I’m not a very good actor, and so when I’m disappointed, I can not hide it, no matter how hard I have tried. So people never give me presents they didn’t carefully check out with me first. Hell, I usually buy my wife’s presents for me.
Part of the problem is that I tend to want pretty specific, expensive things. If you make a mistake, it’s a real pain. Even if you don’t make a mistake, it can be a pain.
I try to be as appreciative as I can. This year, my daughter gave me a pretty cool present. She’s a smart cookie. She went through our old photos on the computer, and printed out ones of both her and me, and then she arranged them on a board and framed it. She believes in making things, and understands they make a big difference, and is willing to put in the work to get it done. Amazing girl!
I was appreciative of that. It was easy. I just took time to look it over and discuss each photo. It’s the first surprise present I got that I liked in a long time. Except I think it wasn’t a surprise. I need to learn to keep my mouth shut sometimes. We have a tradition of trying to guess presents, and she asked me to guess it a day or so before Christmas.
I honestly had no idea, but I said something like “a set of pictures in a frame.” I was just tossing if off, but the sudden look of disappointment on her face told me maybe I hit it on the nose. I need to learn to be a bit more ridiculous, I guess.