The Gift Suggestion Thread

[topher]

I know it is late and I am a bit of a science geek but this is really cool.

link

DNA analysis includes a depiction of your ancient ancestors and an interactive map tracing your genetic lineage around the world and through the ages.

I sent mine in a couple of weeks ago and they are analyzing my DNA as we speak. It won't tell you who exactly your ancestors are, rather how they spread out from the horn of Africa (the cradle of man) to all over the world.

[foxfair]

Topher - my Dad got that done! I have to say, it was a bit of a let-down (the info is SO general) but at the same time it's hard not to be fascinated by that kind of info, despite it's lack of specificity. All I know is, the paternal line in my family is from the northern European clan.

Thanks for all the gift suggestions for the little kid. He's my bf's godson, and I checked out all the gifts you suggested. BF went with the 'Roboraptor' after I read about it online - the kid is all boy and I have a feeling he might explode with happiness when he sees his new robotic dinosaur. Heh.

[kafka]

So my parents are having their 49th wedding anniversary this week. On St. Patrick's Day actually (and no, we're not Irish and it wasn't deliberate). Anyway, I'm at a bit of a loss as to know how to really make it a celebration, since money is extremely tight due to Kafka's ginormous vet bills. So, I thought I'd come here to ask for ideas. Or reassurance.

Part of the problem is that my parents basically have everything, so spending my small amount won't do much. Plus, it will piss my mother off because she hates it whenever we (the children) spend money on them. So.... I've made them each a few CDs because they love music and, as my mother always says, the effort is what really makes it matter. I've also gotten my mother a rose bush she's been wanting for her rose garden and my father a DVD of the Longest Day.

I was thinking of surprising them with breakfast in bed, but they're not really breakfast people. I thought of making them a fancy dinner (or as fancy as can be managed on my current budget) because I'm a damn good cook, even if I do say so myself. But my mother is difficult due to her diet-consciousness and no-butter-cream-salt-cheese-oil-sweets-desserts requirements. And again, she'll probably become uncomfortable if I spend a lot of money on the dinner.

Should I do something more or is that enough? I know they don't expect much, if anything, but I really feel I should go all out. 49 years is a huge deal, especially since my father proposed the first night he met her and they got married a week later. Plus, they are my best friends and the most important people in my life. So, do you have any ideas for other, inexpensive things I could do to make it special, fun, sweet and/or meaningful?

Oh, before I forget, one of my sisters is getting 49 big helium balloons to attach to her gifts for them, so I can't do that. Is there anything else which comes to mind? Or have I pretty much done okay with the things I mentioned earlier?

[shawnalanne]

topher said:

I know it is late and I am a bit of a science geek but this is really cool.

link

DNA analysis includes a depiction of your ancient ancestors and an interactive map tracing your genetic lineage around the world and through the ages.

I sent mine in a couple of weeks ago and they are analyzing my DNA as we speak. It won't tell you who exactly your ancestors are, rather how they spread out from the horn of Africa (the cradle of man) to all over the world.

That's pretty cool! My FiL is impossible to shop for. He's a big reader, but has begged us not to send him books anymore because he feels obligated to read them but doesn't feel like he has time to between work and school. (He's a Col. in the Air Force working w/the Surgeon General and is going back to school to get his teaching credentials for when he retires.) We can't send him food because his high blood pressure medicine has given him gout, and he has everything he needs for his passion, bike riding. However, he does not know who his dad is. While this won't tell him, it will give him an idea of what his paternal makeup was.

[Deleted]

Kafka, I think you have done great. CDs, a rose bush and a movie -- that is a very nice gift package. Plus, I would say don't go overboard this year because next year will be their 50th -- that's when you need to really get or make a "wow" gift.

[shawnalanne]

Kafka -- I think what you've done for them sounds great. If you still feel unsatisfied about what you've done maybe doing a bit of research on what was happening on the day they met and the day they married and compiling it for them would be nice.

[kafka]

Thanks guys, you've made me feel much better. I've felt very guilty and demoralized for not being able to do much but 4 months worth of weekly (sometimes bi-weekly) vet visits, tests, procedures and medicine is killing my pocketbook. Shawna, I LOVE the idea about compiling a list of things which happened on the day they met and the day they married. And I'll give it to them next year with their presents because, as TiaMaria, pointed out, half a century is going to require going all out. Thank you both again.

[sleepy]

My niece is turning 4 next month, and I have no idea what to get her. I've asked her parents, but they're no help. I don't know why, but they won't give me a straight answer.

What do 4 year olds dig? I know she's into backpacks and purses and chapstick, but I covered all that at Christmastime. She looooooovvvvvvves chapstick, shoes and bags (future Brookie in the making, perhaps?). Any ideas? Maybe some type of art project type thing? I don't want to get her something that's too old for her, and I don't want to get her something that's too young for her.

I would like to spend less than $25.

[dwanollah]

Books, books, books! Get her a book that'll "grow" with her, like one of the Shel Silverstein collections, or a nicely bound classic, like The Secret Garden. There are tons of beautiful picture books, if you want something more age-appropriate, too. The San Souci illustrated ones are gorgeous. Another one of my faves is a book called "Tuesday," which won a Caldecott medal.

[sleepy]

Books would be my first choice, actually, but her daddy works in a library. They get tons of books all the time, and I have no idea which ones she's read and hasn't read. Then again, your idea about a nicely bound book might work, because borrowing a book and having a nice classic of your own are two very differetn things.