It seems Christmas gifts for men are always more difficult for me to come up with than gift ideas for women. I want this Christmas to be extra special for my husband. Let me tell you why.
Family traditions are an important part of our memories and who we are. If we have had positive experiences in our families most of us like to re-create these experiences with our children. If we have had poor experiences we want to start new traditions. Usually many of the family traditions we remember are associated with holidays. For those people that have had great holiday times with their families it is hard for them to understand why holiday times can bring up painful memories for others that have not. Such a lot of emphasis is put on Christmas cheer and good tidings that it is a difficult time of the year for people who are depressed or who do not have families to share their holidays with.
I grew up with great Christmas memories, but my husband did not. His father was an alcoholic, and he often drank too much during the family Christmas gatherings. He was a mean drunk so my husband's memories of Christmas family time include fights between his parents and embarrassment over his father's behavior. All of this came out during the first few years that we were married. I wanted to help my husband develop the kind of joyful memories of Christmas that I have. I set out to do this not only with gifts but also through the Christmas decorations we did and the foods we made.
With women there are so many accessories that can be purchased that men do not seem to need or use. I decided that I would call my brother and ask him to go shopping with me so I could have his help me in picking out some good Christmas gifts for men. He has similar interests to my husband and they are of the same age.
It was an atmospheric day to go Christmas shopping. The snow was falling in big lazy flakes but the temperature was not uncomfortably cold. My brother and I each took a half day off work so we could meet for lunch and plan our shopping. As we were talking I realized that he had some great ideas for Christmas gifts for men. He said that unlike women, men prefer to get practical and useful things as Christmas gifts.
We spent time buying clothes and it was interesting to find how my brother cautioned me about being too bold with colors and patterns that looked great to me but that men are generally less enthused about than women buying for them. Next we spent some time on some looking through some fishing gear, and it was a big help to have my brother's expert suggestions. He also suggested a few gift ideas from a car accessories shop.
I told him that I wanted to get some stocking stuffers for the stocking I had hung up for my husband by our fireplace. Filled stockings were a favorite part of Christmas giving in our family, but my husband never had this experience. My brother suggested giving gas cards, gift certificates from our favorite coffee shop, and gift tokens from the book shop my husband often visits. I had not though of these as Christmas gifts for men, but he said it was great to not have to use cash for these things and that they were real treats for him.
I enjoyed my day with my brother and I am sure my husband will love the carefully chosen Christmas gifts for men that I have bought him.
