I’m horrible at buying gifts for my wife.
For instance, for Lisa’s first birthday after we were married, one of the gifts I bought her was James Dobson’s bookWhat Wives Wish Their Husbands Knew About Women. As soon as she opened it, a funny grin immediately crossed her face.
“What?” I asked.
“I really appreciate the gift, but aren’t wives supposed to give these to their husbands?” she replied.
Awkward pause.
“Maybe I felt that you needed to know all the things that I needed to know about you as a wife. Did you ever think about that?” I said.
That gift sort of set the pace for the next twenty years.
A few years later, Lisa had said that she wanted something practical for her birthday, so I got her a cordless phone. When she opened it up, she held it in the air and said, “Hey, how ’bout this? A phone!”
“You said something practical! We needed a cordless phone, so I got you a phone.”
“It’s nice and everything, but I was hoping for something a little more personal and heartfelt than a household item.”
Taking that advice to heart, the next year for our anniversary I got her a vacuum cleaner, which was a step up from the time I got her sneakers.
Finally, a few years ago I put cash in a birthday card along with a little note that read, “I give up. I think this is what you want.” When she opened the card, looked over at me and slowly raised one eyebrow, I knew I was headed straight for marriage counseling.
The gift that took the cake was, ironically, the one I felt was just super genius on my part.
I paid attention all year to what Lisa said she really needed, and all I heard was how she couldn’t lose those few extra pounds of pregnancy weight. I talked to all my guy friends, and we all agreed I should get her atreadmill.
Listen to me. If you are a man and you can take away only one thing from this blog post, let it be this: never ask your guy friends what they think your wife would like for her birthday.
Ask her friends.
Ask Jesus.
Ask anyone but your fishing buddies.
What Your Husband Really Wants
I share this because you should be reluctant to take my gift idea advice for women. That’s not a good idea, as you now know.
But gift advice for men, on Father’s Day? Well, I think I have that nailed.
What he really wants for Father’s Day is what he wants the other 364 ¼ days of the year – and that is to be reminded that he’s been a good father.
That’s all any father really wants.
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