I hate Christmas

My husband and I have been together for more than half my life. It's rare that he can surprise me and in the past these surprises haven't always been pleasant.

Right now he's mad as hell at me. He had a plan for a Christmas gift for me. He's been acting odd the last couple of weeks. I knew he was up to something, but I really had no clue what. Usually I have an idea and pretend not to, but this time, really no idea what so ever. Which bothers me because he doesn't always think of long term consequences.

So he came home from work and said he had to go out for a couple of hours. He NEVER goes anywhere without telling me, usually begging me to go with him. He asked me to trust him, that he's never been able to surprise me in 25 years of marriage and for ONCE he wanted to. I had two options (according to him) either trust him and allow him to have his fun or he wasn't going to do it.

I asked him why he couldn't talk to me about it, he said "because you'll say no." Warning alarms going off! So I said if those or my choices, I'd rather he didn't do whatever he had planned.

Turns out he wanted to surprise me with a new car. I don't need a new car. Now he's mad because I didn't allow him to surprise me.

oh my...

This is tricky. Do you like surprises or are you the practical type who would be happy with a gift card. If your husband is the type who desperately wants to surprise you, then I think you should let him surprise you in the future. You could let your kids act as advisors and perhaps you could drop a few hints indirectly. Most people would be thrilled with getting a new car, so I can understand his disappointment. If you see he's acting out of character and making the effort, I think you should have just let him go and deal with it later. What would be your ideal Xmas gift AAAAA?

Just throwing my two cents in, I could be wrong or right.
I find sometimes in life, people ( myself included at times, I suppose ) give gifts that they like so much, and want the recipient to love and want as much as they do. It often does not work. It is far better to give a gift that the person actually wants or can use, irrespective of if we love it or not.
Trying to make my other half love Papa Roach or Marilyn Manson, would be a complete waste of time and money on my part, he will never be into them, far better to get him a camera accessory, as photography is his thing, not mine.
Try to not be too upset with him, he meant well. Tell him off first, then give him a hug and enjoy your Christmas together. My other half does not in live in the States.
Merry Christmas.

He wubs you. Give him some hugs and kisses.

Would him getting you the new car for Christmas have put you in a hard place financially? - if not I don't see what the fuss is all about.

Well, it turns out that he did think it out pretty well. My vehicle is out of warranty, just hit 100,000 miles and has had problems since we drove it off the lot. Lately it's only been small things, but they can nickle and dime you to death.

There are a lot of incentives out there, there's a former military discount, a discount through his employer (manufactures auto parts) and the normal dealer incentives; for the price of a decent used car, he can get a new car. So I'm on the fence now. My car will be paid off in the spring. With the economy being what it is, I don't like the idea of taking on a new debt. Or in this case extending the debt we have from 5 months to four years. (He ran the numbers and the car payment would remain the same.)

Generally speaking I don't like gifts. My daughter handed out her gifts last night. She was very frustrated, when she asked what I wanted I answered her honestly... I wanted some spatulas and some slippers. I like practical stuff. I don't know what happened to all of my spatulas, but I never remember to pick them up when I go shopping.

It's not that I'm a control freak. He'd been pointing out all of the cute dogs he's been seeing lately and my first thought was he was going to surprise me with another dog.

The fuss is that I ruined the surprise. I was supposed to walk out to get in the car to head up to my mother's for Christmas and find a new car in my spot.

AAAAA why not apologize and "forget" about it? Tell him that would have been a thoughtful gift, and a nice surprise... and maybe he can come up with another one for you? Who knows, if you play nice he might surprise you with a car anyway!!!

Sky, that's a good idea!

I'm too practical to accept a car as a gift. I think if I ever came home and my boyfriend had bought me a car as a surprise I would flip! That is cute though and a huge surprise but man....what's wrong with some flowers? haha

Well the decision's been made, the car will be delivered tomorrow. Hubby is very upset that he couldn't keep the secret two more days. I assured him that walking out and finding a major purchase like that without any discussion would definitely ruin our trip.

Hmmm....let me quess 2010 Mercedes Benz E350 color RED.

Just what my wife is getting

There is a particular type of grace required of a person wherein you allow someone the excitement of giving you a gift. I'm afraid that I've never learned it very well. I keep trying but can't seem to learn it. There's this stupid thing I do that, as soon as I even suspect that someone is planning upon getting me a gift, I want to CONTROL the outcome. It's ridiculous!

I have learned from experience (and not just with my husband) that I am a difficult person to buy gifts for and I do make things hard on the giver because I'm kind of difficult to buy for.

I'm trying to get better at it. I did have to give guidance to my husband because he's a terrible gift giver. If I don't give him hints, he will head right to the book store and buy me a book. He LOVES books, especially history books. I only kinda like books. I would rather have earrings.

LOL Guy, really LOL. Nope, a Dodge Deep Ocean Blue. A Journey I think.