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As a twenty-five year old, I feel rather qualified to give some instructions on buying gifts for twenty-somethings. Actually, maybe someone could pass this along to some of my relatives before my birthday this year. They certainly could use the advice. At risk of sounding like an ungrateful brat here, let me tell you a few of the more interesting gifts I received.

When I was twenty, I got married. For our first Christmas together, everyone gave us clothes or gift cards. The clothes were pretty terrible overall, but the gift cards were great! We used them for gas, groceries, shopping, and more. The most interesting gift I received that year was probably that horrible fruitcake given by an anonymous friend of the family. I guess by getting married, I had entered adulthood and so I began receiving the yearly fruitcake. Yay.

When I was twenty-one, I got pregnant. Everyone got me baby stuff for my birthday and Christmas, which was pretty exciting while I opened it. But then when I got home, I realized that I had gotten absolutely nothing for myself. So I had to just sit in the baby's room and wait five more months to use any of my Christmas gifts. I did get one outfit that Christmas from a well-meaning friend. She bought me a really beautiful shirt and some nice dress pants... only they were not maternity clothes. They were plus-size clothes. Why do people not realize that pregnant and fat are not equivalent? No offense meant here to plus-size girls. Now I need those size 16's after two babies!

When I was twenty-two, I had my baby. So that was twenty-two. Everything I got for Christmas that year was either stuff for her or clothes I couldn't wear because I had just given birth to her.

When I was twenty-three, we bought a house so everyone decided to get us some really nice new home decor. That was pretty exciting... you can't go wrong with cool picture frames and candles. We will use these gifts for years to come.

When I was twenty-four, guess who got knocked up again? This year, my family actually got me some great maternity clothes along with the baby stuff. The only strange gift I received was this weird furry pocketbook. It was like a bad combination of vinyl and faux fur. Can you say goodwill? Better yet, can people start including gift receipts?

When I was twenty-five (this past Christmas), I have no idea what anyone gave me. I have a loud toddler, a colicky baby, and a puppy who is not yet housebroken. The only thing I really wanted was a trip to a spa... across the country... alone. I can assure you that no one got me that. I would definitely remember that, even in my sleep-deprived stupor.

So I have only received gifts for half of my twenties, but so far my husband is the only consistantly great gift giver. I can always count on him for the things every twenty-something girl really wants. He buys me fuzzy bedroom shoes, nice shampoo, perfume that actually smells good, gift certificates to the spa, a massage attachment for my writing chair, and this year... a state of the art mixer for my kitchen. I had wanted one forever! Your best bet when shopping for a twenty-something is to give them a gift that fosters time for themselves. Most people spend their twenties busy with families or school and finding time to relax can be downright impossible. So just treat your friend to something easy like a pizza takeout gift card or a Netflix membership and she will be really excited! If you do decide to shop for clothes, include a gift receipt. No matter what you do, don't send fruitcake. That is the only way to really go wrong.

Learn more about this author, Amber Benge.
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