For many men when it comes to figuring out what to get our romantic partners as a gift, sadly we have a tendency to do a poor job. Part of this comes from perhaps not being as observant as we could be and picking up on subtle hints through which our girlfriends/fiancés/wives are trying to tell us what they would like as a gift.
How to deal with this can be an exercise in frustration for both sexes and so to solve it requires a level of understanding of the fact that subtlety is not going to work because the guy is too set in his ways. So what can be done? Well even in this extreme case there are some solutions.
The first remedy is you can be as blunt as a sledgehammer by explicitly stating what you want as a gift. If your significant other has a tendency to be as dense as a block of concrete, if you want to ensure you get something you like this’ll have to be your method of choice. Is it the most thoughtful, sensitive or romantic way to go about things? No, but if you’re tired of every birthday and anniversary being disappointed, in terms of what you receive, you may have no other option, but this one.
The second solution you can try is if your beau has a friend who is maybe a bit more sensitive and a little less dense who would be willing to help steer him in the right direction. Have a little talk with the friend and explain the situation and ask them to talk to your guy and help him. Tell the friend that this is really becoming an issue and how you haven’t been able to get through to him and if they could help or had any ideas. You’ll know if this worked by the next special occasion and if it does make sure to pick up a little ‘thank you’ gift for the friend.
The third way to go requires a degree of introspection on your part, wherein you will need to think back as to whether he used to go through more of an effort as far as gifts and special occasions were concerned and, if that is the case, whether you did the same for him. If you find yourself realizing how you did very little to make his birthday and other significant days special than you may very well have found the reason why he is not making much of an effort for yours. Nobody likes to feel that they’re putting in all this effort only to get a $2 hammer from their girlfriend for their birthday. You can’t take someone for granted and keep expecting them to go to great lengths to make you feel special as anyone after a while will start to question why they’re doing so.
The fourth way is to arrange at the stores you like to shop at a list for the clerks to keep on file of things you like and what size you are, that way if your partner remembers which stores those are he can go in, ask the clerk, and the clerk will be able to help him. Without taking this kind of initiative on your part you run the risk of him really going off the beaten track with what he gets you for a gift.
Lastly, we are living in a recessionary age where job security is negligible and discretionary money for buying gifts is limited. So try to keep that in mind and realize that he may want to get you a great gift, but he’s not in the financial position to do so and has to get you something less than ideal. Also, a lot of the time the best gifts that you remember are ones that have very little to do with how much they cost. So give him an idea of your favorite home cooked meal, a past date you would like to try and recreate or a place within driving distance that you would like to go see and visit. It may end up that these gifts have more meaning to you and are ones that the two of you can share and make a memory out of.
