The most stressful time of the year is ushered in with sugar-sweet speculoos. You roll your eyes and just want to go far away? But running away is useless. Because Christmas and the question "What do I give my partner??" come just as surely as "Last Christmas Is played up and down.
One of the worst questions that puts any partnership to the test: What do I give?
The thing with vouchers
The first solution that immediately comes to mind: gift certificates. "My darling can choose something." – How boring! Best still as Din A4 note, where with the expression the printer cartridge has broken down on half a distance? No! Rather a voucher for an event, play or experience? Not better. Vouchers are a very bad idea. They tend to be unimaginative and women have little to unwrap – after all, that’s what makes it fun: unwrapping – and not just for gifts. Besides, there are supposed to be people who have a whole box full of unredeemed vouchers. Especially since a merchandise voucher always shows the amount you have spent on it. And that quickly leads to the question: "So that’s how little/much I’m worth to you?"
Jewelry for the treasure?
Instead, they want to make use of the old familiar cliches and give away jewelry? After all, they say "Diamonds are a girls best friends" and only a "good watch distinguishes men from boys". The problem here: you need to know your partner’s tastes very well, otherwise the good stuff – like the coupons – will end up in a drawer.
Everyone knows the crux with the gifts
Little tip: Listen! Because everyone buys everything themselves nowadays, there’s only one way to get a great surprise for Christmas: Listening and watching – already a few weeks before Christmas Eve. Women usually give very subtle hints: "Look, honey, these shoes are really nice, but way too expensive: What do you think??" Ding ding ding. With a beautiful packaging you have already collected plus points.
And with men? Small tip: The World Cup is coming up and he would certainly like to enjoy with the right equipment in a fantastic place with super atmosphere. Otherwise, listening helps here too: Your loved one is talking about nothing but the special gadget for his home theater? Or raving about the new camping stove for his next trip with his friends? So here again, keep your eyes and ears open.
Otherwise, men and women are happy about individual gifts, exclusive time with their partner (massages, cooking together or traveling) and sometimes also about homemade gifts. If you don’t have any idea at all, there is still the proven emergency plan for men and women: Ask your best friend. He sometimes knows more than you think.
Gift tips from the editors
* Time together (experiences, undertakings)
* Homemade (food etc.)
* Books
* Pampering your partner (massages etc.)
* Something for a hobby
Only way out: Escape
"Maybe.", think now "do I make Christmas simply blue. Or celebrate alone. Then I do not need to give anything." Unfortunately this is not a solution either. Because at the latest on Christmas Eve, when you sit alone in front of the TV with your festive feast from the microwave and watch the Christmas speech of the German President, it comes: The sentimentality. You will think of how nice Christmas was as a child or imagine how friends and relatives celebrate with their loved ones now. And then you might regret playing hooky at Christmas just because you didn’t want to get a gift.
In spite of all the gift-giving, the commercialism and the Christmas hype, Christmas is nice somehow. The hustle and bustle, the scent, the Christmas markets, the Christmas dinner. And you can also get something out of the family feast and even Christmas mass. Because when it’s all gone, you kind of miss it. The cranky grandpa who gets everything wrong, the grandma who actually only wants the best for you, or the senile aunt who asks every year anew where you currently work and how many children you have. And yes, giving gifts is also fun. Because the sparkling eyes are not only with the children on Christmas Eve something very special that makes you forget all the gift stress.
And let’s face it, just because the big online stores and media are encouraging people to buy and give, doesn’t mean we have to buy into all the hype. Because not only since "The Grinch" or "Kevin alone at home we know that at Christmas it is not about material things but about a nice, common time with the dearest ones.