Best Gift Givers

No one gives a middle aged woman a gift like another middle aged woman. Our friends know us best from the point of view of what we like at “this” age. Our spouses think they know, but sometimes they think we are younger than we happen to have gotten too. Our children want us to be hipper than we are. So it’s friends of the same age and stage who know best.

I have gotten some excellent puzzles from friends. The funniest one came from De, a mah Jongg Rubix cube, but harder. Not only do you have to get all the green dragons on one side, and red dragons on another, the cube has dot, bams and cracks that you have to also get in the ascending number order on the same side. I am certain I can spend my whole life trying to do this puzzle and never get it back to the right order, but it is the perfect gift for me.

Christy gave me a dozen puzzles in an advent calendar form. So perfect because they are each small and I have no guilt working a puzzle for 15 minutes a day.

Mary Lloyd gave me a Ho Ho Ho hat, not calling me a Ho, but knowing I do think it’s fun and funny.

If any husband wants to know what to get for their wife, they should ask her friends. For years I advised my friend’s husband about jewelry since he did not even know what color an emerald was. After years of private tutorials he finally graduated to being able to pick his own gifts.

I’m not in the market for anything extravagant or indulgent. This year a nicely worded heartfelt letter is what I want most from my family. My girl friends have already satisfied the fun of something unexpected and perfect.

My love language is not gifts, but acts of service and that is something that my husband knows very well. I am much happier with him doing the dishes every night than giving me any kind of gift.