Christmas shopping tradition...

Tonight I realized that we have a Christmas shopping tradition. Every year, Chris and I have the exact same conversations...there are two topics and we usually discuss each several times during the weeks leading up to Christmas.

Topic #1: Chris' siblings and their spouses all draw names and we are supposed to only give a gift to the person who's name we draw. Chris does not get this concept AT ALL! Every year he ends up buying something (even if it just something small) for each of his sisters and brother. He tells me every year that he does not get to see them all year and at Christmas time he wants them to know that he is thinking about them. I cannot complain about this because it simply shows how thoughtful he is! However, it kind of defeats the purpose of the whole drawing names thing.

Topic #2: We have TOTALLY different 'gift shopping styles.' I am obsessive about giving people something that they want...I think of it as 'the perfect gift.' I will obsess over each gift for days and weeks trying to figure out if it exactly what they want, something that they would never want to return or be without. I write down things that people say they like and try to give them these things for special occasions. I got this from my mom...she is exactly the same way. Chris' technique is different. He likes to give people what he wants them to have, thinks they should have or thinks they should like.

Case in point: Tonight we went shopping for his parents. He wanted to buy his mom clothes, which I thought was a good idea...she'll like that. We got to the store and I started searching for 'the perfect gift,' something that Inger would pick out for herself, feel comfortable in and love. I found a few things, showed them to Chris...he liked them, but then it happened...he saw his 'perfect gift' the outfit he thought his mom should have. Inside my head I started to panic, this was not an outfit that Inger would pick out for herself...I explained that to him and said that I just did not know if it was her 'style.' He said "I know, but she has lots of outfits like the ones you were picking out, she does not have anything like this." I started to laugh...as I realized I was having deja vu. We have this same conversation every time we shop for a gift together (we'd had it two days before while shopping for a gift for his nephew!) Chris got a smile on his face and said: "I think my mom should like this." So there you have it...if you ever get a gift from Chris, know that he thinks you should like it and that is all there is to it. I should mention that the outfit he picked out is very cute and I think it will look darling on his mom, I'm just not sure it is something she would pick out for herself. But, who knows...maybe she will love it and it will be her favorite outfit and Chris' technique will win!

Inger--if you are reading this--I put the gift receipt in the box, and Chris said on the way out of the store "She can always bring it back if she does not like it." Again I started to panic because that totally defeats the purpose of 'the perfect gift!' (Yes, I'm just a tad bit crazy, obsessive and controlling! :)

We are probably going to have this same conversation every holiday and birthday for the next 50 years...