when i was xmas shopping i got a little sidetracked at a dress shop - which is all good as DS#2 adores clothes shopping - he goes around picking things out for me while im trying them on (hehe he even knows my size) one of the things he picked for me was perfect...so i gave him the $$ and he bought it for me and i pretended i didn't know
i also looked very longingly at aprons in a certain shop and said geee i wish i had an apron for xmas while we were beside them...then i saw DS's trying to work out how much they needed so i gave them $10 and i pretended to look at cushions for 5mins or so
#1 got me a nice bracelet on the sly too must've bn whn he was out with grandma

Well after spending the weeks before Christmas buying myself presents to wrap up from the girls (cook books and handy hints books I wanted, gardening tools and some bangles I decided I'd rather keep than give my niece), my ex gave me a $50 warehouse gift card and the girls were also given $10 each (by the ex or his girlfriend) to go into the kids only part of the seedling shop at Sylvia Park to buy presents. DD1 (nearly 8) bought me a flannel & bath bomb set while DD2 (just turned 6) bought me a very pretty melamine plate and bowl set with a big heart shaped chocolate. They were so proud of what they chose us and the fact that they got to go shopping without an adult seeing what they bought. Now I have to make sure they see me using the presents they bought or they'll think I don't like them!

I felt a little bit guilty that the ex ended up spending $70 on me but then I remembered that I'd bought a present for their baby ($15), a present for them (bbq cook book - nearly $20) and a Christmas tree decoration each (chosen by the girls at the Town Hall's annual Christmas shop) so I spent about $50 in the end which I think is more than enough.

Hey Clem! What did you get?

I bought an ornament for myself early last year so basically nothing from the kids, just one from Santa ;-) . I spent $40 on the Ex on a gift the kids chose -doubt I'll do that again. My brother and SIL gave me a pile of poo - now while usually I wouldn't mind receiving a charity gift, the fact that I have no money to spare makes me resentful of their lack of understanding for my and the kids circumstances. I would have been thrilled with a $20 warehouse/supermarket/fuel voucher but I guess them giving charity gifts gets them a 1/3 back in a tax rebate.

The rest was mainly crap - boxes of chocolates etc but the big surprise was just as I was leaving my Dad popped a full set of new shock absorbers for my car in my boot (he didn't want anyone else to know because of family politics). Not sure how I'm going to afford to have them fitted any time soon but wow.

I got kitchen scales from DD and a vase from DS I had a fair ton of stuff on my list so it was a good surprise.
My parents gave me a Mitre 10 voucher, my friend gave me a toiletry gift voucher.

Does he plan to buy you flowers to go into the vase?