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Are Dads difficult to buy Xmas presents for?

My parents are impossible to buy for. Partly because they are still stuck in the 1980's as far as expectations of pricing for goods. And, well, they're... very frugal.

If I buy him music CDs, he'll say "What? You paid $8.99 for these? That's way too much. I could get them 2 for $5."

If I buy him movies, he'll say "I could get this for $2 at the Pacific Mall in Toronto" "But dad, those are bootleg camcorder recordings, terrible quality." "Looks good enough to me." And then mom will complain that I'm only encouraging him to sit around the house watching movies :rolleyes:

Clothing? "Don't buy now. Wait for the next sale at Sears, you can get 75% off."

A nice little Mac? "I could buy a Dell for $199, don't waste your money."

Buying for my mom is no better. Anything I find, she could have found cheaper at the next sale. If I buy her kitchen or gardening gear, she'll complain that all I'm doing is making her spend more time in the kitchen/garden. She was eyeing a KitchenAid mixer once, so I bought one for her, and after using it twice she complained that it would only encourage her to bake more cakes and things, which was bad for her and my father's health. Back it went.

I love my parents, but they are impossible to buy gifts for. You have to wait until they have a genuine need for something (like their humidifier broke), and wait for them to point out to you what they think is a good sale for said item, and then you go buy it for them and call it a gift. Or even better, they'll buy it for themselves, and we'll pay them back in cash. And then listen to them moan about how the new one isn't as good as the old one was, and they just don't make 'em like they used to.

The corollary of this is, we children have to do the same thing. Otherwise I ask for a DVD movie and I get a $2 bootleg, or I want a piece of computer equipment and I get the bargain bin special. Sometimes they go to China and bring back brightly colored things with Engrish sayings or cheap Nike/Polo knockoffs, and where "XXL" there really means "ladies' medium" here (I wear men's XL).

So they've taken to giving us $100 each for our Christmas and birthday gifts.

What it boils down to is we give them cash, they give us cash. I'm really tempted to tell everyone just to buy something nice for themselves this year and just call it even. :rolleyes: We're all in our 20's now, so really it's not that big a deal anymore.
 
The only thing I think I could get my dad would be a MBP. He always gets stuff then tells you later so he always has what you would think about getting him. Two years ago he started finally talking about Apple as a legitimate company. I decided to start small and got him an iPod shuffle, but he had already got one the day he decided Apple was ok.
 
Very difficult indeed.

He likes gadgets but already has them all (and decent gadgets are generally very expensive!).

He also continues to buy things for himself during all of December, so you have to be careful not to duplicate anything

Plus he sometimes moans that when he does show a slight interest in something, people buy it (well, duh) and he didn't really want it that much.

And he's not averse to showing his disappointment if you get it wrong.

Very stressful time xmas, I hate it :rolleyes:
 
I'd love to get my dad some nice music for Christmas, but he has no taste in music whatsoever. And I know that's not going to change. So I'm just getting him something off his wish list.
 
Hah. And to follow up on my story.. I was at my parents' place yesterday and I told them I finally decided what I want for Christmas -- the "Get Smart" DVD collection ($200). My mom says "Oh, well, why don't you buy it for yourself, and we'll all give you money?" :rolleyes:

Sooo typical. :) I love my family, but they're so silly.
 
There have been two gifts that I've given to my dad that I have been satisfied with:

1) a tiny violin miniature that was listed as the "World's Smallest Violin" with some home made mini sheet music entitled "My Heart Bleeds For You" (since he'd always do the violin finger-thingy whenever we kids would come to him with some quasi-sob story)

2) an updated 11x14 picture of my little family since he'd been requesting one for ages from each of the kids to replace all the baby pics that were on their wall

Other than that, it's impossible to buy for him. He already goes out and buys everything else he wants for himself.

We usually end up getting him some movies or restaurant gift certificates. Cliche, I know, but it's what he likes.
 
Abstract said:
My mum wants the same thing for her birthday and Xmas every year......an iPhoto PhotoBook filled with photos of me and my friends. ;)
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That's a really good idea - I think we've got figured out Christmas presents for both my parents and my in-laws for the rest of our lives!
 
Somebody help me! My mom, sister, and I all have to get him xmas presents and his 50th birthday (dec 27).

I don't really think he has any interests.
- He doesn't follow sports
- He doesn't play any sports, he's given up on skiing because of his knees
- He pretty much only works
- He likes to do crossword puzzles
- His only interests are tools, and he pretty much has everything he will ever need an then some- 2,000sq ft of workshop filled with tools

Last year my mom got him a nice watch and a DeWalt Air Compressor for xmas/birthday.

I have no idea what to get him. My mom was thinking maybe a pool table for one of the holidays but he probably would never use it.

He deserves something nice. He spends all his time working and commuting to work and rarely has time to relax.
 
ErikCLDR said:
Somebody help me! My mom, sister, and I all have to get him xmas presents and his 50th birthday (dec 27).

I don't really think he has any interests.
- He doesn't follow sports
- He doesn't play any sports, he's given up on skiing because of his knees
- He pretty much only works
- He likes to do crossword puzzles
- His only interests are tools, and he pretty much has everything he will ever need an then some- 2,000sq ft of workshop filled with tools

Last year my mom got him a nice watch and a DeWalt Air Compressor for xmas/birthday.

I have no idea what to get him. My mom was thinking maybe a pool table for one of the holidays but he probably would never use it.

He deserves something nice. He spends all his time working and commuting to work and rarely has time to relax.
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well something my mom got my dad a few years ago was a 43 in plasma screen TV (It may of been larger) and cable TV. More so allowed him to get cable TV something my house has been with out for 16+ years now. He loved it. My mom liked it because it replaced the very old TV we had downstairs and it looked good on the wall. Fastest I ever seen my dad open a box and set up something new.

That or get him a nice recliner chair for him to sit in.
 
Rodimus Prime said:
well something my mom got my dad a few years ago was a 43 in plasma screen TV (It may of been larger) and cable TV. More so allowed him to get cable TV something my house has been with out for 16+ years now. He loved it. My mom liked it because it replaced the very old TV we had downstairs and it looked good on the wall. Fastest I ever seen my dad open a box and set up something new.

That or get him a nice recliner chair for him to sit in.
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My mom and I thought about maybe a TV but he honestly never really watches it. We also already have pretty new furniture as well.

Seriously I don't think he has any interests. I remember in like 1996 we bought a new computer and it literally sat in the box before a week before he set it up. He never seems to get very excited about material items.
 
My dad used to be impossible to shop for - he reads a lot and likes movies, but he's got very particular taste. My brother and I finally showed him how to make an Amazon wishlist, though, so now it's much easier - he can just keep a list of what he wants and we can shop right from the list.

My mom is harder. She always says "I don't know, I love anything you give me" but doesn't give any sense of direction other than that. Also, since I was born on Mother's Day, she always jokes that I was her favorite gift - which, while it's very sweet of her, I'll never be able to come up with anything else that good.
 
ErikCLDR said:
Somebody help me! My mom, sister, and I all have to get him xmas presents and his 50th birthday (dec 27).

I don't really think he has any interests.
- He doesn't follow sports
- He doesn't play any sports, he's given up on skiing because of his knees
- He pretty much only works
- He likes to do crossword puzzles
- His only interests are tools, and he pretty much has everything he will ever need an then some- 2,000sq ft of workshop filled with tools

Last year my mom got him a nice watch and a DeWalt Air Compressor for xmas/birthday.

I have no idea what to get him. My mom was thinking maybe a pool table for one of the holidays but he probably would never use it.

He deserves something nice. He spends all his time working and commuting to work and rarely has time to relax.
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What about the world's largest crossword puzzle? We have one. It'd be great if we had the wall space for it. :D

Who's to say the gift has to be expensive as long as it's meaningful to both you and him?
 
me too it was so hard ended up buying him a Pizza Hut gift card but what happeded to the time you can just get him tools or a lawn mower
 
I find it harder to buy for my mum.

Dad just doesn't ever really want anything other than socks or wine.
 
Dad's are tough to buy for. Every year everyone (except my Mom) buys my dad car stuff (model cars, car part/accessories, John Force Cars..etc). My mom usually buys him a nut gift package (Planters nuts, I think), his favorite flannel shirts, and usually something cool that's electronic (last year he got a talking remote control).

This year I just decided to get my daddy a gift card for Burger King. He's gone all week because he drives a big flat bed truck, so he eats out a lot. His favorite place to grab food on the road is BK, so getting him that gift card only made sense.

Tools are always a good dad gift too. I've gave my dad tools for christmas in the past.
 
I do think it is a shame that it's turned into the commercial-fest it's become. As I have grown old I care more about seeing my family and friends than what people have bought me. I would gladly have no presents in exchange for time with people.
 
koobcamuk said:
I do think it is a shame that it's turned into the commercial-fest it's become. As I have grown old I care more about seeing my family and friends than what people have bought me. I would gladly have no presents in exchange for time with people.
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I am coming to this revelation as well, but unfortunately people are just so darned BUSY that it's actually a lot easier to literally throw money at the problem and buy you something nice.

I actually find Christmas to be a lonely and depressing time.
 
My dad is very easy to shop for - he loves Lowe's gift cards. In fact he asks for them by name for every occasion - christmas, birthday, father's day, etc.

He had been saving them for about a year or two from me and my mom (she gets them for him as well) and just bought one of the top of the line gas grills that Lowe's sells, and a bunch of other neat little things.
 
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