Saturday, April 19, 2008

Going stag (beetle)

For better or worse (usually worse), my sister-in-law is a very ... direct person. You might even say "blunt" or "tactless."

She is, however, a very good gift-giver, especially for the kids. She consistently picks spot-on presents, toys they enjoy right away and continue to play with often. Even this year, when she flat-out told us that she'd forgotten their birthdays up until three days before (see line 2 above). The gifts were obviously the product of a sweep through the Chinese discount store--random, inexpensive, and labeled entirely in Mandarin--and still the kids loved them. Fake bronze, fire truck-shaped pencil sharpener? Opie thinks it is awesome. Glue-backed, 99-cent Hello Kitty wall hooks? Jo oohed and aahed.

Oh, and that's also how I came to live with 20 totally realistic looking plastic stag beetles (link NSF the weak-stomached).

And even though it is hard to top those creepy crawlers, they are not the best gift the SIL has ever given. Nope, that was when she went ahead and pointed out (I told you, she will say anything) that it was dumb for us to give gifts to each other, when we were pretty much just swapping one gift card for another. She gave me the gift of cutting her off my gift list and that, my friends, is a pretty present indeed.

I am quite sure I don't want to get in my SIL's head, but the idea of a site to help men give good gifts to the women in their lives is a cause I can certainly support. Thanks to Parent Bloggers Network for this week's Blog Blast.

6 comments:

the mama bird diaries said...

My dad and I always exchange contributions to the nonprofit of our choice... I always kind of liked that gift. It makes me feel good and i don't have to figure out where to put it.

Tree said...

I love the no exchange or exchange for contributions (thanks, mama bird!) ideas.

motherbumper said...

Oh gawd, she will say anything won't she? And stag beetles (rubber or real) make my skin crawl.

Alex Elliot said...

That is a good gift!

Magpie said...

Those are some freaky ugly bugs!

It's funny, I almost never give ANYONE a gift card - except our West Coast nieces.

Lady M said...

Some people just have the knack for perfect gift-giving. And for when enough is enough! I like the sound of your SIL.