Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Looking a gift horse in the mouth again




Mother's Day is coming and I wanted to warn the men out there about a gift-giving practice that we women aren't too keen about. The "gift" of an item the two of us have talked about getting previously.

Here's what I mean: A few years ago Scott and I were saying to each other that we needed a patio set. We talked about going to Canadian Tire to pick one up before the summer came. Unfortunately, Mother's Day came before the shopping trip. After my breakfast in bed, Scott led me to the backyard where a lovely 8 piece patio set was all assembled. I smiled and said something like "this is nice... so where's my gift?"

Well, he wasn't too happy about that. But he understood after I explained what I meant. See, you don't get someone a gift of something you already plan to get. That's not a gift. It's just a purchase that coincides with an occasion. Would you give groceries as a gift? It's necessary; practical even. But it's not a gift. After I explained, I got flowers. That's all I wanted... something that was a surprise, not a useful thing that we would have gotten for the house anyway in a few days. Let me repeat just so we're clear. Unless it was specifically asked for, a patio set is not a gift.

You can thank me later, boys.

kxx

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