The crappiest Valentine’s Day present of all is the single, perfect, long-stemmed red rose: it’s cheap and it’s painfully trite, but you have to pretend it’s BETTER and more MEANINGFUL than something more expensive or more thoughtfully chosen.
One of my best Valentine’s Day gifts ever was THIS, from Paul:<
We only had four kids then, and he got each of them dressed in a coordinating outfits (white shirts for everyone, blue pants for boys, pink pants for girl), and took their photos holding letters (L O V E) he’d cut out and painted. Then he got prints made of the photos and went out shopping for a frame, and he chose the frame I would have chosen over any other.
So, awesome: lots of work, lots of thought, and also showing he knows me (the frame style, and also knowing I am the kind of person who would want the children to be in order of age).
But the REAL best part was later that day, when he said, “OH DAMMIT! I meant to give you that for MOTHER’S DAY!”
Wow. That’s a spectacular gift.
Oh, that is the sweetest thing. My husband would never in a million years have thought to do something like that. For Valentine’s OR Mother’s Day.
OH that’s totally sweet! Love it. And love his “doh” moment. So then what did he end up giving you for Mother’s Day?
You know, when you’re arguing for a sixth child, you may have to think of a brilliant six-letter word for the next incarnation of that frame. I think it would go a long way in persuading him.
I love those pictures- the best presents are always the ones that were well thought out!
That is SO CUTE! What a fantastic gift…even if he did give it to you when he didn’t mean to!
That is the BEST gift EVER! Those kind of gifts mean far more to me than the cheesy stereotypical candy and rose thing. That’s so sweet and thoughful.
That is the best present I have seen. Made even better by the fact that HE thought of it and HE carried it out. I can safely say that I will never be getting a gift like that.
I agree with you on the single flower: LAME!
I love how he “forgot” he was making that for Mother’s Day, and oops, gave it to you for Vday.
For some reason, this line of thinking just crack me up!
Also, AGAIN today, it won’t let me “log in” to your site… weird, b/c I’m not encountering this problem anywhere else… Are you trying to ban me Swistle??? =)
That is a GREAT gift! And I have 4 kids! Now, how do I get my husband to come up with that idea and do it?
This gift makes me want to punch my husband.
Paul is truly thoughful.
LOL that is a fabulous gift- even though he mixed up the days :)
I asked- and got a red vacuumcleaner for this Valentines day… now thats romance right there :)
WOW. That is just awesome.
That’s a great gift! Now I know why I need four children! LOL
Paul did an amazing job with that one. It has all of the key elements – Love, Kids, and most important FORETHOUGHT and PLANNING.
I think an even crappier gift is the gold-dipped rose. Tack-ay!
That’s such a thoughtful gift. And the fact that he gave it to you for the “wrong” holiday is priceless.
Sometimes they do something that makes it worth keeping them around, huh?
That is really neat! And the whole Valentine’s Day/Mother’s Day mix-up is cracking me up. But hey, I like Jess’s idea about a 6-letter word for going for a 6th baby. :D Prehaps “MOTHER”, then he could give it to you for Mother’s Day and be justified.
That is amazing. I’m very impressed. My husband knows better than to ever get me a single red rose. It is so overplayed. If I get roses they are typically pink but he has also shown up with tulips or gerber daisies.
Awww! Stupid hormones…this made me cry!
I’m with Binky Bitch—makes me want to slug my husband……
That is the perfect gift. My husband doesn’t have a freaking clue…
OOH, OOH, i know the perfect 6 letter word from Jess’s idea. ready? M-O-T-H-E-R. then he can redo the idea for mother’s day like originally planned! see? perfect.
I think that gift would put anything I ever did, or ever would, get for or from my husband, to utter and complete SHAME.
Also I disagree with the rose thing if it’s a part of the package, if you will, but I’ll also admit I’m a cheap date.
Heh… Sorry that cracked me up because I keep thinking it is Mother’s Day too!
BUT I love this present – that is amazing that he thought of this!!! LOVE IT ;)
Heh… Sorry that cracked me up because I keep thinking it is Mother’s Day too!
BUT I love this present – that is amazing that he thought of this!!! LOVE IT ;)
Heh… Sorry that cracked me up because I keep thinking it is Mother’s Day too!
BUT I love this present – that is amazing that he thought of this!!! LOVE IT ;)
That has got to be the sweetest most thoughtful Valentine’s gift I have ever seen. What an incredible idea and the fact that he dressed them all up to coordinate with the letters … WOW!
I’m not even going to get into what D. gave me. He tried, he really did. I have to keep telling myself that.
So where is the LOVE U this year?
Great gift. Well done Paul. And well done SWISTLE for giving us all an idea!
How lovely! I really want to steal this idea for, say, Father’s Day for Jim… Of course, I only have two, so they’d just have to each hold one WORD, but that’d be ok, right?
That is so smart and cute. I WISH my partner would have that kind of idea! The “doh” moment was pretty funny too.
I will likely get chocolate, which is OK I guess. We don’t really do Valentines Day here (it falls on a “death” anniversary) anymore.
SleepyNita
That’s the cutest thing ever.
I guess I’m going to have to go ahead and have four kids now.
Hollowsquirrel- You know, I don’t even remember! Must have been less spectacular!
Marie Green- Why oh why is Blogger trying to come between us???
JMC- Show him the post!
Binky Bitch- Favorite comment.
Tulip Mom- SPILL.
Desperate Housewife- You could have them both holding each letter, so each frame has both kids in it. Or they could alternate holding letters. That would be pretty cute, to get a different look from the kids in each photo.
SleepyNita- One of my OTHER best Valentine’s gifts from Paul was a 2-pound heart-shaped box of Russell Stover chocolate. MMMMMMmmmmmm.
Oh my Swistle, that is one thoughtful, lovely gift. THAT shows he cares, even if he go the holidays mixed up!
that is just a wonderful gift–he done good!
Gee, your hubby is really suave when it comes to wooing you with words, huh? Mine is even worse, though, so I have no room to poke fun.
Serious points for Paul there! But, yes, the best part was his dismay after he’d already given you the gift. :)
Holy shit, that is awesome!
I’m totally leaving this page up and hope my husband reads it and gets the hint. Great gift.
To be fair, I picked that frame more on the basis of it being the only one I could find with those dimensions.
I love it.
Oh I KNOW. A rose. Blah.
That frame with all its pictures: that is just amazing and wonderful. Yay for Paul!
P.S. I hope he did not get you a single red rose today.
What a perfect gift. Thanks for this post, Swistle. It gave me the inspiration to write one of my own today.
Tammy
That is so great and creative – you are a lucky woman!
That is impressive!
-andi
sweetest thing ever.
can u have your husband call my husband and teach him a thing or two
What a great gift – mother’s day or not!