Nightmare Secret Santa

[WineIsMyCarb]

Poor DH has his BIL (his sister's husband) as his Secret 'Santee'.

Said BIL is miserable git who doesn't eat much, works in high pressure job, doesn't drink, well into cycling but hasn't been since their DS was born a year ago.

Things we know he doesn't like:

Food
Booze (more than single glass of whatever)
Clothes (frumpy at best)
Making effort or conversation with family at events (unnecessary dig!)

He's also bald so no posh hair stuff / beard oils or whatever.

To make it worse, he had him last year too. Bought him an Alexa thingy and didn't hear a word of thanks. Apparently when DH went round it was still in the box.

Budget £30-40.

Help! [santa]

A subscription to a cycling magazine?! Maybe rekindle his interest?

This is definitely an opportunity for an Oxfam present e.g. a cow or a goat, or a combustible toilet or a bag of manure to help a family support themselves.

Compostable, not combustible !! I do not know where that came from!!

Buy him Cards against Humanity miserable git. That will cheer him. 

Is he into tech? Good earphones or similar?

Sorry. Somehow missed the Alexa comment!

I love the combustible toilet. Toasty 🤣

Something from Rapha (hipster type cycling shop). Or if the budget can stretch a little, Lucy Pittaway has a number of nice art prints themed around cycling and the Tour de Yorkshire, the mini prints are £49.

National trust membership? At least then money to a good cause if they don’t use it!

Does he read? Magazine subscription or voucher for kindle.

Tickets to do something, Cineworld often do gift voucher gifts so it's 2 tickets, drink and popcorn usually around £25-30ish. Could wrap with a promise to babysit baby and some chocolates.

Oknscratch that! National trust way more expensive than I thought!

Babyseat for the back of his bike. Might not be within budget though.

Subscription to Singletrack mtb magazine.
Wireless headphones?
Nice merino base layer for cycling?

We do a family secret Santa, but everyone puts forward suggestions of things they'd like in the family WhatsApp group. £40 is a lot of money to spend on something, so I'd want to make sure I was buying something that would be wanted.

Chartity donation

Does he drink coffee?

Scratch cards? Voucher?

Ask for suggestions. It's silly to just waste money on something he won't want/appreciate.

Or buy a voucher for a local nature centre or somewhere, for a family day out. Or a voucher for a coffee shop with a branch near to his work.

Subscription to National Geographic or some wanky sort of adventure magazine (the sort with lots of photos and printed on fancy paper)?

Or a nice sensible jumper?

Lonely Planet do a nice coffee table book called Epic Bike Rides of the World.

Tbh, he sounds joyless so I'd probably assume he will hate the gift, so not worry too much about what you get him.

Or perhaps something stationary related, maybe a nice pen?

It’s a shame this will have finished touring by Christmas. Worth checking if they add any 2019 dates though: www.2magpiestheatre.co.uk/ventoux.php

Ask his DW/DP for suggestions? They must have at least some idea what he likes! Otherwise suggest everyone does a wishlist to be submitted by a set date.

Great suggestions, so far the possible list is:
Exploding toilet
Nice jumper
Wanky branded cycling top

DH just texting his sister now....