Mr. bot’s birthday is approaching. Year before last I got him a nice digital camera, last year I gave him a laptop (which he loves and doesn’t know how he lived without!)
This year I am stumped. I was going to splurge and get him a new 4Runner, but he just purchased one a couple of weeks ago, natch. He literally has everything he needs and wants. Socks and undies just don’t convey the thought I wish to put forth. He doesn’t wear ties. He’s turning 65 and threatened me with corporal punishment if I gave him a big party (which I did for his 60th.)
Why doesn’t Hallmark just make a BJ punchcard and be done with it? sigh
Why, a gift card from Olive Garden, of course! (runners up: Applebees, Pizza Hut, or McDonalds).
A card for buying gas? Not very ‘personal’, but I got one for Christmas and knowing it’s there in my purse for an emergency is comforting to me. I have a feeling the price of gas is going to go way, way, way up again…
Did you ask him? I know I’m hell to buy presents for, so I just pointed out to my girlfriend that I had exactly one nice wool hiking sock left. That solved that.
I did ask him, appleciders. He replied “Oh, nothing.” Which implies he wants the Hallmark BJ card, but doesn’t want to look like a pig and actually ask for it.
He’s such a gentleman. Albeit a frustrating gentleman to buy presents for. I just wanted to get something special for his 65th, and I got nuthin’. I will throw him a party with friends and family and take my punishment for doing so, I just want to get him an awesome gift.
I need some creative input. Maybe a gift card for some massages?
What about an experience, as opposed to a gift? There’s the old fall backs of a hot air balloon ride, race car around a track, sky dive - but is there something he’s always wanted to do that you can arrange? Even an interest like a sausage making class, or kiteboarding lessons?
My SO is difficult, too. I’m thinking about taking his car in and getting the windows tinted. He’s talked about it, so I know he’d like it, but he hasn’t actually done it yet. Maybe something similar for his new 4Runner? Wet Okole seat covers are nice (I got some for my car for my birthday last year), nicer wheels, etc?
I have a hard time with gifts for Mr.Divine as well. He doesn’t need anything he can’t buy for himself (or hasn’t already bought). So I have to be creative.
Once he commented to me that back in high school he had a denim Levis jacket that he loved, and it had a hidden pocket inside where he hid his pot from his parents So I bought him a traditional Levis jacket to replace it; it didn’t have the hidden pocket, so I sewed one in for him. He still has it, 15 years later (no pot, though, we’re too old for that).
He goes fishing every weekend in the spring and summer, and he usually bought multiple pairs of cheap sunglasses because he was always losing them; but he always wanted a good pair of Ray-Bans, to see if they were really that much better for his vision, out on the boat in the sun. But he couldn’t bring himself to spend $200 on sunglasses when he was getting by with the cheapies. So I got him a pair one year for Christmas, and he loves them, he said they are infinitely better on his eyes than the cheap ones. And hasn’t lost them yet.
I guess the key here is to look at things he would enjoy that are on the fringes of other things he enjoys - so I think **Hanna’s **idea for some accessory for the 4Runner is great - Maybe gift certificates for the local automatic car wash, so he can take the new car in once or twice a month to keep it sparkly clean? He’ll be reminded of your gift every time he gets it washed.
Of course, I’m sure the BJ plan would be a hit, too.
What about his hobbies? My husband has any number of hobbies and interests, and he always seems to like gifts in those areas.
Or how about something completely frivolous? Something he might have shown some interest in in a store or on tv? A radio-controlled car, a television series on dvd that he used to love, spinning rims for his new 4Runner, etc.
My wife knows I love travelling, so one year for my birthday she give me (actually the two of us together) a little trip to someplace we always wanted to go, but hadn’t yet gone: A three-day weekend in Vancouver.
ETA; We live in the San Francisco area, to give you an idea of how far that is.
(runners up: Applebees, Pizza Hut, or McDonalds).
So I bought him a traditional Levis jacket to replace it; it didn’t have the hidden pocket, so I sewed one in for him. He still has it, 15 years later (no pot, though, we’re too old for that).