You know the kids do it........So let's do it too!

[everywoman]

I got a rock---lol---I really did, but not what you think. It's a sculpture in the state of SC, painted orange, with a Clemson paw in the middle, and Danny Ford's (the greatest Clemson coach ever) signature in it. I also got a deep fryer, a massager, a can opener, a pair of boots, a glider and 2 rockers for my front porch, a handmade ornament (in Clemson colors) from my grandson, and....
Okay, I am spoiled stinking rotten. LOL.

 

[HaoZi]

I got an ice scraper, wallet, and mug from Kiddo, some candy, a gift card, and tea at work (I have no idea who the tea was from). Also, TODAY Kiddo actually took care of her own butt wiping at 3:30am instead of waking me up (did well, I checked her when I got up and she told me) AND put some honest effort into learning to comb and brush her own hair this evening, AND hardly argued about getting into the shower. Progress!!! It might be temporary but I'll take what I can get and it's better than she's done before.

 

[PatriotsGirl]

husband and I bought ourselves an xbox Kinect package, and a ton of games. I upgraded my phone to the Samsung Galaxy S2 and the best gift I received was from difficult child. She picked out a double necklace that said mother and daughter and gave me the mother one.

 

[buddy]

These remind me of a cute gift Q gave me last year.... he bought a gift card holder and wrapped it up in tons of paper with nearly a roll of tape on it. I had to work so hard to open it and inside was the holder. He thought that it was such a great deal for only 2 dollars to get a gift card for 10 dollars (it was a fake picture to show an example of what to do with the card holder). I just loved it.

 

[jal]

husband and I kept it easy between the 2 of us as we recently bought a 42" flat screen to replace an OLD tv and we replaced our old computer with a new Dell, plus we are slated to replace our downstairs electric heat with-hot water baseboard this week (we upgraded the upstairs from electric to hot forced air years ago, but didn't do the finished basement at that time). I got some greatly needed gifts such as a new tea kettle, an awesome warm throw, some intimate thoughtfuls and new beads for my Panodra bracelet.

difficult child shopped for me @ his school fair and bought me a small jewlery box, perfect for my small hoops and stud earrings. Very thoughtful of him!

difficult child, though, had an awesome xmas. Unfortunately, he learned the real story of how gifts are "delivered" thanks to his cousin, so he was having high anxiety before the holiday as he never saw me shop or saw the packages that were delivered. difficult child got an Xbox 360 with Kinect, games and accessories. Needless to say, I haven't used the new tv in 2 days. He is a HUGE wrestling fan, so we got him tickets to WWE Raw holiday tour this Friday night. His first time seeing it live and in person! A night off for me as husband and difficult child will attend together. He is thrilled. He actually said he was the luckiest boy yesterday.

He was sooooo psyched. Today he spent his xmas money from one grandmother and bought Skylanders for xbox & husband bought a few games too. My arm is sore as we all played baseball and tennis and Wipeout 2 with the kinect most of last night. What fun! After shopping today we had a late lunch out and settled back in @ home.

I got awesome brick red leather and suede boots from my parents along with a cool wool scarf and a back up drive for the new computer and I used the money mother in law gave me for a new Calvin Klein down winter coat that I found today for a great price.

We had a lovely holiday with in laws on xmas eve, a great family xmas morning and a nice time having dinner at my parents. The whole time was very relaxing and difficult child has been very good.

Now husband is back to work tomorrow, the heating guy is coming and difficult child and I are home all week...It should be a good one or I may end up bald by next Sunday. Who knows?!

 

[InsaneCdn]

OK. I'll be honest.
I got... nothing for Christmas.

Not complaining - its the way we choose to have it.

But... I'm still smiling.
Today is "Boxing Day" - the biggest sale day (as in, insanity day) in Canada.
Flyers came out on Sat.
I go thru them - just in case. Usually, not anything I'm looking for, but...
This year.
Block-buster head-liner for TWO stores... is the kitchen appliance I've been after for a number of years. Even in the right color! And at a super-good price. At this price - guaranteed to be limited quantities.

One store opened insanely early. So... husband left before any of the rest of us even THINK of getting up, and waited in line, and nabbed the exact one I wanted.

Not a Christmas present - a "just because you need it and the price was right" present.

And... husband absolutely totally hates boxing day shopping, And totally thinks its insane to stand outside in the cold waiting for hours for the doors to even open... And he didn't even wake me up. He just went and did it.

So I think I'm pretty lucky!

(and before you ask... sorry, no clones - he's definitely one-of-a-kind, a "freak of nature")

 

[DammitJanet]

so what type of kitchen appliance did you want? I hardly ever get anything either. Sometimes I get nothing or at most some dumb thing that I make up that I want that costs like ten bucks. Now last year I said I wanted my pandigital ereader. The Kindles and Nooks had come out the year or two years before and I really wanted one but I didnt have to have the name brand. Billy working for Radio Shack new the pandigital was just as good and did more than the Kindle and was color so he knew it was going to be a good price with a gift card attached plus I could use his discount. Good deal. They even held one for me at the store so I didnt have to fight the mad crowds. LOL.

but most years its something like oh I would like a new heating pad or a new pair of slippers. or maybe some fuzzy socks. Tony doesnt know me well enough to think things through. I can go online and show him a picture after picture of a dutch oven that I wanted so bad but it never registered. Instead this 25 dollar blue tooth is what he remembered...lol. Yet he complained and whined for the entire month of december about what he wanted for Xmas...heavy duty work overalls for work, the firehouse pants, heavy shirts for work, and something else to surprise him. Oh he got what he wanted...lol. Coveralls were $60, fire hose pants were $ 45 a piece and he got 2 pair, I got him two sweat shirts, and Billy bought him a really nice set of knives that go in this sheath thing that sharpens them every time they go in and out. Those cost $50 on sale, regularly $85.

 

[1905]

I got a lot of thoughtful teacher gifts ,candy, a candle, a bottle of wine from co-worker, Starbucks gift card- which I used to buy an entire bottle of sugar-free hazelnut syrup, I love that, and I got money from my aunt. Which I spent at the opticians office on my easy child's. My kids got me a gift card to CVS and a bottle of wine. It was very nice. I got my husband a Pandigital e-reader...which is still in the box. I think I'm going to figure out how to work it today and may even adopt it! I guess it's a gift for both of us. The kids got husband gift cards to the movies and to Chilli's. Yesterday we went to see "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" and we went to lunch. It was a nice day.

 

[LittleDudesMom]

I had a lovely holiday. Today I am back to work and mom is pulling out in about an hour. I will work today and Thursday this week.

The children were lovely to me - difficult child picked out a neckless for me that matches the earrings he bought me last year - all on his own! easy child gave me two pieces of the new Fiesta ware color, tangerine, and an old set of the vintage wax caroler candles (I have the choir boys and the skaters already). My mother was extraordinarily generous - a coach bag and a remarkable tanzanite and diamond ring she bought on her last cruise!! I was shocked!

I think the best gift I got this holiday was time with family. easy child, difficult child, mom and I had such a relaxing four days together. I mean, I did tons of cooking and cleaning up, but we spent hours talking, laughing, watching movies, driving around looking at decorations at night....It was great to have easy child here the entire time, difficult child was participatory, really tuned-in, and well-mannered, and mom was not her "high-maintenance" usual -- she was just "go with the flow". It was great!

Tomorrow is my birthday and I have lots of friends and family coming to spend the day and evening with me. Hopefully the holiday will continue to be wonderful through New Years'.

Happy Holidays!

Sharon

 

[AnnieO]

LOL skeeter... We may get to have a mini-meet... because father in law bought the same thing for my husband and my Dad!!! (Probably the same place, too...)

 

[Shari]

I got a lovely day with family with my ex-in-laws on Saturday. Truly enjoyed every minute of it. They gave me a lovely blue down-filled vest.

Sunday, the brooms came to our house. Once again, I utilized the wrong meaning of "hosting" the family Christmas..stupid me. She has always had cold ham sandwiches for her Christmas meal. And dummy me, I fixed a meal that wasn't what the broom had in mind. I wanted hot ham, husband wanted hot ham, she asked what the menu would be, and we told her we're having baked ham - hot, fresh baked, glazed ham, with hot sides. She brough 2 coolers full of cold sides and fixings to make sandwiches out of our hot ham. (and she made sandwiches) Why do I bother? But I had my hot ham.

I got bracelets from cgfg and a necklace and earrings from Wee. And money for my camper part from the brooms. difficult child 1 wrecked his car so his gifts will be late (he's fine, but he didn't make it to the post office) and easy child 1 has been at his to-be-in-law's for Christmas, so we will have Christmas with them when they get home.

I feel bad for feeling bad, but I didn't get anything from husband. The part that stung was that he said he "didn't make it to town". Guess he was just "too busy". Things had been going better, but that was a large setback. Glad I took the kids shopping or I wouldn't have gotten anything from them, and that devastates them more than me. :-(

I did get a super nice gift from above, though. The swelling in my ankle that we had decided was probably permanent went down Monday. Its back...but maybe there's hope for a normal sized ankle somewhere in the future.

 

[DammitJanet]

He was too busy in the past 11 months? Argh...I hate men right now.

 

[Shari]

How about Christmas eve? Oh that's right, he went deer hunting to try to get a deer for his nephew....
And then there was Tuesday night when he went to town shopping for his dad....
Shutting up.

 

[InsaneCdn]

Shari -

Maybe?

You already outshine him 10-to-1, and he knows he will NEVER match the thoughtful gift(s) he gets from you.
So, he difficult children on ya. He, in his heart, really wants to pull an over-the-top gift, that you haven't thought about or asked for... but he has no idea what that is, so he gives up.

Dad was like that when it came to Mom. He honestly had no clue.
When I got to be almost adult, I was able to drag him out, and shop WITH him, and got Mom some really neat stuff... but he'd have NEVER thought of those stores or those items on his own. And if Mom dropped hints? Then, it wasn't HIS idea.

 

[AnnieO]

This year, husband finally broke down and told me he had no idea what to put in my stocking. (After several years of empty stockings... He learned!!!)

I told him: trial sizes of hand lotion, body wash, toothbrushes and paste, trail mix...

I woke up Christmas morning to a JAMMED stocking this year. Stuff like I suggested. And one eensy lump of coal... hee hee!

 

[Shari]

You nailed it, IC. I have no doubt. Last night he handed me half of the money he got for Christmas and told me to go buy something, he didn't know what to get.

If he hadn't said "I didn't make it to town" it wouldn't have bothered me. We had a really expensive week leading up to Christmas and I was honestly not sure there was gonne be much left for any last minute shopping. We had 2 middle of the night emergency vet calls, and had to put another horse down, I had to put a $300 part on my car, and we sunk another $500 into his little truck in the course of 2 days...

That and the kids. He didnt' know I had taken them shopping...and I usually don't do that, but they found "the perfect gift" while I had taken them to shop for others. If we hadn't done that, they wouldn't have had anything to give, and its very important to me that they can do that.

He's given me some awesome gifts in the past. He's by far the better "gifter".

 

[exhausted]

This year I got my whole little family together. difficult child has been in residential the last 2 years. Very nice and fun togetherness. No gliches!

 

[1905]

I was going to suggest to all of us to get something.....Janet you go get that dutch oven, and say to husband '"Look what you got me for Christmas" I'm glad Shari that yours gave you money, now don't be out buying groceries with it, get something you want. I actually bought these boots a few weeks ago, Jennifer Lopez brand from Kohls, covered in white fur.....they are cool...and when I got home I told husband this is what he got me! Do it and write in what you all get!!!!!

 

[Shari]

I'm just going to put the money towards the power converter for the camper.

Still kinda stings, tho. I already feel second to mama and daddy...

 

[InsaneCdn]

Shari -
Work with your top local retailers to set up a "wish-list registry" to help shoping-impaired hubbies and others find appropriate gifts.
Then, set yourself up at ALL of them.

Next, hand husband a list that says...
These are the top gift stores in town.
And they ALL know the kinds of things I like... all you have to do is ask THEM.

Because there's multiple stores and multiple items to pick... you WILL be surprised.
But you've done the legwork...

Maybe?