Multi-Part, Mood-Based Gifts

With the approach of Christmas, the giving of gifts is on my mind.  Allow me to share one of my favorite romantic gift-giving strategies with you.  It works well and can make any offering much more meaningful for both you and the one receiving it.

When giving a gift to my wife, I like to break it up into several smaller gifts, each labeled to be opened when she is in a specific mood.  This allows her to select the gift that she feels like opening, depending on how she is feeling at the moment and saving the rest for later.  I call this kind of present a "multi-part, mood-based gift".  There are many advantages to giving a lady this type of gift collection.

As the gift-giver, you reduce the risk that she will not be excited by the gift due to circumstances outside your control - her emotional state.  I know it is somewhat of a generalization, but women are complex emotionally.  And how she feels currently can totally be a factor in how she receives something.

She gets a hint as to what kind of gifts she has been given.  Whether she enjoys gifts in general or not, there is a modicum of stress involved in any gift.  By labeling the presents or (even better) writing a little love note as the label for each one, you take some of this stress out of the event.  That's the good kind of relaxation...

It will give her something to look forward to - if she has no desire to open a gift that is labeled 'Angry' she can save it until she's in the mood for that kind of a present.  This does two things: it maximizes the enjoyment she will get from the gift, and increases the eventual impact of the gift as her anticipation builds.  That's the good kind of tension...

They are conversation-starters.  "You thought this gift would be good when I felt Happy?!  A toaster?!  But... why?"  By explaining your reasoning behind each gift, you can have some good discussions about how you perceive each others feelings and the kinds of things you like when you are feeling that way.  Be prepared to be creative in justifying your choices and laughing about them, too!

It's more than one gift.  Duh.  Ask anyone if they would rather have one present or a collection of five presents and I think you'd have a pretty safe bet as to which one they are going to go for.  If she is only expecting a single gift and she gets a bag of lots of them, it's going to be a hit - and you will be the hero.  That's always a good thing.

I recommend trying this out at least once with your gal!  Here's a short list of possible moods to buy/create gifts for to get you started: Happy, Content, Stressed, Sad, Distracted, Fun, Pretty, Silly, Thoughtful (either generally or specifically about topics you know are on her mind a lot, like her hobbies or profession), etc...