My son wants a sink....

Even if I ask my kids for something practical that I need I still end up with perfume and flowers instead!

We bought our DS a perspex skylight window that he needed for the she'd he built . That's what he asked for haha .

Shed

I asked for a weathervane from my husband one birthday. I got it & he put it up 2 weeks before my next birthday. We mooved house 4 years ago & it’s still not been put up here.

I asked for an X hose for the garden,
loved the fact that it disappears in to little box

Sheliasue I still have my Tupperware (water fill) rolling pin

My mum and dad bought me a new gearbox for my Austin 1300 (remember them?!) and DH and I bought ourselves the wood and slabs to create raised beds. Daughter and fiancé provided a day of labour to create them!

Got my son a carpet one year.

We bought DS 21 useful things for his flat, stepladder, ironing board etc for his 21st. His 40th is coming up and he has asked that we pay for a wooden floor throughout their downstairs. He is more Dutch that his wife who actually is Dutch! He prefers something practical for himself but chooses wonderful, appropriate presents for all of us.

For Christmas this year I got a Toaster from DD, mine had died & she asked me what I wanted, I also got a few little surprises.

Christmas 2015 I got 2 blinds which I wanted for my Bedroom & Kitchen, DD obliged.

I love getting practical presents, much better than trinkets junk that I don't want

every year for the past 20+ years i've had a bottle of opium perfume and a box of black magic chocolates from my son and daughter in law. however it's my favourite perfume and chocolates so i'm pleased every year.
they, however, are difficult to buy for as they don't like ornaments and candle sort of presents.
this christmas i got them a stainless steel cafetiere with some lovely glasses plus a coffee grinder and a supply of coffee beans - they l9ved them.
previous presents have been a spice rack plus a range of herbs and spices which they were over the moon with.
one year i bought a white set of china for them plus sets if glasses ...... they were to replace the ones they'd broken or chipped. and i think i also got them a set of cutlery.
i equipped them with pyrex casserole dishes one year plus a chicken roaster.
and i think, although i'm not sure, i did saucepans one year plus all the spoons etc you need for cooking.
i'm going to have to think long and hard for next christmas - might be time for chopping boards (i got a knife set some time ago) or maybe i'll have a look next time i go down and see how their saucepans are faring - might be time for replacements.
but in the meantime i'll see what amazon can come up with - i've got plenty of time!

An engine for my sons car for his 21 st. Asked my husband to buy a defibrillator for my next birthday as you never know,

DH and I agreed we really needed at set of fire irons: poker, shovel, brush etc. for our wood burning stove, so that was what I bought him.
Unfortunately the carton wasn't properly sealed, so I must have looked a right sight walking through a pedestrian precinct trying to keep both ends of a long flat cardboard box closed!
I did of course realise that if I dropped any of the contents I would hear them fall, which was an advantage.

I gave a dd sleep for her birthday - did ask her first! Paid for dinner, B and B - and a lie in! at a nice hotel for her and son in law, while Dh and I babysat Gdd, then about 10 months.

I think the concrete mixer is winning so far.
One Christmas I put wall-mounted tin opener on my list. DD said 'What and have people remembering 20xx as, Ah that was the year X gave Mother a wall-mounted tin-opener! Get your own tin opener.' Still haven't of course.

On every special occasion my family always give a list of things they want/need. Every Christmas, my younger daughter gets me an annual resident's town parking clock which is so useful and saves me the £25 I'd have to go and pay for it myself anyway. Last year my other daughter had new kitchen units but the fitter found a leak and she had to have a section of the floor cemented first so I bought her that as they had no budget for extra costs. For her birthday she has asked for her favourite boots to be re-heeled which costs almost as much as a new pair but she loves them so much to throw away. We always buy surprises too but practical presents are great. I hate to receive toiletries, endless scarfs etc.

My DDiL asked me for a small generator for Christmas one year and a horse shower (quite literally a portable shower for dirty horses) another.

My Dad bought DH and I a new front door once. We did need one and we were very pleased.

My FiL bought my MiL an iron for her birthday so she bought him a kettle for his. He wasn't amused.

Second husband bought me a frying pan as a Valentine's Day present. I was tempted to hit him with it. We were not married at the time, and I wonder why we ever tied the knot.

I got a toasty maker for my 21st birthday from my parents. It was 1983 and I was a single parent with a 3 year old son. I was gutted.

DD got Invisalign orthodontic treatment for her 40th birthday.
GD wanted a chest of drawers for Christmas so we bought it.

We buy practical presents most of the time, bathroom cabinet, hall and landing lights, etc
We bought our DS and DDiL a new front door and surround for *****mas last year. They paid for their porch door and windows to be replaced, and we paid for the inner door to be done.
I'm quite jealous, they chose a dark green Rockdoor with an art deco style glass panel, it's gorgeous!
It's DS's birthday next month, he's asked for half the cost of a garage!

Ive just had a set of circular pans and I was thrilled. They are a considered purchase and this meant I could get them sooner

When I was a stay at home Mum for 8 years while the DDs were small and were struggling moneywise, My MIL (from Hell) bought the DDs the most expensive party frocks she could find and handed them over when she came for Christmas Dinner. Of course by that time all the School, Playgroup. Sunday School parties had passed and the dresses were only worn once on the afternoon of Christmas Day. By the next year they were too small and I had to hand make their dresses yet again. Eventually I managed to suggest that what they really needed were winter coats for school and held off buying them expecting them to arrive at Christmas. No such luck. On Christmas day she presented both DDs with pale pink woollen coats with real fur collars - just the thing for visiting Granny on a Sunday - I bought the school coats in the sales.

I don't wear makeup or perfume. I have sensitive skin so toiletries are difficult. I only wear jewellery if I'm going out and don't go out much so most of my stash rarely sees the light of day. I own countless ornaments as I inherited my mothers and can't bear to get rid of any and I don't have anywhere to put flowers.
I would love a soup maker for my birthday this year. I think it would save me time and money and fresh soup each day would be lovely but no one seems keen on the idea. I might have to buy it "from the dogs"!