So, Christmas is approaching.

And I have a boyfriend.

And his birthday is on Christmas Eve.

Therefore, the inevitable Christmas/Birthday gift giving anxiety has started.

In my last relationship, I instituted a strict no gift giving policy.

I just think it muddies the waters in relationships.

It starts out innocently enough. You get him a new Ping driver, he gets you some sort of diamond necklace you would really never buy for yourself but that you wear anyways because it’s from your boyfriend and it’s a sweet gesture.

Then, the next gift giving occasion happens. And you can’t undergift your last gift. So you have to buy him a full set of Callaway irons, and he buys you diamond earrings.

And it just keeps going. Next it’s a pony. Then a car. Then a spaceship, because how can you really outbuy a car? Then you have to buy them Mars because you have to have somewhere to drive your spaceship. And next thing you know you’re building a spacehouse on Mars so you’ll have somewhere to stay while your there.

Where does it end?

However, said last relationship with the no gift giving policy ended about two weeks after Christmas.

So… maybe my policy wasn’t as genius as I thought.

Not that not giving each other gifts had anything to do with the fact that he was crazy, but still, I’m open to suggestions.

I broached the subject with Mr. T last night, and it seems we have a similar lack of experience in the couples’ gift giving arena.

When I do give gifts (and despite everything I’ve said here, I really do enjoy gifting people with things), my preferred method is to give an experience over a tangible item.

Partly because we all have enough stuff and going somewhere cool is just more fun, and partly because that gift also benefits me.

So my initial idea was that we should just take turns taking each other on fun day trips or to an awesome show, or something like that.

But, that feels very limiting. I mean, what if there’s nothing cool to do? Plus, experiences tend to be expensive.

We both make around the same amount and pay a shit ton in rent, and neither of us have the money to blow on spaceships just yet, so my next thought was that maybe we should just buy each other practical things like… socks or something. Things we need.

But that’s no fun.

So then it was like, well maybe we should just set a price limit and buy each other something cute and romantic that requires a lot of thought.

But that’s just too much damn pressure.

So we just drank some beers and stopped talking about it.

What are your thoughts on relationship gift giving? Does it stress you the hell out like it does me? Or am I just, once again, making something a way bigger deal than it really is?