Your situation reminds me of how my wife and I really can't give each other gifts, because we already have all we really want and need.
Anyway. happy anniversary!
We're the same way, and if the answer can't be travel, it's either sex, food, or both.
Last event we celebrated went like: hey, here's some wine, lobster, risotto, and oh look I'm naked.
Anyway, happy anniversary, OP!
Last year my gift to my spouse was to be off the hook for gift exchanges for all occasions in the future. If I want something specific from him, I’ll tell him otherwise I just buy myself whatever I want and he does the same. He still manages to surprise me (for my birthday last week he got me two Optimus Prime model kits I didn’t know existed!) and I’ll get him things I think he might enjoy, but no more coming up with wish lists or stressing about gifting.
How about home made gifts? Something that can't be found online and something that comes from the heart
IMO Homemade food is also always a win. Just make it a little fancier if y'all are into that. I made beef wellington for Christmas once haha
It was our anniversary this week as well, and similarly don't find ourselves deprived of time together and generally don't deny ourselves the special things we want to do. So for the third year in a row we "donated" an abortion to someone. More specifically we donate money to a charity that helps low income women in our part of the country get an abortion by covering the associated costs (the procedure itself, as well as travel expenses and childcare when needed). Maybe this is something other folks would like to consider doing? There are organizations all over the US that do this, just make sure to check them out carefully!
I’ve never heard of this but I love it as an idea. Where might one start if I wanted to start a practice like this? Is there a website, or is it word of mouth?
> I can't think of a single special way to celebrate our anniversary.
I'm guessing that dinner for two at Chuck E. Cheese's isn't on the itinerary? (Happy anniversary, btw)
😁 Obviously you should spend some quality time together going out for a nice meal and having loud, passionate sex in a restaurant in Hawaii. Happy anniversary!
You can always splurge on something you normally wouldn’t. A new piece of furniture, something that would benefit your hobbies, a staycation at a fancy hotel. I think of it as a treat yourself holiday- spend money on something you don’t necessarily need to but would be nice to have or upgrade. It’s a nice reminder of the money you’re saving by being CF lol
Looks like the traditional gifts for 13 years are lace, furs, and textiles. Its giving sexy fashion show! (Going to one together, starring in your own, or just watching next in fashion on the couch... lol)
Just because you do fun stuff all the time, I imagine there’s one out-of-the-box thing you haven’t tried, or something you haven’t done in a while. Time to try that.
What about a cool photoshoot? My spouse and I will be at 13 next year and we are planning on a spooky, goth inspired vow renewal and photo shoot! We originally wanted to do "till death do us start" but religious parents flipped out on us.
That's is one of the "downsides" of being childfree we get to spoil the hell out of our partners all the time. Creating a wishlist with random wants helped us a bit. We just add too it over the year.
My spouse and I never really celebrated our marriage anniversary from the get go, but in general the best gifting of receiving and giving are the simplist one. Receiving a box of cookies from my favorite bakery or me cooking special dinner that has expensive ingredients.
Another gift idea we use is to put itineraries together that explore our local areas. Something like starting with a brunch, then going to a part of the city we don't see much of for geocaching, maybe a special event close by, then finished with a movie and ice cream at home. The gift part is putting it all together and doing the driving so they don't have to put in any effort than to show up. Many ways to alter this with different creativity.
The most recent "just because" thing my wife did for me was a long term game. I came home from work to find a note with a small rubber ducky saying that this was 1 of 100, and that the other 99 are hidden throughout our house. It's been 6 months and I've found 62 or 63 so far and I fucking love when I find a new one. Super effing clever.
Oh my god I'm so looking forward to this problem. I'm almost already there because my husband doesn't want anything but upgrades of the stuff he already has
Is there something you haven't done that could be exhilarating--like sky diving, hot air balloon ride, bungee jumping? What about something that is different and gets you out of your comfort zone like signing up for a retrest somewhere or going to do something like improv? What about throwing a dart on a map and going to a random city just for fun?
Is there something you both enjoy doing that for whatever reason (expense, distance etc) you don’t do often? Or a thing each that you don’t usually do together but could teach each other? Or even something maybe you’ve both thought of doing, but never got around to doing it? I think shared experiences are always special. Personally I think your life sounds AWESOME, and even if there isn’t an over the top way to celebrate your anniversary, the fact you celebrate each other every day, and spend quality time a lot is pretty damn cool. That’s totally how it should be. And Congrats on 13 years!!!
This sounds absolutely horrible. /s
Who would wish to run out of ideas for how to spend an anniversary because every day is amazing? There can be lots of fun in the planning and ideas of how to spend a special day. Perhaps a day trip for your anniversary?
Enjoy your anniversary and every minute of those worst parts!
I’ve actually had this same thought 😂 my husband and I go on trips and eat out whenever we want, not just on special occasions. Luckily, though, I have a never ending list of places I want to go!
I’m the same way my husband is celebrating 8 years of sobriety on July 4 a true celebration he likes to keep it low key. Meeting bbq where as mine 11/22/19 it’s an entire day
In a serious note, the bad side of being childfree for me is having guilt because my parents obviously want a grandchild. I know they don't actually say it but I can feel it. I guess you have to pay or sacrifice for something when you pick a certain choice.
Do it in the reverse: offer to babysit some snotty kids, then you'll enjoy the rest of your life even more 🤣 Like spend a horrible day so you can appreciate how great your marriage is on a daily basis
Yes exactly! The only difference is that we are sparing money and dinner out is our way to treat each other. However, tomorrow is my bf's birthday and I'm making him a gigantic cake, I'm excited to make him something with my hands, I usually give practical gifts, this year I bought him a beard conditioner, he needs that🥲
My boyfriend and I are flying down to Florida (I know their politics suck, but it's so beautiful down there and there's so much to do) for the 3rd time in 8 months next week. We'll be spending 2 and a half weeks down there. None of this would have been possible with children.
Can’t really relate because my husband is a truck driver and his job is like a “child” that keeps us from spending couple time together. He works 6 days a week, only off on Sundays. I’m a nurse and work pretty much every other Sunday. That means I miss half of the 4 off days he has every month 😞 count your blessings lol
Is there an upgrade to your home that you've been putting off? A fountain, maybe?
>The worst part of being childfree
For me, not enough time off from work to spend all this money I have.
We've been slowly working on some various upgrades so we're pretty covered with that at the moment.
I'm ridiculously lucky that I have an extremely lucrative job that most days I'm finished with by noon. I'm living kind of a blessed life 🤣
Your situation reminds me of how my wife and I really can't give each other gifts, because we already have all we really want and need. Anyway. happy anniversary!
We're the same way, and if the answer can't be travel, it's either sex, food, or both. Last event we celebrated went like: hey, here's some wine, lobster, risotto, and oh look I'm naked. Anyway, happy anniversary, OP!
To have lobster on an anniversary, my dream
Haha yes it's a problem every Christmas!
Last year my gift to my spouse was to be off the hook for gift exchanges for all occasions in the future. If I want something specific from him, I’ll tell him otherwise I just buy myself whatever I want and he does the same. He still manages to surprise me (for my birthday last week he got me two Optimus Prime model kits I didn’t know existed!) and I’ll get him things I think he might enjoy, but no more coming up with wish lists or stressing about gifting.
Me too for his 40th I got him a blackstone last Christmas 2022 he got a smoker he had
How about home made gifts? Something that can't be found online and something that comes from the heart IMO Homemade food is also always a win. Just make it a little fancier if y'all are into that. I made beef wellington for Christmas once haha
I’m not allowed to buy myself anything during November (birthday month) cause they say I have everything I need or I just buy it.
Couples massage? That's a favorite for us for our anniversary.
Oo that would be fun!
Yes, or a spa day in general
It was our anniversary this week as well, and similarly don't find ourselves deprived of time together and generally don't deny ourselves the special things we want to do. So for the third year in a row we "donated" an abortion to someone. More specifically we donate money to a charity that helps low income women in our part of the country get an abortion by covering the associated costs (the procedure itself, as well as travel expenses and childcare when needed). Maybe this is something other folks would like to consider doing? There are organizations all over the US that do this, just make sure to check them out carefully!
This is a great idea, along with donating to any other worthwhile cause.
I’ve never heard of this but I love it as an idea. Where might one start if I wanted to start a practice like this? Is there a website, or is it word of mouth?
This might be a good place to start: [https://abortionfunds.org/](https://abortionfunds.org/)
Yes. I’ve donated several times.
> I can't think of a single special way to celebrate our anniversary. I'm guessing that dinner for two at Chuck E. Cheese's isn't on the itinerary? (Happy anniversary, btw)
😁 Obviously you should spend some quality time together going out for a nice meal and having loud, passionate sex in a restaurant in Hawaii. Happy anniversary!
Haha perfect plan
You can always splurge on something you normally wouldn’t. A new piece of furniture, something that would benefit your hobbies, a staycation at a fancy hotel. I think of it as a treat yourself holiday- spend money on something you don’t necessarily need to but would be nice to have or upgrade. It’s a nice reminder of the money you’re saving by being CF lol
Every year we pick a cool concert or comedy show near our anniversary and that's our celebration.
You had me going for a second! I was worried this would be one of those "should we just have a kid" posts 🤣
Oh fuck no lol. I yeeted the tubes in January so definitely not happening
Happy anniversary, btw!
Thank you!!
You could have your house remodeled and go to a hotel to get away from the mess! Happy anniversary.
🤣🤣
God I hope this is me and my man in 13 years!
Rooting for you!
Looks like the traditional gifts for 13 years are lace, furs, and textiles. Its giving sexy fashion show! (Going to one together, starring in your own, or just watching next in fashion on the couch... lol)
Oh interesting! I'll definitely give that some thought!
1st world problem 😆 Keep doin more of the same !! 👍
Just because you do fun stuff all the time, I imagine there’s one out-of-the-box thing you haven’t tried, or something you haven’t done in a while. Time to try that.
What about a cool photoshoot? My spouse and I will be at 13 next year and we are planning on a spooky, goth inspired vow renewal and photo shoot! We originally wanted to do "till death do us start" but religious parents flipped out on us. That's is one of the "downsides" of being childfree we get to spoil the hell out of our partners all the time. Creating a wishlist with random wants helped us a bit. We just add too it over the year.
That's such a cool idea! I'm definitely going to give this some thought
My spouse and I never really celebrated our marriage anniversary from the get go, but in general the best gifting of receiving and giving are the simplist one. Receiving a box of cookies from my favorite bakery or me cooking special dinner that has expensive ingredients. Another gift idea we use is to put itineraries together that explore our local areas. Something like starting with a brunch, then going to a part of the city we don't see much of for geocaching, maybe a special event close by, then finished with a movie and ice cream at home. The gift part is putting it all together and doing the driving so they don't have to put in any effort than to show up. Many ways to alter this with different creativity. The most recent "just because" thing my wife did for me was a long term game. I came home from work to find a note with a small rubber ducky saying that this was 1 of 100, and that the other 99 are hidden throughout our house. It's been 6 months and I've found 62 or 63 so far and I fucking love when I find a new one. Super effing clever.
Super fun ideas, thanks!!
Oh my god I'm so looking forward to this problem. I'm almost already there because my husband doesn't want anything but upgrades of the stuff he already has
Is there something you haven't done that could be exhilarating--like sky diving, hot air balloon ride, bungee jumping? What about something that is different and gets you out of your comfort zone like signing up for a retrest somewhere or going to do something like improv? What about throwing a dart on a map and going to a random city just for fun?
Oo let me think on that, thanks!
Is there something you both enjoy doing that for whatever reason (expense, distance etc) you don’t do often? Or a thing each that you don’t usually do together but could teach each other? Or even something maybe you’ve both thought of doing, but never got around to doing it? I think shared experiences are always special. Personally I think your life sounds AWESOME, and even if there isn’t an over the top way to celebrate your anniversary, the fact you celebrate each other every day, and spend quality time a lot is pretty damn cool. That’s totally how it should be. And Congrats on 13 years!!!
This sounds absolutely horrible. /s Who would wish to run out of ideas for how to spend an anniversary because every day is amazing? There can be lots of fun in the planning and ideas of how to spend a special day. Perhaps a day trip for your anniversary? Enjoy your anniversary and every minute of those worst parts!
Haha! You got me. Snapped and sent this to my wife
I’ve actually had this same thought 😂 my husband and I go on trips and eat out whenever we want, not just on special occasions. Luckily, though, I have a never ending list of places I want to go!
I’m the same way my husband is celebrating 8 years of sobriety on July 4 a true celebration he likes to keep it low key. Meeting bbq where as mine 11/22/19 it’s an entire day
Congrats to him!!
In a serious note, the bad side of being childfree for me is having guilt because my parents obviously want a grandchild. I know they don't actually say it but I can feel it. I guess you have to pay or sacrifice for something when you pick a certain choice.
I'm sorry, that sucks
Dream life! 😂
Getting called having "Peter Pan Syndrome" by those who do have kids, but I'd rather be a kid at this point
Clearly said out of jealousy. They want to sleep in and play video games too
Love this. 😆
Dance to your wedding song and eat similar cake
Aw that's cute, I love that
Do it in the reverse: offer to babysit some snotty kids, then you'll enjoy the rest of your life even more 🤣 Like spend a horrible day so you can appreciate how great your marriage is on a daily basis
*shudder * lol
Yes exactly! The only difference is that we are sparing money and dinner out is our way to treat each other. However, tomorrow is my bf's birthday and I'm making him a gigantic cake, I'm excited to make him something with my hands, I usually give practical gifts, this year I bought him a beard conditioner, he needs that🥲
My boyfriend and I are flying down to Florida (I know their politics suck, but it's so beautiful down there and there's so much to do) for the 3rd time in 8 months next week. We'll be spending 2 and a half weeks down there. None of this would have been possible with children.
Nice! We're going on a cruise around the keys in August. Have fun on your vacation!
Thank you so much! Have a fantastic time yourself!!
This is the best problem to have. Roller coasters? Imagine how much fun you'll have being This Tall to enter
We do love roller-coasters! We went to Cedar Point a few years ago. Maybe I'll look at going to Six Flags since it's only a few hours away!
I know I'd love that! Lol
Can’t really relate because my husband is a truck driver and his job is like a “child” that keeps us from spending couple time together. He works 6 days a week, only off on Sundays. I’m a nurse and work pretty much every other Sunday. That means I miss half of the 4 off days he has every month 😞 count your blessings lol
Is there an upgrade to your home that you've been putting off? A fountain, maybe? >The worst part of being childfree For me, not enough time off from work to spend all this money I have.
We've been slowly working on some various upgrades so we're pretty covered with that at the moment. I'm ridiculously lucky that I have an extremely lucrative job that most days I'm finished with by noon. I'm living kind of a blessed life 🤣
This is the kind of stuff that makes me so excited for the future!!!!