The Gift Suggestion Thread

[deadduck]

topher said:

A voodoo doll of Deaduck?

Heh. "When are you going to get a job?" - stab - "You could at least clean a little." - stab - "No more hockey talk!" - stab.

Kafka, I'm not being difficult, just truthful. That's why she's so difficult to shop for.


ETA: Batmom apparently cannot look at the top of the screen and is now posting in my name. All above the ETA is her. Son of Xenu.

God, not even I..the real deadduck knows what to get my mother. And Topher, my mom passed the voodoo doll on to batmom when we got married.

[kafka]

deadduck said:

ETA: Batmom apparently cannot look at the top of the screen and is now posting in my name. All above the ETA is her. Son of Xenu.

I hope this is not inappropriate but you two make me laugh so much. And then want to knock on wood just to be certain. But, really, the two of you remind me of that famous couple who did a B&W comedy hour and were always teasing each other. You're a really wonderful advert for marriage. <knock on wood, knock on head>

Batmom, if she likes that Maeve Binchy woman, why don't you get her a few of the books on tape? I know she's read them all already but it's a very different experience when you listen to a famous, incredible voice reading the book. My sister is really into audiobooks for her commute and when I was looking for some Bday presents back in February, I *KNOW* I saw quite a few of the Maeve woman's books there. It may not be Sir John Gielgud, Robert Hardy, or some famous Shakespearean actor reading them but they do have some startlingly surprising speakers all in all. I know I saw Judi Dench on the cover of one series, and I'm pretty sure I also saw Vanessa Redgrave, Jane Seymour and some other big names as well.

If there is a Half-Price Books chain near you, go there first because I found a HUGE selection of everything from romance books and Robert Ludlum, to Checkov and Dostoevsky. Plus, their price is excellent and definitely less than some of the big chains like Barnes& Nobles (who also has a very, very big selection, btw).

At the end of the day though, you only have to give a gift which shows some thought for the other person's interests. That's it. If the person is never happy, no matter how hard you try, then too tant pis. You've done what you had to do and gave it your best. So please don't get too stressed out over this.

[batmom]

That's an interesting suggestion, Kafka. I will check out the selection. Another option is to see if I can find Circle of Friends on DVD. Thanks for brainstorming.

And yeah, I feel sometime like deadduck and I are performing "Deadduck and Batmom: A Portrait of a Marriage" on this site, but I'm not sure if it's a comedy or a tragedy. But we're happy. Most of the time.

Edited because sight instead of site? How embarrassing.

[dwanollah]

And yeah, I feel sometime like deadduck and I are performing "Deadduck and Batmom: A Portrait of a Marriage" on this sight, but I'm not sure if it's a comedy or a tragedy. But we're happy. Most of the time.

Who cares, baby? It's entertaining! That's what matters!

[zivvie]

I think deadduck and batmom should give batgranny a photo of the couple posed a la Grant Wood's "American Gothic". Dunno why; just a thought.

I'm hoping I have a good suggestion for a gift for a dear friend's baby shower - I want to give her some onesies/baby clothes for an older baby. I figure since lots of times, expectant moms get lots of presents for a newborn, but not so much for their babies when the babies are a little older and bigger. So I thought that some clothes for a 6-to-9-month-old would be appropriate. I also want to include a gift certificate, maybe for $25, for things that she and her hubby may realize later that they need that they haven't received as gifts. Is this a reasonable present?

[batmom]

Very reasonable and generous. May I suggest overalls for clothing? I love overalls for kids - they're useful pretty much year round and you don't have to keep hiking them up over diapers.

[Peggy Lane]

Does your mother-in-law like to get her nails done, Batmom? Maybe you could get a gift certificate to a local manicurist?

My mom and her best friend are planning to go to Ireland, I'm thinking maybe a travel basket? A nice passport holder, a good travel guide...and then I draw a blank. Any ideas? My dad's birthday is the SAME day, and I just found the perfect gift, an autographed copy of James Arness's autobiography. Really, Dad's a big dork and will be totally thrilled. Unfortunately, it will take six weeks to get here (facepalm). I'm going to have to find some kind of holder present, the annoying thing is that I had to do a holder present for his Christmas as well, which was also Gunsmoke related. Oh well.

[india7]

zivvie said:

So I thought that some clothes for a 6-to-9-month-old would be appropriate. I also want to include a gift certificate, maybe for $25, for things that she and her hubby may realize later that they need that they haven't received as gifts. Is this a reasonable present?

I think that's a great idea! I always give slightly bigger baby clothes as presents. It's more practical since mostly everyone else gives clothes that will fit the little one now - but then they grow so fast! Before I started doing that, I'd given infant clothes as gifts that the baby never got to wear because there were so many infant outfits, and the baby grew so fast that they never got around to mine. So something the little tyke can grow into later is just as thoughtful!

[Deleted]

peggylane said:

My mom and her best friend are planning to go to Ireland, I'm thinking maybe a travel basket? A nice passport holder, a good travel guide...and then I draw a blank. Any ideas?

Suggestions:
Spiffy/funky luggage tags. Airplane reading. A little first aid kit or sewing kit. Good walking socks. Sunscreen. A nice waterproof sun hat (to cover any weather eventuality!) Any of the little things that you tend to forget when you travel.

[sleepy]

^^ My dad really wants to go to Italy, so for his birthday we made a sort of scrapbook to motivate him to actually go. We made a folder in a sketch book, inside the folder was a passport application, computer printouts from Lonely Planet and other sites (including general information about the areas he's interested in), a CD of traditional Italian music, and some condoms (hee! yeah, we're bad). In the book itself, we cut up a bunch of pictures of Italy from magazines and made collages. He loves food, so every page had a recipe for an Italian dish.

He loved it! Absolutely loved it.