by Charlise Powvalla

Created on: December 16, 2008   Last Updated: January 09, 2009

In the animal kingdom, human male shopping habits have been studied for years. Research suggests that men may be the most difficult of Earth's creatures to buy for. Men often have extremely specific requests, expensive taste, and often strive to be at the top of the pack when it comes to owning material possessions. Although the human female may have a difficult struggle ahead of her during the holiday season, there are three good options for helping a man feel like the alpha dog. You can either stay ahead of the trends, find something specific to your relationship with him that would be special, or locate something odd or unique that he didn't even know he wanted. All three of these ideas take more time and a little extra work to pull off, but have faith-They work!

The first option is to stay so far ahead of the trends that you buy things just as they're coming out on the market. This works with electronics, books, CDs and DVDs, games, computer equipment, or just about anything that involves rapidly changing technology. The good thing is that a lot of writers, artists, and producers release new work around the holidays, increasing your chances of being the first to snatch it off the shelves. The negative thing about this option when it comes to technology is that to stay ahead of the trends you usually end up spending a lot more money than you would if you waited for the hype to die down a little, and by that time the "guy who has everything" will purchase what he wanted on his own.

The second option is to find a gift that reminds you both of your relationship. This isn't limited to boyfriends or husbands! One year, I made my dad a personalized CD of music he used to play on his guitar when I was a little girl, along with the song we danced to at my wedding. For my brother one year, I bought a board game that we'd played hundreds of times as kids, and hadn't been able to find for years. For my husband one Christmas, I gave him a binder full of romantic emails we'd sent to each other while we were dating. Framed photographs are also an excellent gift for any woman to remind someone of special moments shared.

The third option is to locate something odd or unique. Maybe he's mentioned in the past that he loved a certain cartoon as a kid. Search online for a DVD collection of the cartoon. Maybe he said in passing that he's always had an interest in being a pilot or martial arts. Getting a gift certificate for a few lessons would be a very special gift in this case. If you know that he has a particular role model, favorite actor, or sports player, wouldn't it be amazing to watch him unwrap an autographed photo on Christmas Day? Ebay.com is a particularly useful resource for finding odd, unique, or rare items.

So I lied about knowing only three gift options for "the guy who has everything." There's a fourth gift option, and although many women feel like it's a cop-out, sometimes it's the only option, and on occasion it's exactly the right fit. Gift cards from a guy's favorite store give him the opportunity to spend time in his favorite stores and pick out exactly what he wants. Additionally, although he gets to spend time choosing the perfect item, you get the credit!

The male human isn't as mysterious and puzzling as we may think. He loves a good gift as much as any jungle creature, and appreciates time and thoughtfulness placed in a gift- - as long as it's exactly what he wanted.

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