Relationship Tip No 229

Bad gifts – good gifts (For males only.)

Yes, ladies you can read this too, but it has been written for the men in your lives.

Research indicates that over 65% of the gifts women receive from men are-

- returned
- never used or worn
- not liked
- not wanted

Of the 65% of the women who are unhappy with their gifts just over 50% never tell the man in their life. They just smile sweetly and say – how nice.

In my book The Male Gift Giving Survival Guide, The Rules and Taboos of Giving Gifts to Women I site a number of common gift giving mistakes.

Gents, the holiday buying season is now in full swing. Why not make this year the year that she receives a gift from you that ‘wows’ her. To help you out I thought I would give you the list from the book. Here are the taboos of giving gifts to women.

1. Plugs in. (It depends—see gift-giving rules.)

2. Reminds her of a former relationship. (Always.)

3. Says, you were too busy to be creative. (Shame on you.)

4. Is really for your benefit and not hers. (Gotcha.)

5. Says, she is getting old. (Head for the hills, bucko.)

6. Says, she is not as beautiful as the day you met her. (You will be sleeping alone a lot from now on.)
7. Is re-packaged in any way. (I am not even going to give this one any energy.)

8. Looks like you were being cheap. (If you were, make sure you are with yourself as well.)

9. Reminds you of a former relationship of yours. (What are you, just plain stupid?)

10. Says, she needs to lose a little weight. (Ditto, no. 9 above.)

11. You believe will make her life easier. (Did you just land here from some distant planet?)

12. Lacks romance. (Better read Romance 101 again.)

13. Says, you really don’t know me. (You are history, bubba.)

14. Says, you are guilty of something. (If you are, gifts are not going to do it for you here, dude; better consider just fessing up.)

15. Tries to buy your way out of the doghouse. (Just learn to be happy there.)

16. Says, she is not the center of your world. (You better get a new girl friend.)

17. Helps her be more successful in her career. (This one could be a little touchy, boys.)

18. Helps her with her domestic responsibilities. (Big freaking deal.)

19. Shows your general lack of thoughtfulness. (Your mother will not be happy about this one.)

20. Originates from motives that are less than honest. (You are not fooling anyone.)

There are many more, but I guarantee if you use the above list as your standard for gift giving, you will pretty much be seen as an emotional and caring guy rather than a heartless idiot.

Caution: Sure, there will be times when you give a gift that is not on the above list--and give it truly from the heart with nothing but pure motives—but it will be rejected either emotionally or physically. Perhaps that’s because timing can be everything.