It’s Almost Christmas

Each year, as I make out my Christmas list, I begin the think about what I want to either buy or make for each person.  Some people are really easy.  A piece of jewelry for a friend, a book for an avid reader, a special toy for the children in your life are the first gifts I purchase and check off my list. 

However, there are some people I struggle with each year.  They are typically the men in my life like my father, husband, brother and father-in-law.  They don’t make lists and I have to constantly come up with new and exciting Christmas gift ideas for men.

For men, you have to work at it to find a gift that will mean something to them. Otherwise you are likely to hear the dreadful response of: “Oh, that’s nice. I really like it.”

The first thing I have realized is that, for many men, the gift needs to be useful like golf stuff for a golfer, hunting supplies for a hunter, computer games for the teenager who just got a new computer. If a gift doesn’t have an obvious use in their lives, it will likely stay in the box or sit out and get dusty.  In other words, don’t fall into the trap of buying guy a something just so you can check him off your list.

Think about their hobbies.  Do they collect something?  Have they expressed an interest in a particular subject?  Have they expressed an interest in a particular subject?  If you can’t think of a gift that goes along with their interest or hobby, a book about it is typically a safe bet. 

Other Christmas gift ideas for men that I have found to be fail safe include magazine subscriptions and gift cards.  A year-in-review photo album is a great for a newly married man, new father or new grandfather. 

If you absolutely can’t come up with any ideas, then you can corner them with a pen and paper and not leave them alone until they write down at least 5 gifts they would like to receive.