Alice Posted December 16, 2014 Share Posted December 16, 2014 I need gift ideas for a roughly 25 year old male. This is my niece's long-term boyfriend. Background: Up until this year we've given all our nieces and nephews cash. (Starting when they were in high school, before that we gave gifts. When they hit the teen years they didn't really want anything that we could afford to buy so we started just giving money.) Now, however, they are all adults and have good jobs and it seems weird to me to give them cash. They probably make more than we do (and definitely do in terms of take home money since none have kids) so the amount we can afford to give is pretty insignificant to them. Plus, I just wanted to get back to doing more personal gifts. We have good gifts for the oldest three: they each picked a photo that my husband took and we will give it framed and I picked out a book for each. The youngest is still in college so we're giving him money. My dh feels like the photo is enough for both niece and boyfriend. Or that he's kind of included in photo gift so we don't have to give him anything else. (It's dh's family and we don't do gifts for other adults in the family.) I think I'm more sensitive about making sure he feels included since I'm more aware of what it feels like to be the outsider in dh's tight-knit family. So I'd like to get him something small just as a way of saying we are thinking about him too. But I'm at a loss about what to get. I don't know his tastes super well so it's kind of generic personal gift if that makes any sense at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmtzc2009 Posted December 16, 2014 Share Posted December 16, 2014 What about one of those Restaurant.com gift certificates? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nannyaunt Posted December 16, 2014 Share Posted December 16, 2014 Gift card to a nice restaurant or movie theater. Depending on where you live you could get tickets to a sporting event or live theater. Buy a class at the local rec center or adult education center. Ice skating lessons for both of them. Tickets to something for 4 and all of you go :). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted December 16, 2014 Share Posted December 16, 2014 If I understand correctly, you've picked out a book for your niece to accompany the photo. Can you also select a book for her boyfriend? Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plink Posted December 16, 2014 Share Posted December 16, 2014 You are so sweet to want to include him. When I'm at a loss for what to buy men, I always resort to chocolate. I haven't had a complaint yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alice Posted December 16, 2014 Author Share Posted December 16, 2014 Thanks for the ideas. I could do a book for him, I'm just not sure enough of his interests to know what to buy. Chocolate is a good thought.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted December 16, 2014 Share Posted December 16, 2014 Thanks for the ideas. I could do a book for him, I'm just not sure enough of his interests to know what to buy. Chocolate is a good thought.... Chocolate is always a good thought! My husband and I both enjoyed Andy Weir's The Martian. Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Korrale Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 Food is always safe. Usually someone will eat it. Cookies, Hickory farm basket. A nice tie if he wears business apparel? Or just a generic hygiene kit with soap, shaving stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xahm Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 If there's a subject that always comes up in your dh's family, like a sports team or some culture's cuisine or whatever, maybe you could give a book on that topic as a sort of humorous "welcome to the family, but do your homework so you can join in the conversation." Of course, I belong to a family of nerds, so that might not work for any other family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clementine Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 A wool scarf (if you have winter there) or an iTunes gift card (if he likes music). We did a fun thing for my nephew - we put together five $5 gift cards to coffee shops, sub shops, quick restaurants in the area. It's a nice fun little perk for them to have in their wallet when they need a snack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alice Posted December 18, 2014 Author Share Posted December 18, 2014 Thanks for all the ideas! I ended up doing what I should have done in the first place and I asked all my kids if they could think of anything for him. They all have a family dinner on the night that I work so they actually hang out with him much more than I do. My 8 year old was positive that he likes the game Catan (which my boys love) so I got him the Rivals of Catan card game which is for 2 people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 I am glad my neices and nephews are all under 8. I expect when the turn 16 or so I will stop getting them presents though as that is what I did with my brothers. When we were kids though we never got presents from aunts and uncles - too many kids. You seem to have made a good decision though but maybe next year you could look into a secret Santa system for adults. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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