Gift Exchanges With the Spouse and the Traps Husbands Should Avoid
My wife and I have different opinions about the types of gifts should be given at birthdays and Christmas. I think that you should get someone “what they need” for their birthday and “what they want” for Christmas. I thinks it’s okay to give someone a 6-pack pair of socks for their birthday, while on the other hand, a vintage Gibson Les Paul is quite acceptable for Christmas. My wife thinks that a pair of socks on your birthday is okay, while a pair of Christmas themed boxers or a pair of driving gloves is also appropriate at Christmas.
Traps husbands fall in
When your better half says, “honey, now don’t go out and max out the credit card for me this year. I really don’t want anything, let’s save our money…” this actually means the opposite. Believe me, I took this literally one year
(Thank God I didn’t get her anything on her birthday, not Christmas).
Did she explain this “opposite” concept (or trap) to me? No. Thankfully, some women at work were gossiping about their moron husbands falling in the same trap. I jumped in and said that generally we guys don’t try to act stupid or thick on purpose. We just don’t know better sometimes. That’s when they called me a bastard. Let me qualify that: My wife insisted she didn’t want anything and that I should save my money for the kids. I obeyed. I’m a bastard.
The following year I splurged and spent $1000 more than usual on her. The reaction was of surprise, but not of disappointment. Less than a week later she was in line at the Boxing Day sales (Boxing Day in Canada is like Black Friday in the US, except it’s the day after Christmas, not Thanksgiving.)
