DEAR HARRIETTE: I have been dating my boyfriend for three months. A month ago, he asked me to be his “girlfriend,” which was very sweet, and I accepted. We are in community college together.
Since we have been dating for this long and are now committed, should I get him a Christmas gift? If so, what is appropriate? I really don’t want to overplay my hand. In the past, I have gone all out for boyfriends -- only to get burned. I want to be appropriate, but I also want to show him that I like him. What should I do? -- Gifting for New Beau
DEAR GIFTING FOR NEW BEAU: Why not use this as an opportunity to get to know your boyfriend better? Ask him about his family’s holiday rituals. Find out what he did as a child for the holidays, including gift-giving.
You can also be direct about gifting between the two of you. Ask him if he would like to exchange gifts with you for the holidays. If so, talk about what you both would like as gifts. A friend of mine used to make rules around gift-giving with her partner. They would set low price limits and see how creative they could be in coming up with the perfect gift. You can make the gifting experience fun if you do it together.
(Harriette Cole is a lifestylist and founder of DREAMLEAPERS, an initiative to help people access and activate their dreams. You can send questions to askharriette@harriettecole.com or c/o Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.)