freshly assembled cube storage thingie from Target (looks like the Ikea one). All of DS's books and trucks fit neatly into the cube openings. I opened all the Christmas (pretend Hanukkah) gifts that the IL's gave us yesterday and washed them to get the cigarette stench out. I took care of all of my rebate forms and such.

I also sorted out all my batteries that I got on huge sale from CVS last week (they were $5.29 and there was a $5 printable for energizer), and put away all my other shopping stuff. I got my christmas gift ready for the cleaning lady (who's coming tomorrow, thus the need to pick up all our junk). Whew!!!

DH was soooo worn out from being out with DS. They went to Costco and apparenly DS sat on a couch there and insisted that DH keep feeding him sample cups of jarred fruit that they had there. He ate 6 sample cups. Then, he had 1 slice of canadian bacon (another sample) and a whole piece of sausage. This is the child who doesn't eat any meat at home. Considering the fact that DS hasn't really been eating due to our strep throat, DH happily fed him costco samples. What is it about costco samples anyway? I've fallen in that trap so many times. He'll inhale the samples there and I'll buy the item which he won't touch at home. It never fails.

I think he probably got the Nano for me as that's why I directed him to Costco. They then ate at Wendy's and went to the mall to run around some more. So, a full day for both. DS was so tired that he was having a few outbursts. But in my cleaning, I found the potty book for Boys that I bought at costco (with the DVD, but we didn't open that yet). So, we read that book. And read it again and again and again. He was fascinated that the boy in the drawings didn't have socks on. Too cute!!!

And then, to top off a good day, I got myself Dansko Professional clogs for $51.89 (wouldn't have bought them for full price). Now, I just hope 38 fits, but it might not, I'm remembering trying on some danskos in the summer, but not the clogs. Or was it keens I was trying on? Can't remember now. Well, lets hope 38 fits my size 8 feet.