Valentine’s Day: Gifting and Coping

Holidays that focus on the aspect of gift giving, like Christmas or Valentine’s Day, tend to come hand in hand with a lot of stress. People are left clueless as to what to purchase for loved ones, or worry their ideas aren’t ‘creative’ enough. One might see a grand gesture someone else does for a loved one and feel as though they need to do something even better for their own significant other! And that’s just not true at all.

Valentine’s Day is not a contest. Valentine’s Day is not about spending as much money as you can. Valentine’s Day, however, is about love, and showing your appreciation of another person, and expressing how much you care about them. That person doesn’t even have to be a significant other. Imagine that!

Showing Some Love For Your Lady

When people think of men gifting their lady love on Valentine’s Day, they often think of jewelry, chocolates, roses and wining and dining. Those choices aren’t bad or wrong at all, but truthfully they’re somewhat generic. Every girl is different and should be treated as such. You can still keep to tradition, however, if you want, but still cater to the uniqueness of your gal with a few tweaks.

For example, rather than gifting a girl with a bouquet of roses, why not get her a bouquet of her favorite flowers? If you’re unsure what her favorite flower is, have the florist come up with a combination of flowers made of all her favorite colors. It’s more personal than roses, and girls are sure to appreciate the fact you pay attention to such details.

Chocolates and candies aren’t a bad idea, but something to keep in mind is the fact that most Valentine’s Day candy goes on sale after the 14th. Some might consider buying candy after Valentine’s Day just to get it on sale to be cheap and insensitive, but with the ecomonmy the way it is, money should definitely be spent wisely.

Taking your girl out to eat is simple, but it can be very effective. The restaurant of choice doesn’t necessarily have to be the most expensive that you can find either. It doesn’t hurt to pick your lady’s favorite, but a more nostalgic choice could be where the two of you shared your first date, or the first place you ever ate out together. Just remember that conversation is a must!

Jewelry can be somewhat tricky, as there are a few factors to take into consideration. Simply buying the most expensive shiny thing you can find is rarely the best thing to do. Expensive jewelry like that bespeaks of a serious relationship, so if the relationship isn’t very serious yet, you can do more harm than good in sending the wrong signal. A small piece of jewelry, like a charm related to her interests (cats for cat lovers, for example) would be well received but casual enough it doesn’t sent the wrong signal. Of course, if your girl never wears jewelry, it’s something of a moot point.

Choices are really rather unlimited. You can flex your creative muscles and write a poem or simply get something you know your gal would enjoy. A book from her favorite author, a CD from her favorite band – or even a mixed CD, a DVD of her favorite movie. Be creative with an interest of hers. Does she like scrapbooking? Get some materials together and start a scrapbook with pictures of the two of you. Does she like skating? Take her to a skating rink and put some skates on!

With a little thoughtfulness your possibilities are endless.