Saturday, July 18, 2009

Gift-Giving Guide for Husbands

Immersion blender good, steam mop bad.

There are certain household tools that are okay to receive as a gift from your spouse, and others that may earn you a spot on the couch for the night.

Stand mixer (like a KitchenAid) yes, hand vacuum (aka DustBuster), no.

I think maybe the difference is the tools intended use - is it something that she will enjoy using? Is it a "fun" tool? Is it a souped up version of something she already has?

OR did you go and buy her something that will carry the implication that she's not doing a good enough job in a certain area? See that steam mop above.

I do have to explain an exception here. Aaron once got me a DustBuster for my birthday and I was very excited about it. But not because I needed it as a vacuum. Oh no. I wanted it as a bug-remover - we lived in a basement 2 bedroom apartment, and we had a wide variety of bugs. Instead of crushing them and hearing their little bodies crack, I was able to suck them up and empty it outside. Awesome.

Leah would appreciate the Bullet Express food processor. She insisted that we watch the entire infomercial the other day, calling it a "cooking show". At the end of it, I was convinced we should buy it. I'm kind of a sucker for marketing.

But don't buy me a cleaning tool for my birthday. Just giving fair warning, HONEY.

10 comments:

Noel said...

So its like the pressure is on for Aaron the Handy Husband, especially since he is a role model for those of us who have lesser (appreciated) husband powers like "ideation".

Let's see...the hand vac was well recieved...always good to build on success. How about a 10-pack of filters for said hand vac?

JJ and EJ said...

Hopefully the lunch we bought you didn't imply that you're lacking in the cooking department! : ) We love you LJ and hope you have a fabulous day!!

Good luck Aaron!! :D

Aaron said...

Liz, of all people, you have the least right of anybody to complain about bad gifts. Stones and glass houses and whatnot. ;)

Lyz said...

Okay, Aaron DID joke about giving me a steam mop as my birthday present once, but this post was actually just a general thing, not specifically pointed at complaining about the past presents I've received - he's been great. And I already got my present this year - a pair of opal earrings from the street fair!

Brother Aaron. To what are you referring? Perhaps the gift I gave you this year? That I ordered online and had sent to you with specific reasons why I personally chose it for you? Just like the gift you got me for my birthday...oh wait.

Anyway. If I have given bad gifts (which everyone has occaisionally, I guess) it's not because I haven't tried.

Lyz said...

Oh, and thanks again for lunch, JJ & EJ! That was one heck of a present!:)

Noel said...

So for the husband performance scoring, did Aaron pick out the birthday earings and surprise you OR did you pick them out and then tell him about his wonderful gift?

BlueCastle said...

Happy Birthday, Lyz. :)

AJ said...

I was standing next to her at the street fair and told her, "You should get those for your birthday". Kind of weak, but spontenaity (?) is close to romance, right?

Noel said...

Boy, this is a tough call. If Lyz was clearly looking at or holding the earings, I'd have to deduct points. If she hadn't seen them or fully grasped their beauty, then AJ gets full points. In either case, spontenaity points will be fully awarded.

Now if you need a fine Ghanain basket to store those earings, I can set you up....

Melissa said...

Happy birthday, Liz.

For what it's worth, I have a magic bullet and love it.