Tuesday, June 28, 2011

The perfect gift

My grandmother, the same one who taught me to jump on beds, blow bubbles in my gum, and most importantly of all, knit, was a wise woman who had very specific ideas about what constitutes a good gift. Ideas? Heck, they were RULES, and if you knew what was good for you, you followed them.

According to Gramma, a gift shouldn't be something practical, that was too boring. It should be something the recipient would want/like but would never buy for themselves. And it should never, ever, EVER be in the form of an appliance. I'm pretty sure that, as far as Gramma was concerned, there was a special circle reserved in Hell for men who gave their wives blenders for Christmas.

It was my birthday yesterday, and although Gramma never met my husband, I'm pretty sure she would have approved of his gift.


That's right, knitters. Dude bought me a DRUM SET. I'm going to be a DRUMMER. Mama's gonna rock it out on the DRUMS. (Apologies for the excessive use of capitals, but I just can't help it... there are DRUMS in my basement).

Not an appliance, not something I ever would have bought for myself, and definitely not practical. The perfect gift indeed :)

That's not to say that gifts one buys for oneself have to fall into any of those categories, of course...


After all, Gramma also said that rules were meant to be broken.

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

17 comments:

Dad said...

Ask you Mother about a handknitted afghan that your Mom made for Gramma (that was considered somewhat appliance gift (read useful) and age-ist) as it turned pout "not" a good gift for my Mom. You're right she would have approved of Phil's choice!

Knit and Purl Mama said...

Happy Birthday again!

Wow, Phil got you a drum set for your birthday? That's awesome!!! Can you play them after the kids go to bed or will they hear upstairs? I guess it didn't come with the sound proof room too? LOL. Awesome! Hope to see those one day!

margaux said...

AHHH Happy Birthday Lady!! That is the most amazing gift ever!! Cannot wait to hear some of your drum solos!!! (have you mastered the drum stick "baton twirl"?? don't let me down!)

Caroline said...

omg did you finally get some Koigu? :p You will still have to come to Montreal to get your Palette you know!

Oh and cool drum set!

Maryse said...

Wow! Happy birthday neighbors! Just kidding! This is an amazing gift!

Dawn said...

That is the best gift evah!!! Love your excited face...priceless!

cauchy09 said...

aw, happy birthday!

i agree with grandma about whimsical birthday gifts. you only live once.

Alrischa said...

Wow; What a cool present! I love your Gramma's rules :D

Celia said...

That's so great! Love it!

Mrhide said...

I'm glad you like it Dear! Can't wait to see what those lessons will teach ya!

Tim Landry said...

Tara - is that MY mom you are talking about?

Sandra said...

En tout cas, si jamais le drummer de The Garlics se casse un bras, on saura où aller !

Sandra said...

Oh, et puis pour le commentaire de ta grand-mère, my rule totally !!! Je mets les diamants dans ce paquet-là... et quoique j'aie reçu un jour un mélangeur sur socle que j'adore... je dois avouer que le drum est dur à battre..
et c'est pas mal physique jouer du drum... double whammo !!!

Jeanie said...

I like your Gramma's ideas! Happy birthday, BTW.

Audrey said...

Trop cool! Amuse-toi bien! La Koigu est magnifique :)

Rhonda said...

WOW! Well done!
Last night I asked DH what he would buy me as a present. He said "one of those automatic vacuums".
I told the poor misguided Japanese man that no woman wants an appliance as a gift.
He said "a handbag is better".
I have a diamond ring picked out.

Jennifer said...

Whoa. Dude bought you a drum set?!>!

Now you're a mom/librarian/knitter/sewer/jam-maker/cat owner/wife-of-kite-maker who plays the drums!

(That should go well with the 80s music!)