Gift Suggest

Every year for many years my husband promised me that he’d take me on a nice romantic vacation and every year I was disappointed. It was always one reason or the other and I slowly turned in to the wife that nags her husband with ‘You never take me anywhere’. The phrase is only as effective as it is annoying.

Last year I threatened to stop cooking breakfast if he didn’t follow through on his promise. I should mention that on an empty stomach my husband is pretty much Superman exposed to kryptonite. He began searching for a good vacation package before Christmas the year before that and by the start of February was looking at a future where he died from hunger at the breakfast table. He couldn’t find anything that fit in his ‘budget’. Frankly since we’ve haven’t had a vacation since forever, I thought the budget should be anywhere between big and unlimited. When he bought me the first valentines chocolate box, I could already sense that there would be no trip for at least three more years. His heart shaped valentines messages were apologetic and appeasing at the same time. I had every and all intention of poisoning him at valentines dinner when out of no where we won a discount trip for two on valentines day in one of the valentines chocolate box he’d bought for me.
We finally had something fit in to our budget and were off for a vacation. I was content to at least be getting out of the house. On Valentines Day I was all ready for a romantic valentines dinner and to receive a romantic gift for Valentines Day from my husband. I mentioned this to him and he gave me a panicked look before grabbing his wallet and running out in his night shirt. At our valentines dinner table, I was suspiciously angry because I knew he’d never thought to buy me a valentines day gift and because he would now give me something dumb he’d bought at the last minute. Valentines dinner went well and to my utter surprise the last minute gift that he’d bought for me was wonderful and romantic.

It was a box of chocolate covered strawberries! I’d seen several of my friends receive these for Valentines Day and had wanted to get one myself. The chocolate strawberries were delicious and fresh and it got my husband off the hook for forgetting to buy me a Valentines Day gift. My vacation was everything I’d hoped for.

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I’ve never been married and frankly I’m still in the ‘Marriage is the end of all freedom’ phase. I only finished college two years ago so it isn’t like I have to worry about ending up old and alone. I enjoyed dating in college so much. I guess there is just a little sort of something special in getting away with a romantic valentines dinner on a frugal budget.

My boyfriend and I often pooled our funds together so we could have one really great valentines day gift for the both of us instead of an ordinary valentines dinner because the roses that he bought for me cost way too much. There was this one time when he found a pizza place that was making heart shaped valentines pizzas and he had one made for both of us. He brought it up to our dorm and we ate in little pink colored kiddy plates. He decorated his room with Christmas lights and heart shaped valentines balloons.

Two years post college and we’re still together but focusing on our careers. That doesn’t stop us from celebrating Valentines Day together. The more fun part is that we’re not on a frugal budget anymore and I can go valentines shopping for real and buy a romantic gift for my boyfriend. My boyfriend still surprises me with great stuff, like last year he bought a box of chocolate covered fruit. He knows how much I like fresh fruit so he wowed me with fruit for Valentines Day. The fruit was so yummy, there were apples and chocolate covered strawberries and nuts and coconut and a little note in it asking me if I’d be his valentine. It was absolutely adorable and romantic. I loved the chocolate strawberries.

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I have all the empathy in the world for my mother-in-law. I know that’s a rather rare thing thanks to the eternal rift that defines the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship. So just to be clear my empathy for her is mostly around Valentines Day.

My father-in-law has a very twisted sense of logic when it comes to getting Valentines Day gifts for his wife. It’s like he has no concept at all of buying romantic gifts for his wife. When I first heard about the dreadful gifts he had given her, I was afraid that his son, my husband, might have inherited the craziness. My mother-in-law once told her husband how much she would love to receive a dozen perfect roses on Valentines Day. He got her a rose bud and mud. It came with a heart shaped valentines note giving instruction on how to plant and care for it and was signed ‘So you have perfect roses everyday’. After this idea bombed, she suggested he buy her fruit for Valentines Day. She’s always been a fan of fresh fruit and what should my father-in-law buy for her but Chap Stick in three different fruit flavors. Honestly, I wonder why they’re still together.

Thankfully my husband is not as crazy as his father. When I ask him for flowers I get flowers and that’s in addition to other smaller romantic gifts for Valentines Day. When I say I want fruit for Valentines day, my husband buys me a box of chocolate dipped fruit. It has all sorts of fruits like apples and bananas and chocolate covered strawberries and has been one of my favorite Valentines Day gifts for a long time. The chocolate strawberries are the best.

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I know that a lot of women evaluate how their boyfriends or husbands feel about them based on the Valentines Day gifts that they receive and I’m guilty of doing it too. I’ve actually made predictions about how a relationship will turn out based on the Valentines Day gifts that a guy’s given. My predictions aren’t just limited to my own relationships; I frequently foretell how my friend’s relationships will turn out judging by the Valentines Day gift they’ve received from their boyfriends or husbands.

What I never really stopped to think was how guys feel since most women don’t really buy romantic gifts for men on Valentines Day. I’m not one of those women but now that I look back on all the valentines day gifts I’ve ever given to a boyfriend I’m pretty sure they didn’t inspire any sort of romantic feelings whatsoever. I always do my valentines shopping online and in my attempt to find a romantic gift for my boyfriend, I look for chocolate gifts for men and the results are never good. I can’t help looking for something in the chocolate category because to me chocolate is the definition of a romantic Valentines Day gift. I’m not the sort of woman who can cook a delicious valentine’s dinner so that leaves me at the mercy of the internet where people try to sell off the dumbest stuff as Valentines day gifts.

Last year I had a real stroke of luck; I found this blog written by a woman who’d been married close to fifteen years suggesting chocolate covered strawberries from Dipped Fruit would make a good Valentines Day gift for men. I wasn’t going to challenge the opinion of a woman who kept such a great relationship going so I took her advice and ordered dipped fruit for my boyfriend. He just loved chocolate strawberries and the best part was there was chocolate in it!

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