Husband fumes after wife admits she hates his last minute Christmas gifts

A husband who always panic buys his Christmas gifts at the very last minute was apparently left surprised and furious after his wife admitted his present giving could use some work

A woman who says her husband is generally a “thoughtful” man has long been exasperated by his last-minute present buying at Christmastime. This year, she decided to give him a nudge in the right direction but didn’t expect his furious response. According to this fed-up wife, they live far away from family, and so need to get their gifts bought and delivered early. Although her husband does think up “custom, thoughtful things for people like a week before Christmas”, these just wouldn’t make it in time.

Therefore, he ends up panic ordering other much less thoughtful gifts “every year”. This leaves him feeling upset year after year, as many of the gifts from their children are from the wife, who always makes sure to order things on time.

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Taking to Reddit, the wife, who goes by the username u/BrightCarrot3634, wrote: “This year I started talking about what to get people, telling him we should brainstorm together, and trying to help. This morning, I mentioned getting started and said, ‘this will be good, we won’t have to buy c***** mall gifts a few days before’.

“He asked me if I meant the gifts he buys me, and I said, ‘well ya…’ This really set him off on a tirade about how ungrateful of a person I was and how thoughtful he is and how my gifts are awful even if they are on time.”

She continued: “I really was surprised. I told him I didn’t think this would be an issue and it was a flaw he’s had for years that I thought he knew about – like, we talk about it and crisis manage his purchases every December so how can he be surprised?

“That made him madder. I’m not sure why I’m the a***** here since this is clearly a him problem. I’m not sure how I could have been nicer about it – am I just expected to smile at my last-minute mall finds for the rest of my life?

“In past years, I have mentioned things like, ‘maybe just one, nicer gift for me instead of the many little things’. Or, ‘I like things I wouldn’t buy for myself, maybe not things I could just go get’. Or, ‘that one year when you got me those earrings, I really liked them’.”

She says this is the first time she’s been so direct with her husband on this topic, and now fears she may have been a little too blunt.

One person advised: “I think he knows his gifts are c***. He just doesn’t like you pointing this out. That makes him feel guilty for not being able to do something good on time.

“It has nothing to do with you and you just gave facts. But, on the other side, I am wondering if he just doesn’t have any interest in gifts. This is my case, this is why I am wondering. I have absolutely no interest in receiving a gift or giving one.”

Another commented: “You and your husband need to have good communication in regards to the type of gifts each other would like. That communication has not happened previously which is leaving you getting c***** gifts.

“If things don’t improve, it may mean fully discussing what to buy for each other before purchasing. This would take away the surprise in it all, but that may be necessary.”

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