A RealFamilies RealFun Blog

Jul 3 2008

The man does good

Category: Just Me

My brother-in-law Ingmar is typical of many husbands when it comes to gift giving. One year he bought my sister a pair of diamond earrings. While she genuinely appreciated the gesture, the earrings weren't her style, so she exchanged them. No big deal.

The following year, he bought her the same exact earrings. When she pointed this out, Ingmar argued that they were bigger than the previous year's. (They weren't.) She now circles what she wants in a catalog and leaves it on Ingmar's pillow.

Unlike Ingmar -- though my sister says he's getting better -- Paul's an excellent present shopper. When I get a blender for Mother's Day it's because I've been lusting after the cool chrome one at Williams-Sonoma for months, not because he's clueless and doesn't know what to get me.

He was the one who bought me my first crock pot, an appliance I fell in love with and can't live without. And that under-the-counter electric can opener? It's a present from Paul, and a very practical and space-saving one at that.

I think the only time he screwed up was with the pressure cooker, and that was my fault since I couldn't get the darn thing to work. Potatoes would take longer to cook or I'd burn the spaghetti sauce in it. I finally gave up, all the while wondering how the Iron Chefs used their pressure cookers with such skill and success.

While I love to cook and am a complete nerd for kitchen appliances, I do get typical girly stuff like jewelry, clothes, perfume, and purses. But it's not the stuff you see advertised in the magazines. Instead Paul buys me antique Bakelite bracelets, vintage western wear, Jean Paul Gaultier perfume in the bustier bottle, and Lucite purses from the '50s. It's all the stuff that I really don't need, but adore to receive. I'm one lucky mama.