Gift-giving people discuss what gifts that people don't realize they need until they get them: 'What are gifts people do not realize they need until someone gives them to them?

Do you find a better gift to be something you really like or something useful that you didn't realize you needed?

The best gift I received in the last few years wasn´t some big, expensive thing or an incredible adventure. It was actually something pretty dumb, an electric hairbrush that blow-dries, styles, and straightens the hair by simply brushing. It is something that I could have bought for myself; it's not really expensive or difficult to find. I could have gone to the store and bought it, but I didn't, and you know why? Because I didn't even know it existed. When my mom gifted it to me, I was surprised at first, but then it became the thing I use the most. Now every time I wash my hair, I use it. So every day I think about my mom when I use it. It wasn't a heartfelt present or an activity we would do together. She gave me something she knew I would love, even when I didn't even know that I needed it in the first place. I'm all in for a really great gift that is something that you have wanted for a while, but sometimes the best gift for someone isn't what they want, instead what they really need but didn't realize they needed. Something useful. 

Some people love to give gifts that are useful, instead of a book you may already have or a T-shirt that you will donate in a year because you never wear it. Most of my friends and family members usually give me for birthdays and holidays something that I already have. I'm not saying this to be disrespectful towards their gift. I'm sure they put a lot of thought into it. But the last 5 birthdays I've been gifted the same books way too many times. It got to a point where my guests started to ask my mom before buying me something to make sure that I don't already own it. I have to admit, I do have some fault in that. My favorite thing to do is reading, and I own too many books. So when they think of me, they think books, and that, almost always, leads to buying me a copy of a book I already have. Last year, one of my friends was so tired of always getting me something that I would need to exchange that she bought me something completely different: a water bottle. She saw that mine was old and leaked; she knew I would never spend money on a new bottle until it fully breaks, so she bought me a quite expensive one that is better at keeping the temperature, and it doesn't break every time I drop it —yes, I'm really clumsy. So maybe I'm the kind of person who needs more useful gifts. Instead of thinking about what they think I would like to own, they need to think about what I need and would never buy for myself.