Recently, Bald Man over at Marriage Actually brought up the subject of Christmas presents.

It’s that time of year. We still do the dance every year. Do we set limits? Yes, loose limits. Because we don’t have kids, buying for each other is the most fun. We don’t get a joint gift because we do that for our anniversary which was a month ago.

Our gift styles differ greatly. I do not want practical gifts from my husband. I ask for practical stuff from other people. I like fun stuff from him like perfume, games, etc. He, on the other hand, likes practical stuff. If he wants anything at all, he wants practical stuff and it’s no fun to buy at all. We both indulge our selfish gift giving tendencies though. He usually gets me a small practical gift like a calendar. And I will get him something silly just because he’ll think is fun like an engineering toy. Otherwise we do our very best to consider each other’s gift style. If that means I have to buy him an alarm clock and Dockers, so be it.

I’m at a loss this year. I’m nearly done with all my other shopping except for the all the stuff I planned on knitting and haven’t even started on him yet. Maybe I’ll just give him all my love and affection. Somehow I don’t think that will fly, even with Mr. I-Don’t-Need-Anything.

How about you? What kind of gifts does your spouse like- Fun or Practical? Is that your idea of a good gift?