Sassy Black Friend

Holiday gift shopping

Usually I love holiday shopping. All the tacky shininess and aggressive cheerfulness works for me. I mean, I spend at least one evening wrapping gifts while listening to holiday music, and often hot chocolate is involved. The whole thing just overloads my cynic circuits, and I embrace the season. I spend hours and hours shopping for little things for the people in my life. Little things because I end up spending a lot on wrapping supplies, and I’m always broke.

Regardless, I love it. Right up until it comes time to pick out a gift for my mother. She is impossible to shop for, and gift giving three times a year is just too much (birthday, Christmas and mother’s day). She’s retired, and also loves shopping. So she buys herself what she wants, leaving nothing for me to get her. Of course, I always come up with something. Usually pulled off last minute based on some off hand comment, or something I realize she needs. For the last five years I’ve gotten her:

Kitchen necessities set – She’s not big on cooking, but she’s trying to do more. So, I got her a nice chef’s knife, a cutting board (go bamboo!), a new spice rack, and a sturdy saute pan. All of which I’ve used more during visits than she does. Whatever. She was happy and showed them off to the neighbors.

Fancy booze – She loves to entertain, but never buys nice stuff for herself. So I got her a selection of her favorite scotches (that was hard, I know nothing about scotch), and a wine of the month club membership. The benefits of a happy, slightly tipsy parent are obvious, I trust. Happy.

Electronics – This was a goldmine category for a few years. New microwave, DVD player, cell phone, stereo, cordless phone. Can’t wait till all of it starts needing to be replaced again.

Christmas for Christmas – After doing some serious renovations on the house three years ago, she stopped getting a real Christmas tree. Of course, my short visits took the blame. Fine. But I did notice she missed it. So, I got her a great fake tree that’s easy to assemble, and some decorations and lights for it. This was definitely a winning gift.

The problem is, I have no idea what to do this year. And I can’t spend a lot of money because she gets mad when I do. Ack.