OK. So I was a bit out of the bloggin’ loop last week. Call it my pregnancy’s “nesting instinct” but my jaunt to Super Target started me on a shopping spree in hopes of getting the house ready for Baby. Jamie says “WHATEVER.” And that women don’t “nest” until mere days before their due date; months prior does NOT count.
Regardless, during my $120 static guard shopping spree, I picked up some cute plastic pastel plates that were on Easter clearance. In my mind, I knew Jamie would fuss because we’re in the midst of landscaping our backyard and don’t even have a real patio upon which to use them. But I call it women’s premonition for what happened next (or just her desire to acquire really cute dishes). I mean, I could be like my mother and have a dish set for every occasion with four working china cabinets throughout the house. She made the avowal that she would not buy another set of dishes again. Unless they’re really cute, that is. Atta girl.
But back to my inspirational purchase. The next day at a garage sale in an upscale neighborhood, I found the perfect little patio set to go with my plates (kinda like purchasing the perfect belt and then buying an entire outfit to match). I called Hunky Hubby and suspiciously, coyly started our conversation:
“Hi Handsome, have I told you how much I LOOOOOOVE you today?”
“What is it? What have you done? What do you want to buy? How much is this going to cost me?”
He knows me so well. Somehow, I convinced him we could not live without it. I even talked the woman down to $40, a steal for a wrought-iron set.
My mother-in-law was with me during the purchase and fell in love with a designer oriental end table but reluctantly opted not to buy it because of the price. That night in bed, I devised a plan to go back and surprise her with it for Mother’s Day. Saturday morning, I loaded The Hurricane up and headed over. Now, in my long life of gift-giving expertise, here are a few tips to pulling off the ultimate surprise.
1) Make sure you do not pull up behind the surprisee at the site of purchase.
Yep, imagine my dismay when we pulled in and Haddie started squealing, “Grandma, Grandma!” Sure enough, she had arrived at the exact same moment.
2) Look coy, like you have no idea what they’re doing.
“Oh HI, Linda! Why are you here?”
3) Finally, do not let them know your master plan and jump in before they do.
I failed miserably on this one. Linda’s way too quick and by the time I unbuckled the Hurricane, tempered the tempest and made my way over there, the item was bought. And not by me. SUCH timing.
And this, my friends, is how NOT to surprise your mother-in-law on Mother’s Day. Oh well. At least I have super cute dishes and a new patio set. And to appease my husband, I hereby vow to not buy anything else to match. Unless it’s really cute, that is….
I'm a Canadian-born mom of two, former Denver Post columnist, family travel writer, editor of MileHighMamas.com and 9News contributor. Expert on all things Utah, Denver, family and travel. Lover of laughter and life. Happily married to a man obsessed with growing The Great Pumpkin. 