Hubby and I love Christmas. We love the holiday spirit, the nutcrackers, the lit tree, the cookies, the egg nog. We love buying gifts for people and we love receiving gifts. I know there are many people out there who struggle during the holidays and that when the economy is bad they decide to not buy each other anything. I can honestly tell you that a Christmas without any presents to open could potentially ruin an otherwise happy year for us.
Now, don’t misunderstand this, I’m not a grubby, money hungry, bitch who only cares about material items (I’m a bitch.. for totally different reasons!!)
I just think that gift giving is part of the spirit of Christmas and I get huge satisfaction in buying someone the perfect present. Suffice to say this means that I hate when people ask me for a wish list for the holiday. I’d much rather you put some thought into buying me a present than check a box off of a list of items I’ve written out for you. It truly is the thought that counts…. So long as that thought results in something that I can unwrap on Christmas morning… (ok, maybe I am a bitch!) If I’m not explaining this well.. I honestly feel that if you are buying me an item off of my request list or I’m shopping with you and I help you pick it out and watch you buy it, some of the magic of Christmas is lost for me. I could have just as easily gone out the day after Christmas and bought the item for myself.
Now, maybe you’re thinking that this is the problem with America.. we’ve totally commercialized the holiday. Maybe you’re thinking that people really just want to make sure they get me items that I like and they’re going out of their way to do so when they ask for a wish list. Maybe you just think I’m a horrible person since I seem to be only focused on the materialism of the morning.
But, maybe you understand that I really just like to be surprised. I like to wake up Christmas day with the excitement of my childhood. I like to wonder what Santa has put under my tree. I like the magic and uncertainty of what’s in all those packages. It’s part of what makes Christmas my favorite holiday! And something that simply can’t be satisfied by a $100 bill in my stocking.
I’m honestly appreciative of any gifts I receive.. but there’s that part of me that still has sugar plums dancing in my head and I never want to become one of those cranky adults who loses the magic of Christmas.
With all this being said…. I’m sure you were hoping I was headed somewhere with this…..
Hubby is a generally a really good gift giver (hold on.. let’s pause for a moment – yes, that was just a compliment I threw at hubby!!). I know I’ve mentioned in the past that he does, on occasion, try to squeeze in a gift for me.. that’s really a gift for himself (see HERE or HERE). And, I know I’ve mentioned countless times that he never, ever listens to me. BUT I will say, that he does actually mentally file away tidbits of information from me throughout the year to buy me items I may have expressed interest in months ago and, he takes snippets of things I say to buy me some great Christmas presents.
He listens.. just like the Elf on the Shelf does. And he watches (contrary to having Selective Vision) so that he can make Christmas morning special for me.
It’s his methods with these gifts prior to Christmas morning that are subject to debate.
This, my dear blog readers, is my hubby’s hidden stash of gifts for me.
These boxes are on a sofa, in a spare room upstairs. Notice the strategic placement of the couch pillow to cover the smaller boxes.
About a week or so ago I’m straightening up around the house.. which of course means that I’m in and out of almost every room. Some of these rooms hubby NEVER enters. And, I’m not kidding on this, I often think he forgets that we have spare rooms upstairs. Hubby occupies 5 rooms in our 15 (ish) room house (if you include all the separate basement rooms). He literally probably only enters the kitchen, the family room, the bedroom, the bathroom & the man cave. So, it’s incredibly easy to hide Christmas gifts for hubby. Apparently not so much for me…….
So, I say to hubby “What’s with this pile of boxes.. are they Christmas presents?
Hubby: “Yes.”
Me: “And, this was the best you could do to hide them?”
Hubby: “Well, you go in all the rooms in the house…. Where could I possibly put them so that you didn’t see them?”
Me: “I’m not really sure, but the obvious choice might not have been smack on the sofa in a room that I go into regularly”
Hubby: “That’s why I covered them with the pillow”
Me: “Ahhhhh… you’re always thinking aren’t you!”
Hubby: “Well, this way you can’t read any of the shipping labels” (remember hubby’s favorite store is Amazon!)
Me: “No, I suppose I can’t… you’re brilliant attempt to camouflage is impressive”
Hubby: “Well, I had no other ideas… you go everywhere in this house”
Me: “Are you admitting that you do nothing in all those other rooms?
Hubby: “Well, there’s no reason to go into any of them”
Me: “Oh that’s right… I forgot that the fairies take care of all those rooms….”
Now, I feel that I need to let you all in on a secret… our house has no shortage of storage. We have more closets than any family should be able to fill. We have a 2 car garage. We have a full basement with 4 different rooms plus a laundry room. And, we have a full attic. But hubby “couldn’t find any place in the house that I don’t go.” Which apparently translated to the grand master plan of: Hiding Items In Plain Sight.
I suppose I only need to pass this room another 50 or so times until Christmas morning. And the good news is that I’ve finally outgrown snooping. Hubby’s lucky ‘cause if this was 30 years ago…. he could have buried the gifts underneath the furnace, piled with 15 different couch pillows (yes – I know this is a fire hazard!) and I would have located them, unwrapped them, and rewrapped them all before Christmas morning! It’s good to know that in some ways I truly have become an adult! Now, if only we could get hubby to do a little bit of growing up… maybe he could help those fairies clean some of those “other” rooms!
Very funny! 15 bedrooms? Really? No wonder you need fairies!!! Xx
http://husbands4hire.wordpress.com
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mynakedbokkie ~ Oh my!! I didn’t mean 15 bedrooms.. I couldn’t even imagine that!! That’s just literal rooms.. including bathrooms, dining room, basement rooms, office etc. Only in my wildest dreams would we live in a house with 15 bedrooms… and even then, fairies wouldn’t be enough, we’d need actual living staff!! (and lord knows, we dont’ have the $$ for that!) 🙂
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I want your house… I’m still living on the assumption that you’re me from the future… and I will get a lovely house in my future… complete with the hubby who never goes into all those rooms. All the more room for my craft and books, I think.
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Aussie ~ you’ll be amazed at how quickly you fill “all those extra rooms”. I’m a firm believer that you grow into any space you occupy… exactly why I’m starting to fit into my “fat” pants … LOL 🙂
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I’m sorry, I never knew that and will stop asking what’s on your wish list. However, if you didn’t like the gifts I gave you during the years of no wish list, be prepared for more of the same because that’s the way my thought patterns travel.
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Diane ~ you’re misreading.. and how did I know that you’d respond this way….. If it makes it easier on you to get a list, that’s fine… but hubby doesn’t get off so easily! He must THINK when he buys me presents! 🙂
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Husband and I exchange “wish lists” but we don’t buy everything on them. So I’m still excited about what he picked out. He always adds in a couple of “extras” that I get all excited about. And it’s fun seeing how he wraps stuff… he gets super creative with that part. We have 3 kids, so we don’t have a lot of wiggle room to spend money on things we won’t like. But we know each other well enough that even without a list I think we’d do just fine.
Unlike your husband, mine always hides them really well. Ticks me off because I like to snoop! I need to know what I’m competing against. ;o)
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Oh, I am just so happy that you will totally enjoy the toilet bowl brush I purchased! Use it in good health
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Ahhhhh Mom ~ so, you bought a thoughtful gift for my cleaning ladies… I’m sure they’ll thank you! And, just for the record.. you’ve ruined the surprise!
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Totally understand where you are coming from. I still like to be pleasantly surprised. I know it’s supposed to be the thought that counts, but it seems that some people’s gift seems to shout — “I put no thought into your gift at all!” Receiving those seemingly “thoughtless” gifts can be disappointing, especially since I am one who does take the time to put thought into each gift I give to someone. Hope you are pleasantly surprised this Christmas.
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lifelessons ~ Thanks, I totally agree! Part of the fun of the surprise for me is seeing that you’ve actually given thought into what you’ve purchased for me. It’s not the monetary value that matters at all! Have a great holiday!
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