It's not that we don't love our wives, although women do seem to tend to equate our incredibly poor gift-guying skills with our affection for them. Speaking for myself, I honestly draw a blank when it comes to gifts for women.

As a general rule, I won't buy clothing for her, because- oh who the Hell needs that explained to them?

Many years ago, I did buy her a "winter white coat" but only because she dropped the biggest hit ever. It was a good buy. It fits her, still, and she wore it just last week to a holiday party.

But, other than that and slippers, uhh, no.

Married men of SIGforum, I implore you- help a brother catch a break! I need ideas! Please, no new cars or diamond bracelets. I am but a poor man, meek and mild.


Eh?

Make haste! The clock doth ticketh!! Ticketh, it doth!

After almost 50 years of marriage, I ran out of ideas too. Started giving orchids (in pots) a few years ago and she now tends about 7 or 8. They’ve been well received, not expensive, come in lots of different colors and live for years with minimal maintenance. That was a lucky choice in my case, but she’s always liked plants and gardening so it seemed to fit. YMMV.

My wife and I do events. Those memories generally last much longer than dresses, coats, cars, or appliances.

I got my wife a down filled comforter last year. Not too expensive either. She loves it and insists on sleeping with it every night (even in the summer). This year I got lucky, we did a 4 week trip to see our daughter and grand children that we both decided was our Christmas.

quote:

Originally posted by snoris:
My wife and I do events.

What, like take her bowling? I could do that.

48 Years married here. I agree with the garden/plant theme. I will add that indoor/outdoor wrought iron plant stands and shelves are a big hit. They can be found in any ACE hardware store. Outdoor concrete animals and fountains are also good if you have a garden or planting area. Decorative bird baths also found in ACE.

A towel warmer for the bathroom!

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=tow..._sb_ss_ts-doa-p_3_12


https://www.keenray.com/produc...-towel-warmer-bucket

This message has been edited. Last edited by: bald1,

We’re going to St Maarten in Jan. I told her its our Christmas present and I'm done.

Totally worth it to get out of the gift roundabout.

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:
A towel warmer for the bathroom!

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=tow..._sb_ss_ts-doa-p_3_12

I am bookmarking this for next year.

These would not suffice as a present, they'd make for good stocking stuffers. Super handy little things great at removing food from dishes holds up pretty well for being plastic even against your worst baked on nightmares. I bought a case to give them away to friends just because I like them and I'd figure they would too.

They are $8 each individually but a case order makes them much better per unit price.

Maybe a really good kitchen knife.

https://www.chefknivestogo.com/

The best, most likely to succeed, things I could advise are:

Think on the past year with her and find something that tells her you actually heard what she said at least once. They go nuts if you hit the bullseye here.

Think about the times she's said she felt cold, buy accordingly. Repeat for when she's said she was too warm.

Chocolate. Unless she has an allergy this is always accepted currency in a marriage.

Best of luck.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: apprentice,

Does she have any hobbies or pastimes she enjoys?

IIRC, last year's suggestion of a quality set of hand pruners was a hit? If you didn't get her the holster for them: Felco P95 910P Holster. My wife uses hers all the time.

Here are some more gardening tools my wife regards as indispensable:

UPB Japan Japanese Hand Hoe Nejiri Gama Weeding Sickle for Weeding Gardening Planting 9.8in (25cm)

Longer-handled version: Tomerry Weeding Sickle Japanese Craftsmanship Very Sharp Nejiri Gama

Also handy for planting annuals, as well as weeding.

This garden cart goes with her everywhere throughout the yard. She uses it to keep her tools in, move plants about, etc. She says of this "It's a must-have": Gorilla Carts GCR-4 Poly Dump Cart, 2-Wheel Garden Wagon with Foldable Handle, 4 cu ft, 300 lb. Capacity, Black/Yellow

After a number of clueless attempts at gifts for the women in my life, I just settled on gift cards from these folks:
L.L. Bean. Wide variety of stuff for ladies from clothing, linens, shoes and household.
Coach. Ladies love purses (all mine do, anyway) and Coach pretty much covers the spectrum.
Apple. I hesitated with Apple until I noticed many women now wear the IWatch. Turned out to be an excellent option.
Good luck in your quest!

My wife enjoys simple gifts like scented candles (stores like Marshalls, TJ Maxx, and Ross by far have the best prices and usually a good selection), festive seasonal hand soaps, and a few sweet treats (mine in particular likes toffee and chocolate covered almonds). I use these sorts of gifts every year as filler gifts.

She really enjoys getting time away from the kids and mom-duties to go thrift store shopping, but she won't do it because it feels like a frivolous use of money in her mind as she generally doesn't buy anything we actually need, per se... So a gift of $150 cash with a note telling her what day I will be taking the kids fishing and a list of her favorite thrift stores is ALWAYS a safe fallback for me.

Other than that, we are in the "events not gifts" categories as well.

Though it occurs to me, finally, that sometimes I'll buy Christmas decor, which she adores, AFTER Christmas (read: on the cheap) and hide it until her bday in April, and give it to her then. That usually is good too, though perhaps not exceptionally helpful to you at this moment.

Get a B&B on Jekyll Island for the weekend. Walk the beach, go out for nice food, play a little mini-golf, tour the shops.

Time. The ultimate luxury.

I have a similar dynamic with my wife. I know she's the glue of my household, and I want to get her something nice every year, but she just doesn't make it easy. I start asking in September. If she identifies anything I always get it for her. So, perhaps I'm a bit predictable. I try to be observant, and write down anything she might say it would be nice to have.

Two years ago she told me a story about as a child she look forward to visiting a friends house, and how she was fascinated by the metronome on their piano. I mulled it over, and she's not a musician in any way, I got one for her. That was a big hit.

I got my wife a giant blanket, this way she can't roll out of it. She is always cold.

https://bigblanket.com

Jewelry is hit and miss, mine doesnt like a lot of it. Some board games to play together, last year got her some stupid expensive hair dryer she would never have gotten herself but wanted.

Slippers (as mentioned in the OP) are always received well.

A few years ago I gave Mrs. Archie a defensive handgun course enrollment. She went ahead and took it to "humor" me. Now she's gotten her RSO and Instructor certifications. Turned out to be a much better gift than I expected. You could combine this with travel if budget and schedule allow.