Maybe I’ve got this all wrong, but I doubt there are many blokes wake up on their birthday, spy the red-ribbon-adorned present waiting for them in the living room and go:

“A trouser press! Why, thank you dear, it’s just what I always wanted.”

I don’t think I managed to suppress the look of shock / horror / disappointment. There was a very heavily pregnant pause, eventually filled with:

“Erm … would you like some birthday cake, dear? For breakfast.”

Awkward!

In fairness, my lovely wife did redeem herself over time, culminating some thirty-five years later with probably the best gift I’ve received; my record player and amplifier.

I have used this just about every day these past five years, and it really does go all the way up to ‘eleven.’

But is it fair to judge the ‘best’ gifts I’ve received when relatives and friends have been so thoughtful and generous? I mean, that’s like being asked to chose your favourite child.

Both my lads, now adult if not quite ‘grown up,’ 😉 have given me presents that I hold dear for different reasons. My younger son, for instance was so proud and pleased to give me a compilation CD of ska music, costing in the region of about three pounds, with money he’d put by from his first paper round. It was the first present he’d funded himself, and you know, that is one of my most prized CDs in a collection of almost 3,000.

My older son , too, surprised me a few years back with the triple vinyl album, ‘Timeless’ by the drum & bass / jungle / DJ / producer, Goldie. It was a special edition album celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of the original release, and my lad had remembered, from when he was very young, me playing singles by the artist.

See, it’s not always the gift itself that makes one special – it’s the thought and consideration behind it that really counts.

Oh yeah – readers who know me / have read some of my other blog posts will think it odd if I don’t mention this… so I will.

To paraphrase Bob Geldof and Midge Ure and their Band Aid hit, ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’:

‘The greatest gift I’ll get this year is life,’

I know – for a guy keen not to be seen to bang on about something, I do tend to bang on! 😀 😀 😀

Anyway, I think that’ll do for now. I must be getting on – I have some pressing work to be getting on with.

😉