It's not as though I don't know what he likes, the problem is, year-round if he sees something he likes, it'll magically be in our house following week.
Then come Christmas, he gives me a list as short as a hobbit:
1. I dunno, socks and undies?
That's helpful husband, thanks.
This year, we've been on a bit of a board game buzz so I made him promise he wouldn't buy any new games so I would have some solid gift ideas.
Well, he kept his promise for about a month but a trip to a game store in Tauranga "just for a look" resulted in five new purchases, severely depleting my Christmas gift options in the process.
I suspect many husbands are like this - or, at least I want to believe they are so somebody can share with me their solution to this dilemma.
I always get him the old-faithfuls - cologne, vouchers to a nice restaurant, some clothes.
But it's ideas for his main present that always elude me.
Every year I trawl online lists with titles like "50 best gifts for husbands" and "Unique gifts for your other half" and come up with squat because a lot of the suggestions are either gimmicky (Who needs scotch-infused toothpicks or a pillow with your dog's face embroidered on it?) or the overseas shipping would cost more than the gift itself.
Then, on the odd year when I've come up with what I think is the perfect gift, I'm faced with another problem - I'm married to a man-child whose favourite Yuletide pastime is guessing what his presents are.
And he's damn good at it too.
There has been one year out of 10 that he failed to guess what I bought him.
Every other time, I have had to sit there with my best poker face (which is terrible I might add) while he successfully nails every item sitting under the tree.
Maybe I need to start double-boxing his presents to conceal their size, or wrapping them with bells inside so when he shakes it, he's thrown off the scent.
Or better yet, maybe I should just wrap myself up and sit under the tree - afterall, I am the best gift he'll ever receive.
