Happy Thanksgiving! I'm going to have to say that gift giving all depends on both people involved - the giver and the receiver. I I think it depends on the type of relationship you have with the gift receiver and their tastes. I don't think gender necessarily has anything to do with it. There are times that my husband has been much more thoughtful than I have in gift giving, and vice versa. For example... For our wedding, I gave Steve an ipod. I knew he would love it. We needed it for the wedding. It did put a lot of thought into, and he was really excited about it. He was mostly taken back by how much money I spent, since we were on such a strict budget. On the other hand, Steve gave me a DVD of my very first dance recital. He went to my childhood home and found it, and took it to a professional to have it made (it was on VHS). Very thoughtful. Very moving. Put my ipod to shame. I don't have an example of when I out presented my husband... at least when it comes to giving gifts to each other. When we are shopping for other people, I typically come up with with clever ideas.

Hey Ladies - happy American Thanksgiving week from your friends up North. I love giving gifts. I love giving small gifts, big gifts, expensive and inexpensive gifts. I used to feel quite strongly that women were way better at it, but I have met a few men who've also been especially good at it, so I'm not sure that one gender is better than the other. The one thing that women and men who are good gift givers seem to have in common is their willingness to take the time to think about it. I know for me, I feel like I have an abundance of "things" and so do most of my friends and family members, which makes it harder and harder to buy gifts. The gift of time and a shared experience - such as Giyen suggested - is a type of gift I really enjoy giving and receiving. I also really enjoy gifting and receiving music playlists and books, especially when the gift is accompanied by the story of how and why it was chosen. My ex-husband really stunk at giving gifts to me. Moreover, I really stunk at receiving gifts from him. Being a gracious recipient is as important as being a thoughtful gift giver. I always try to remember that. I wrote a piece last year for my blog on gifts. You can read it here! http://www.novemberjuliet.com/journal/2008/1/1/gifts-101.html Norma