Men and Christmas Shopping

Holiday shopping can be stressful and probably more so for men because we tend to procrastinate. I fondly recall many a year when I was running through the mall on Christmas Eve day grabbing things and hoping they fit and made sense. It was kind of like hitting a baseball. Sometimes it ended up being a home run but clearly there were some strike outs.

Of course this changed after I met my wife as I put much more thought and care into Christmas shopping. now instead of Christmas Eve in the mall I’m start on say, December 22nd. Plenty of time to get it done.

With that said “The Average Guy” section in this month’s Men’s Health revealed some interesting results as to our holiday gift buying:

• 32% of men have no idea how to wrap a present. I’m so bad I used to pay
female co-workers to do this for me.

• Nearly half of the grown-up men surveyed said they still receive Christmas cash from a grandmother and 13% of those count on that money.

• The average guy wished he would have received Nintendo when he was younger and 63% of them now play with their own kids.

• 26% of women say lingerie isn’t a real gift for her…it’s more for him.

• 27% of men admit to buying a gift for their boss while only 9% of bosses
Plan to reciprocate.

• The most common present regifted by men is a gift card and 8% have been nailed by the recipient who knew it was a regift.

• The top four gifts guys say they have given which resulted in let’s say a better love life were jewelry, lingerie, a surprise trip and a spa day. Cookware didn’t work out too well.

• Almost 1-in-5 men buy their buddies birthday gifts (how did they sneak in there?) and a third of them think a beer and a shot is a good enough gift for any male friend.
• 8% of men insist they have hidden a gift so well that they forgot where it was.

I think this year I’ll tell Jane I was swayed by the Lexus December to Remember TV commercials and purchased her one but I can’t remember where I left it. At least it would be easy to wrap…just the red bow on top.