What you guys have to say about this?

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[wchingya]

As I was browsing through the paper this morning (yesterday’s actually), this survey caught my eyes instantly. Since it’s a survey done for the Australians, I figure here would be the best place to raise a little discussion about its reliability. I’ll try to sum them up for ya:

72% Australians – not getting the X”mas gifts they like (By Galaxy Research)


Online survey by bank NAB showed (if you want the percentage then let me know, I’m just gonna make them brief now):

Most unpopular gifts
– body & bath products, books, dressing gowns, slippers, socks, underwear

Worst gift-givers – 1. Grandparents  2. Mothers  3. Fathers

Which gift grandchildren think is best for grandpa/grandma ?
– photo frames (No.. your grandparents rated it as ‘NICE thought’ but not they really want)

What teenagers (daughters) hated to get from their parents?
– clothes (70% parents thought clothing was good for daughters)

What parents thought as a wise choice for teenage sons?
– books (no no, thumbs down)

What gifts that wives & girlfriends most disliked getting from their partners?
– Kitchen appliances (and again, this group also rated the most difficult group to buy gifts to, but I’ll agree with the kitchen appliances for my case)

How about fathers? – they’re yawning at yet another pair of socks

Results: lack of time to devote to Christmas shopping & miscommunication
And guess what, 74% expected to be shopping the week before Christmas

You know what, I think this is quite similar all over the place, not only for Aussies. Are you one of those groups mentioned above? 

[macgirvin]

Who cares if you don't get gifts that you like? They're gifts. If you don't like them, pass them on to Salvos or one of the African relief agencies.. Somebody will appreciate them.

It doesn't concern me in the slightest if my daughter gives me a pair of socks or a discount brand after shave. It's always a treasure. My best Xmas present ever was a safety pin onto which she had strung six or seven blue and yellow beads. 

[KirstenL4W]

I love getting a new set of cozy jammies and slipper socks for Christmas.  Other people really are hard to shop for - my dad, for instance.  He doesn't watch sports, he doesn't golf, ride a motorcycle, go fishing, or any of that other typical dad stuff.  EVERYONE who knows him gets stuck on the same few things - blue shirts to match his eyes and Corvette/Route 66 books and memorabilia.

I do agree with macgirvin - they are GIFTS, and the important thing is the thought.

[bobbyn]

I dont care what i get - socks, bath stuff, whatever.

As macgirvin said, their gifts, appreciate what your loved one has given you.

[Kin]

I LOVE getting bath stuff - what I really wish for is the time to use it 

Everyone is hard to buy for these days. I've had two solid shopping days at a massive market and two major shopping centres and have bough 5, maybe 6 presents of the 9 I tried to limit myself to. Kids are easy though - they were all done in July.

[MarkSBurgunder]

The worst gift to get I think is money in an envelope. That just shows, that the giver didn't give a s..t!
Anything else I can appreciate.

[wchingya]

ha.. nice. Obviously, you guys were not in the surveys.

Yeah, is the heart that counts. I remembered getting a big hand-made card from my hubby's bro/sis, and I was so touched by it. Who says gifts have to be fancy?

Same with you, Kirsten, I can't shop for my dad either ! He's exact the same way you described. ha.. so I just bought him clothes instead, but I do find my self-design cards made him smiles more and even ran to show off to my mom... so, again, it's the heart that counts.  

Haha.. I agree, kids are easy, and not really have much complaints when it comes to toys, unless they're asking for laptops, then... Just the other day, a customer told me she'll be buying a laptop for her kid, and I was nearly fall off my chair when she said her kid was only 5-6 year old!!! Seriously, a REAL LAPTOP???  

I'm happy with whatever gifts for me. But honestly, I do hope my partner would give me a special gift, something from his heart that'll show how much he knows/cares about me (not necessarily jewelry or expensive stuffs), so, I'll include myself in the 'difficult' group, for my husband's sake. ha.... no harm for letting the man do some 'creative' thinking once in a while.

[leechbabe]

Haha.. I agree, kids are easy, and not really have much complaints when it comes to toys, unless they're asking for laptops, then... Just the other day, a customer told me she'll be buying a laptop for her kid, and I was nearly fall off my chair when she said her kid was only 5-6 year old!!! Seriously, a REAL LAPTOP???  

My hubby was really keen on getting our 3yo and 5yo daughters a laptop.  I think he is insane.  But told him sure, the laptop or the Wii we've been saving for all year, choose one.  He chose the Wii :grin:

Our girls are now using a 8yo desktop pc that we inherited from FIL.

[wchingya]

Haha.. I agree, kids are easy, and not really have much complaints when it comes to toys, unless they're asking for laptops, then... Just the other day, a customer told me she'll be buying a laptop for her kid, and I was nearly fall off my chair when she said her kid was only 5-6 year old!!! Seriously, a REAL LAPTOP???  

My hubby was really keen on getting our 3yo and 5yo daughters a laptop.  I think he is insane.  But told him sure, the laptop or the Wii we've been saving for all year, choose one.  He chose the Wii :grin:

Our girls are now using a 8yo desktop pc that we inherited from FIL.

  Wise choice!

[wchingya]

The worst gift to get I think is money in an envelope. That just shows, that the giver didn't give a s..t!
Anything else I can appreciate.

Would a cheque with USD10mil in the envelope a much better idea? 

[leechbabe]

The worst gift to get I think is money in an envelope. That just shows, that the giver didn't give a s..t!
Anything else I can appreciate.

Would a cheque with USD10mil in the envelope a much better idea? 

I don't mind money in an envelope.  It is two gifts.

1. the actual gift of the money.
2. the gift of shopping

Plus cold hard cash in the envelope gives me greater flexibility about where I spend it than a gift voucher which restricts me to one store.

[kathiemt]

Some of our girls actually ask for money and as for my husband - he always buys everything he wants anyway, he never waits so we can, so gift vouchers usually get given to him.

[Sueblimely]

I gave some money to both of my older two kids this year - one wanted craft/painting stuff and as I haven't a clue what she has already this was too vague to be of help. The other needed money for his trip to India. Not wanting to just give cash I ended up buying them both pre-paid credit cards which are meant to be useable worldwide. My partner actually asked for socks - and it is not that he is even short of them!

I agree with Macgirvin - all pressies from my kids when young were precious. When they are older, as with other people, it can be disappointing if you are given gifts that they should know you would not like because it is the thought that counts and if no thought has gone into it it is easy to think they do not care enough. My step daughter is like this with her parents but I will not get on to the subject of Jenny as I could be here all night :-) Her latest misadventure is collecting 12 speeding points within 6 weeks of passing her test and she is still paying off the court fine she got for driving alone before she had her licence!

[therinofandor]

my husband - he always buys everything he wants anyway, he never waits so we can, so gift vouchers usually get given to him.

Mmmmm. I never wait either. As a collector of many Star Trek items, lots of movie soundtrack albums (often only available through Amazon), 60s TV memorabilia, people find it hard to buy me something I don't already have. I make a trip into the CBD every Thursday night, and get my comics, magazines and novels hot from the crates in which they were imported to Australia. I often joke that a gift voucher for Galaxy Bookshop or Kings Comics will at least help me to buy my next purchase! But that rarely happens, and it's hard to pay for the next big comic bill, or for DVD boxed sets, with extraneous socks, hankies, aftershave (which I always forget to wear anyway) and polo shirts.

I turned fifty a few days ago, and while some brave souls found me a Star Trek book I didn't already own (the only one I don't have, I reckon! - well, I have the first edition, but this is an updated one), some cool "Toy Story" glassware, a 3D doodling pencil (yes, it doodles in 3D), a bunch of flowers (my first ever), and some other fun stuff, I did score some excellent gift vouchers - from the Apple Store, Hoyts, Galaxy, Westfield and JB HiFi. And yes, money in an envelope is cool, too. I'd never be offended that I'm too hard to buy for.

As for my own gift giving, my nieces and nephews used to say (before they became hard-to-buy-for teenagers) that I was the relative who gave the best presents, but then, I do spend more time in toyshops (for myself, usually) and bookshops than their parents. And I'm a teacher-librarian, so my book choices were usually spot-on.

I'm lucky in that my Mum and Dad really treasure repeated treats (Mum loves chocolate-covered "Clinkers" and Dad loves black jelly beans) and I know their tastes in DVDs and CDs well, because they live in Perth and postage (and fragility) is always a consideration.