Let’s face it; whether you’ve just started dating, or you’ve been married for 10 years, choosing a gift for your significant other will probably be the hardest gift choice of the holiday season. If you’re in a really new relationship, even deciding whether or not to buy a gift can be tricky. Our advice on that one is, if you like the person and see yourself continuing to go out with them; buy a gift. If you don’t like them enough to want to buy them a gift, you probably shouldn’t be seeing them by Christmas anyway. Choosing the gift may be tough. Here are some questions to ask yourself to help choose the right gift:

• What would he or she like to spend more time doing if they had the time?
• What would he or she love to have but would never buy for himself/herself?
• Pay attention to things he or she comments on when you’re out together. It could give you really good ideas.
• Go places that will help you choose gifts. For instance, take him to a wine or beer tasting; make a mental note about which varieties he likes and come back later and buy some.
• Talk to her friends. A woman’s girlfriends are usually full of ideas and quite happy to help.
• Stay away from clothing purchases, especially for women, unless you’re absolutely sure she’ll love it and it will fit. Clothing is the single most returned category of Christmas gift.

  Tips and Ideas Christmas, Gifts, Holidays

December is a great month for dating. Nearly every city, and even small communities have lots of activities going on that make for fun and often free, dates. And many of the winter activities you can attend are quite romantic. Here are some of our favorites.

• Holiday Light Displays – Lots of areas have drive through or walk through holiday light displays. If yours doesn’t, find a neighborhood that really does a good job of decorating for the holidays and go for a drive there.
• Ice Skating – You don’t have to live near Rockefeller Center to have romantic ice skating dates available. Lots of areas, especially where the weather is really cold, have winter skating rinks.
• Christmas Plays and Pageants – Churches and communities always put on Christmas shows. They can be a fun and inspiring way to spend an evening, just be sure to take your date’s faith into consideration before picking one.
• Volunteer – Spend a Saturday working with an organization that is helping provide toys or food to needy families during the holiday season. You’ll have fun and feel good about your time spent.
• Stay home and build a fire. Winter is also the season for hibernating. A warm fire with some hot chocolate and a great old Christmas movie is also a great way to spend a holiday evening.

Tips and Ideas Christmas, Church, Holidays, Volunteering, Winter

It’s the often dreaded, often unspoken question for new couples during the holiday season. Will we be together, or go our separate ways, or the big day?

Unfortunately for this question, I can’t really give you any clever advice. It’s time to be honest. If you have family, you usually spend the holidays with that family, so the question becomes whether or not to take each other along.

For some couples it will be a pretty easy decision. Either you’re both planning to spend the holiday with your family and you know it’s too soon to “meet the parents” or you’re both certain that you want to be together on the big day, so you’ll work out schedules to make it happen.

But, in some relationships, one person feels “further along” in the relationship than the other, or one partner just has a crazy family and isn’t in a hurry for the introduction. That’s why I say it’s time to be honest.

Don’t avoid the discussion. In fact, the sooner you have it, the better. Otherwise, all your December dates will be clouded with the unanswered question. So, get it out in the open so that you can move on.

If you are taking your new love interest to meet your family, give both sides plenty of preparation. This is not a time when anyone needs a big surprises.

If you’re going to meet your new love interest’s family; make a good impression. Even if you break up later, you’ll never regret making a good impression. If you get married, you’ll always regret making a bad one. Take a gift for the parents, and try to fit in without being presumptuous.

Happy Holidays,daters!

Family Christmas, Family, Holidays