Are you F'n Kidding Me?????

I don't know what I signed up for before but I receive regular newsletters from 'Homemade Simple' and although I don't normally read them, it's been a slow work week and I thought I would take a peek.

One of the items they were highlighting was called 'celebrate living' which was all about giving creative gift baskets to friends. Seeing as I just came out of a birthday marathon, I thought it would be a great source of gift ideas so I clicked through and guess what? It was crap. Well, it wasn't but like any Martha Stewart type magazine, they give absurd gift ideas. For friends "it seems everyone, from homeowners to city dwellers, wants a green thumb these days. Assemble a starter gardening kit with soil, seeds of her favourite flower, a book about beginning gardening, and gardening gloves. Place everything inside a painted pot from which she can grow her plants." Which actually upon reflection would be a cute gift on mother's day..... but keep reading.

For the Bride to Be:

Buying from the registry is usually the way to go. But if you’re feeling like a renegade gift giver, a gift basket could be a creative alternative. What about some of these ideas?

• Assemble a sewing basket complete with straight pins, thread, thimbles, and scissors. Add the bride’s favourite yarn, fabrics, or craft supplies, too. Then customize the sewing basket on the outside with little touches that speak to the bride’s unique personality.
  
  

• Another idea is to provide a collection of cleaning supplies. While it sounds boring, recent research has shown that household chores are a cause of newlywed distress. Give the bride a starter kit of great cleaning supplies, wrapped inside a convenient carry caddy. This way, she (or he) can carry all of their supplies with them from room to room as they complete their chores

If one of you fools out there ever gave me cleaning supplies as a gift I would take the cleanser & spray it into your eyes because you so obviously can't see what a crap gift that is. WTF... seriously... "Happy Marriage! Here's a box of stereotypical wife things for you use while you walk around the house crying worried about whether or not you just made the biggest mistake of your life." Awesome.

DON'T even get me started on 'their chores' WTF???? are they marrying their father & are assigned certain things that they NEED to do? Are they coming from somewhere where they didn't ever clean before? Why is this hard? Are they new? Are they mail order? Who doesn't know how to clean?

You know what would be a better gift? If women are so stressed about about cleaning, give them Molly Maid gift certificates. I would gladly accept 6 months worth of house cleaning over a bottle of Mr Clean any day. THAT would releive any stress I may have not some stupid mop... "Congratulations! Here's something else to do!" At least with that, I'm coming home to a clean house so I can focus on stupid things like Thank-you cards (I KNOW no man will write those) or they can take care of cleaning things I would never want to do ie... washing all my windows. Now, THAT'S a gift that keeps on giving....