Had a technological nightmare that decimated our vacation in Vegas. Long story short: took 2-3 hours of work with us, Mac died the first day, we were left with a bare drive. My mom was babysitting back home, I talked her through the process of connecting to our servers and uploading data. Awful connection that had to be babysat, but she did it–really saved our necks.
We got her an iPad.
Only other unexpected bit of loot in the category was the 3G Kindle we got for our nanny. She was pretty stoked.
We got my husband’s parents a laptop. Their old computer is about dead and my spousal unit can get a great deal on electronics thru his company, so they’ve got a shiny new machine, a wireless router, some games, and personalized accounts set up for each. We’ll drag them kicking and screaming into the 20th century yet! They do seem to enoy it, so I’d say it was a hit.
And really, that was about it. One nephew got a gift card from us, the other niece and nephew got afghans that I knitted for them, and we gave my mom sime local wines to try. Plus our daughter got a Nook Color. That was it. We have very minimal Christmases any more.
A laptop desk, with a pillowy cushion, to hold on my knees while using the laptop. I bought it for my husband, but so far it seems to be all MINE!
For my daughter, I gave the usual - pajamas, socks, books,candy, perfume, sweaters, because she likes to open presents - but I should have saved the money on that junk and spent it on the enthusiastically received gift certificate to the new Sephora store. She flipped. out. Cannot WAIT to go use it to buy makeup and perfume there. Best. present. ever. (though why anyone needs $15 eyeshadows, $40 mascaras, and $100 bottles of perfume…if she blows her paycheck there, she’ll never be able to save up for a car.)
Oh, and I had two old camcorder tapes put onto DVD - from when had moved into our house and had a 4 year old. Funny to see the old carpet, the hideous furniture, the bare-bones living room, the clutter of toys and games and our two original kitty cats right in the middle of the mayhem… I would say it’s one of the worst movies ever. No plot. Lousy costumes. Terrible dialogue, and no plot whatsoever. Only thing that saves it is the breathtakingly beautiful and talented cast! The mother, in particular, so young and beautiful! The father, slim and dark haired! The baby, the most precious well-spoken pre-schooler ever depicted on screen! LOL! Couples without kids would cringe, seeing this, but it’s a little glimpse into our very own past, and it was fun to watch.
My parents asked us to donate to a charity this year instead of buying them presents. We decided to kind of treat it like presents - X amount per person, and tried to gear the charities toward them. For Mom, we donated to the Susan Komen foundation, since my maternal grandmother died of breast cancer.
Dad’s was the big hit -he’s a big Dachshund person, and he LOVED the donation to the North American Dachshund Rescue!
IMO, it was the Disney ornament I gave to my niece for her first Christmas. I want to make it a yearly thing for us.
On an unsentimental note, it might also be the stuff I ordered online for my friend from her favorite designer, just because none of our other friends would go to the difficulty of ordering online directly from the designer.
I’ve been dating someone for a couple months now and he’s been a really good helper around my home. So much so that I said he would be a good house elf. I then started affectionately calling him Dobby and I bought him a Lego Dobby keychain and some socks that he really liked (he’s now a free elf). I thought those were the best gifts, but he was more excited for the Science Museum membership.
Most everybody liked what I got them this year, but the hit was the gift for my great-nephew.
At eleven years old, he’s quite the sketch artist (draws on an adult level…not-so-stealth bragging) and I try to keep him in art supplies and instruct him in media that he’s not used to working with. When I asked him what he wanted for Christmas, his reply was a book about muscles. It seems that he was having difficulty getting the definition down.
Long story short, I got him an anatamy book and not only was he absolutely thrilled with it, but his mom and little sister spent the better part of two hours by his side going through it.
The best present I gave this year was to my sister. She’s a fan of Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe mysteries, and I found out that Stout once published a cookbook of recipes that were mentioned in the books. Her husband has also become a fan.
I found it online, at a used bookstore site. It was a former library copy, but in fine condition. After they finished opening all their other gifts, they started going through the cookbook, and kept their noses in there for fifteen to twenty minutes.
The gift most appreciated by its recipient: the froggy squeaker toy for my mom’s 14 week old shiba inu. It has really long legs, so it’s satisfying when you shake it, and it’s small enough that she can squeak it herself.
The gift I was proudest for finding: after 10 years of searching, I found a first edition of Douglas Adams’ “The Meaning of Liff” which completes my husband’s collection. He was speechless, with a huge grin.
Made a friend a sculpture. Took forever. Wasn’t there for the opening, and got nervous because what I got from her was purchased and I wasn’t sure if mine held up. But I received the sweetest, happiest ‘OMG’-type email right afterwards. It made me smile so big!
This summer my son wanted to get his tongue pierced for his sixteenth birthday. He got his mother’s OK (eventually) and so I made it happen.
For xmas he wanted new tongue jewelry (he loves the piercing). Instead of buying jewelry, I got him a $75 gift certificate to the tattoo/piercing shop. He was ecstatic. He was showing it to his friends, casually saying he wasn’t sure whether he would be getting a tattoo or sumpin else.
My sister is expecting in March. Out all the gifts I gave her infant socks stuffed away in my annual winter survival kit (chocolate, nuts, long johns, tea etc) I give out to people , I knew would illicit some emotion. It sure did.
Judging from the charging all 'round their house yelling and laughing, my nephews loved their Harry Potter dueling wands the most. They’re Harry Potter crazed, and once they stopped playing Wii long enough to realize what they were, mayhem ensued.
(I had to explain for about 10 minutes to all the grandparents that, no, there were no lasers they’d be shooting their eyes out with.)
My Disney Princess crazed niece liked the Princess dolls I gave her, but she was pretty much in Princess overload. She’d been patiently waiting for Uncle Lightray to show up to unpack everything, though, so what I think she loved the most was someone to bring something to say “I want dis out” so she could actually play with the stuff. My SiL was amused at me sitting around putting dresses on Belle, grumbling at my brother who was “busy cleaning up”.
With one more gift-y occasion this season, the three biggest hits so far:
My son’s XBox360 - exactly what he asked for, right down to the color, hard drive size, and accessories.
Daughter’s netbook - she didn’t ask for it, didn’t even know she wanted it, really. But she loves, loves, loves it.
And a gift of time/convenience - I shopped for and cooked Christmas breakfast (eggs Benedict, FTW!) and Christmas dinner at my in-laws’ house Saturday. My brother-in-law has been in the hospital for about two weeks now, and I knew that it would be a huge strain on my mom-in-law to try to shop and cook. It was a simple meal, but she acted as though I’d done something extraordinary.
From my perspective, the best gift I gave was the book Red Sings From Treetops for my 6 year old niece. Unfortunately, so far she’s not that into it. Maybe a little too poetic for her at her age, but I love it enough for both of us- I might even buy it for myself!
Probably the best gift was a crazy accidental solution: a lazy susan put under my niece’s doll house, making it a full 360° experience. Sometimes the best gifts cost nothing (it was my sister’s lazy susan)!
They do seem to enoy it, so I’d say it was a hit.