It occurred to me the other day that I often give the gifts that I least like to receive. It’s not so much the gifts themselves, but more the categories. I tend to think that ‘oh, so-and-so would love this’ and have only just begun to realize that it is probably what they say right before they give me something that really doesn’t suit my tastes. It’s probably too late for this Christmas, but perhaps next year I will consider this more. In case you’re wondering, these are the gift categories.

Clothes: Taste and sizes in clothing are very subjective. Trendy clothes might not last more than a year style-wise and then there’s getting the size right. I know that there are gift receipts and all, but sometimes it’s best not to give something that would cause such a hassle. I will make the exception for pajamas and socks since these normally last a long time, aren’t generally based on trends, and elastic makes it hard to be too far off with sizes. This year the only clothes that I purchased for others were pajamas.

Movies & Books: Unless you know someone really well, I find it best to avoid this category. I only really like books and movies that can be read or viewed over and over again. I have in fact gotten a few of these that I’ve loved, but I have received others that would have been better as library reads. I managed to avoid this category completely.

Jewelry: There are people who only buy me jewelry that I love, while there are others that have a much lower success rate. I would recommend that if you only have a few dollars to spend on someone or not quite sure what they like, that jewelry is probably not your best bet. This is true not only of style, but also of pieces: if you never see them wear earrings, it might not be because they don’t have any, it could be that they don’t like earrings. I considered a few pieces, but like books and movies, jewelry is a persistent gift and I changed my mind since I wasn’t positive of the outcome.

Puzzles & Games: Unless you know adults or families like puzzles, this is a good one to avoid. I mean you could keep buying them puzzles but you might visit one day to find a large stack of puzzles in the back of their closet when you go to look for extra batteries (hypothetically speaking of course). Games can be good if you know the person or they are common games. I have some games that I’ve never heard of and don’t know how to play and so they sit, unused on my shelf. However, if I were more of a game player, that might not be the case. I did buy one game this year, but it was for a kid that I’m not all that close to and it seem to be a fairly appropriate gift.

Well I’m sure that there are other things that I’m afraid to see under the tree, but these are the big ones.