How to Get Your Man to Behave This Christmas
November 20, 2007 by Anne Lyken Garner
Published in Dating
It’s about time we help them to stop the annual mess-ups.
Men don’t necessarily want to be restless at Christmas, they just are. There is so much to do, at such a tight schedule, involving so many different things, with several multi-tasking activities that men cannot help but tune right out!
Shopping is a nightmare since there is an abundance of things to look at, all crammed into noisy brightly-lit shops, full of stressed out people on impossible errands. This kind of environment is simply not for a person who can only do one thing at a time. Men panic as they listen to the screams inside their heads which insist, “Let me out! Help! I can”t breathe! I cannot think of what next to do! What do I do with my hands! Why’s my brain melted!
Christmas shopping has just the right combination to put the male brain into a criss-cross of lacerated veins of overdrive… overheat… stop!
Getting your presents
It’s unfair to leave him to sink or swim in a situation like this one mentioned above, but it’s still possible to get exactly what you want.
Tell him exactly what you want
Help him out by telling him exactly what you want for Christmas. Granted this is not romantic, but it’s by far the only way to get your wish, rather than be faced with the beautifully store-wrapped size 2 skinny jeans on Christmas morning.
Better yet, tell him the names of your favourite haunts, and ask him to get vouchers from these stores for you, so you could have the pleasure of shopping and trying on the merchandise yourself. As part of this package, (in exchange for being told what to get) he either could go with you to carry your bags (without fussing), or take the kids, giving you a day out to do your shopping.
He could always throw in one surprise present along with the vouchers, but I suspect that you’d prefer a load of free spending from your favourite stores rather than unusable presents (which you can’t bring yourself to say you don’t like) carefully chosen by your loved one
Give him clues
Liked it
November 22nd, 2007 at 9:52 pm
This is a great list of share-duties, and all wonderful ideas.
November 23rd, 2007 at 8:50 am
Thanks IcyCucky, I hope that the men who read this can agree with these conclusions?
December 18th, 2007 at 1:35 am
What a sensible list! I totally agree with telling your man what you want: I told my husband what I want, the size, model, where to get it, and offered to fund it but he was sensitive enough to pay for it himself
The result? I got the most perfect gift I’ve ever received – and yes, he had it wrapped at the store for free 
That was for my birthday, but I’m taking the same tack this Christmas.
Happy holidays!
Beatrice
December 18th, 2007 at 4:50 am
Hi Beatrice, I’m so glad that I’m not the only one. You offered to pay for it? Oh I bet he saved his skin and many years of never living that down when he made the golden decision to pay for it.
My husband’s got a genius IQ but he gets terribly flustered and overwhelmed at Christmas time.
I like to help him out and make it easier for him because he’s a great bloke.
July 20th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
I love your idea of a utilitarian Christmas! I suspect many households do not share this domestic utopia but it is good to see that Christmas still works somewhere!k
July 20th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
You have some great ideas, and you can also tell your spouse several things you would like and let him choose from among them. That way you get what you want and its also a surprise.
July 21st, 2008 at 3:53 am
Talk about advanced planning!
Nicely written as usual.
July 21st, 2008 at 6:51 am
Andy, as you can tell by most of the comments, I wrote this article in November last year. Quite a few of old articles are now being republished on this new site ‘Beyond Jane’ and this is one of them. Thanks for the comment.