A group of presents stacked together (stock image).
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One year, the Redditor wrote that her husband “bought me a dress he thought I’d like for my birthday, despite me telling him over and over and over and over and over again how much I would have liked a specific pair of earrings.”
“I gave a weak thanks and he was sulky all evening, especially when my friends bought me something else off my wish list and I was so happy,” she continued, adding, “It’s not about the price either because the things he surprises me with are always either more expensive or around the same price as what I actually asked for.”
Now, the woman said, “I’ve tried my hardest to figure out what he’d like, but I always somehow miss the mark,” as she listed numerous examples from years past. This year, specifically, the wife said she asked her husband for “a hint to work with,” though “he playfully told me to surprise him.”
“Years of pent-up frustration got the best of me and I told him that he’s an ungrateful child and I will NOT be surprising him. If he wasn’t going to tell me, then he gets nothing,” the woman explained. “I also told him to stop surprising me with stuff I don’t even want because he’s a hypocrite whose feelings will get hurt if I don’t fall to my knees thanking him (I exaggerate) for something I don’t want. I’m done coddling him over gifts because it’s stupid and causing undue stress to me.”
A couple arguing (stock image).
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In the comments section of the post, many sided with the woman and understood her frustration.
“He sounds absolutely exhausting,” one commenter wrote of the woman’s husband, as another said, “Gifts are supposed to bring joy, not stress. If he refuses to communicate and then complains, that’s a him problem, not a you problem.”
Others, meanwhile, shared some gift suggestions for the woman to give her husband.
When one user said, “Give him cash,” the Redditor responded, “I thought that would be a reasonable middle ground. But nope, he says it’s so impersonal.”
One other person who chimed in to share their thoughts on the Reddit post, meanwhile, teased, “Give him a therapy gift voucher.”