Here is the nice thing about my gift choice: it doesn't take up space. (well, okay - it takes up a little space inside my purse). It doesn't need to be dusted, washed, stored... See where I am going with this? It is not a 'thing' per se. We have way to many 'things' in our house. Accquiring 'things' is how we got into present problem finacial situation in the first place.
Several interesting gift-giving issues came to light this birthday:
- When purchasing a gift for someone- ask for guidance, then follow it as best as you are able
- Don't push a certain type of gift just because it will help your social agenda
- Don't offer to take the person shopping for their gift, yet leave them with no idea about how much you planned to spend - that is a very uncomfortable situation
- Don't spend more than you can afford
- When in doubt, give cash. It's not tacky - it's perfect!
- You can never go wrong with chocolate
- Surprises are a good thing - yet expect that there will be some anxiety involoved. Especially when dealing with an introvert...
(Consider yourself lucky. I orginally wrote this post ten days ago when I was in the initial throes of working through an intensely unpleasant experience involving.. well.. a certain person's idea of giving me a birthday gift. Not a happy experience. It all went wrong with items 2 and 3 listed above.)
PS - Always follow good blogging advice. Let particulary acidic blog posts lay low for a few days until you are in a much calmer emotional state.
