What to Buy Your Girl for Christmas

All over the world, boyfriends and husbands are beginning to feel the anxious sweat of mounting pressure as they face the task that could be the make or break of them, at least until February that is. Succeeding in this task could buy them tears of joy, followed by a sweet outpouring of gratitude. Failing, however, will result the icy glare; the convenient memory lapse when buying your favourite groceries; the inevitable 'headache' that night and for many nights to come.

Here comes the Christmas present. It's important, it's a statement about your relationship, and it's bloody hard to get right. So now, with almost a month of thinking and shopping time to go, I am appealing to men all over the world to think seriously about the woman in your life before rushing to the nearest store on Christmas Eve and buying the usual gift card/perfume/silver necklace identical to every piece of jewellery she already owns. Instead, read the following tips and buy her a gift she really wants and needs this Christmas.

1) Listen to her!

I can almost guarantee the boys and men out there that for the next few weeks, your ladies will be subtly but definitely dropping hints about the kind of gift she wants. Please, take notice and take head of this! It may not be as simple as her pointing at something in a shop and saying, 'I'd love that' - she may be giving you hints without even realising it. For example, she might be constantly complaining about the pain in her back. To you normally, this may mean nothing, but at Christmas, it opens a multitude of gift ideas for you to explore. A portable back massager? Not too expensive and she'd get great use out of it. A voucher for a body massage? This would be a great treat and would be effective in solving the problem. If you wanted to go all out, you could take her sore muscles as a sign of too much stress and offer her the ultimate girly heaven - a spa day. I can tell you right now that any woman who complains of sore muscles will be eternally grateful for some method of relaxation. Just as any woman who complains about being bored all the time would love some sort of distraction or an introduction to a new hobby. Take her on an adventure course, sign the two of you up for a new class - just listen to her needs and respond. That's a Christmas present she'll never forget.

2) Buy for the woman you know

She may be a mystery to you sometimes, but don't forget that you know this woman better than you know anyone else. You know her inside out and upside down - this is what you need to focus on when searching for a Christmas gift. Let's say your wife is an avid jazz lover. She adores everything to do with jazz and as far as you can see, she already owns every jazz CD, has been to every concert and has danced in every jazz club. No gift opportunities there right? Wrong. Do some research, explore, think about her pastime and give it a twist. Maybe a new underground jazz band is surfacing around your area. You could subtly introduce her to their music, play it around the house for a couple of days. Then for Christmas, surprise her with tickets to their opening show. Or maybe she's always wanted to play the saxophone like her favourite jazz heroes - what's to stop you giving her lessons? What if she's always wanted to go to a famous jazz club in Chicago - take a surprise trip, make her dream come true! There are always opportunities arising from what you already know. You just have to think about who she is and what would make her truly happy this Christmas.

3) Buy her something she's never had before

It is a universally known truth that women love jewellery and perfume and it is for this reason that men feel almost obliged to fill their other half's Christmas stocking with the most sparkly bracelet or whichever perfume the pretty lady at the counter recommends. However, what many dedicated boyfriends and husbands fail to recognise is that women have probably been receiving some variety of these same gifts for every birthday and holiday since their teen years. There's nothing new, nothing original and nothing to make her say 'Oh my goodness!' Do you want to be the same as the last boyfriend? Or do you want to be the one who gives her something new and exciting, something to give her a reason to think that you're someone special? This doesn't have to be as hard as it sounds. So she has a million bottles of brand-name perfumes, but I bet she doesn't have a unique scent made specifically for her. There are shops and websites these days that will allow you to create a personal fragrance for your loved one, for example www.createyourownfragrance.com. This is just one idea - what about handcrafted jewellery engraved with her initials? Or custom-made ornaments to represent your life together? These gifts cannot be bought in a shop on Christmas Eve. They require thought and consideration which is exactly what your loved one will appreciate on Christmas morning.

None of these ideas are too difficult or expensive. However they are all meaningful and show that you love her enough to spend time on a Christmas gift she will truly enjoy. All you have to do is listen to her, think about what she likes and carefully decide how you are going to make this a special and memorable gift. Whatever you do, try to avoid Christmas Eve shopping - you know she's worth a lot more than that.