Birthday care package ideas?

[texaswildflower]

DH's birthday is at the beginning of September. At the beginning of the deployment he had asked me not to send any junk food, so I don't want to send him the typical sweets. Can y'all help me come up with some different birthday stuff to send him? Please, and thank you!

[amaristella]

Tea? Coffee? Non-food items maybe. I'll keep thinking about it. See if I can come up with anything.

[texaswildflower]

I plan on writing out a birthday message from me, R and the pup and taking a picture of us with the sign and send both to him. I'll probably do the same from my family. I was also thinking of including party hats and balloons, but I'm not sure yet. Would that be too cheesy?

[poppet]

I sent DH a huge box full of batman party supplies (I cleaned out party city....hats, plates, banners, cups, balloons....etc). I put together goodie bags full of silly little kid stuff and candy (some guys kept theirs, others handed stuff out to kids they met). It was every 5yr old boys dream. The guys posted some pictures from the party they threw and it looked hilarious. DH loved it and said they had a good time blowing of steam and acting silly. I also included party snacks like pretzels & dip, popcorn, and twinkles/hostess cupcakes with candles.

[softspot]

The stuff J liked best were from the dollar store. I sent silly string, air horns, putty, water balloons, sand castle stuff (lol), glow sticks (bracelets, necklaces & wands), etc.

[MrsAggie]

Like PP mentioned, I'm big into dollar store. I love sending random things and everyone enjoys the laugh. I find the most random things possible. As far as serious gifts, I bought H a Suunto watch for his birthday before his last deployment. He really liked that. I also considered sending him a computer game since he didn't have his Xbox. As far as healthy food, I sent H a lot of beef jerky and he also liked those sport drink mixes that you could put in a water bottle. His favorite is Tang Sport which is impossible to find here so I sent him Gatorade mixes. That's the only healthy things I can think of since I sent H a lot of junk food. That man was never without an Oreo lol.

[iluvmytxrgr]

In the Army, we don't do birthdays. You "celebrate" by getting your ass kicked. My husband would croak if I sent him a box of party supplies, but if you think your would get a kick out of it, go for it.
Last time he had a birthday over there, I sent a box of cakes in jars with several different frostings, goofy stuff like booger candy, a few DVDs, magazines, books, pictures and some dollar store stuff like a poker set, a mini football and a few other things. He loved it.

[poppet]

Jul 30, 2012 13:25:52 GMT -5 iluvmytxrgr said:

In the Army, we don't do birthdays. You "celebrate" by getting your ass kicked. My husband would croak if I sent him a box of party supplies, but if you think your would get a kick out of it, go for it.
Last time he had a birthday over there, I sent a box of cakes in jars with several different frostings, goofy stuff like booger candy, a few DVDs, magazines, books, pictures and some dollar store stuff like a poker set, a mini football and a few other things. He loved it.

The ass kicking thing must be unit specific since I got the idea from several guys in DHs unit (DH is AF but we are stationed at an Army base and most of his coworkers are Army). Several of the Army wives whose husbands are deployed did the same thing and they were all a hit.

[iluvmytxrgr]

Jul 30, 2012 14:15:52 GMT -5 poppet said:

Jul 30, 2012 13:25:52 GMT -5 iluvmytxrgr said:

In the Army, we don't do birthdays. You "celebrate" by getting your ass kicked. My husband would croak if I sent him a box of party supplies, but if you think your would get a kick out of it, go for it.
Last time he had a birthday over there, I sent a box of cakes in jars with several different frostings, goofy stuff like booger candy, a few DVDs, magazines, books, pictures and some dollar store stuff like a poker set, a mini football and a few other things. He loved it.

The ass kicking thing must be unit specific since I got the idea from several guys in DHs unit (DH is AF but we are stationed at an Army base and most of his coworkers are Army). Several of the Army wives whose husbands are deployed did the same thing and they were all a hit.

Nope. DH and I were in different units. It's Army wide, except in "soft" MOSs.
ANDPLUSALSO, guys aren't going to tell their wives the cookies sucked, the brownies had mold on them and, oh btw, your box of party hats got me an ass kicking. As soldiers, we lie and say thanks for the box it was great. We don't tell people it was full of ants or the mice got into before we could.

[softspot]

Sorry TX, but I'm giving your posts an eye roll. The whole don't celebrate thing is a case by case basis and I'm sure you know that. I've seen plenty Army people celebrate holidays with decorations & mini parties and I would hardly classify them as "soft MOS's". Your posts have a weird sanctimonious air about them which I'm surprised by.

[MrsAggie]

Is infantry a "soft" MOS?

[beans]

Jul 30, 2012 19:57:44 GMT -5 MrsAggie said:

Is infantry a "soft" MOS?

well, if they celebrate birthdays, they clearly are. Fact.

[basilosaurus]

So, apparently it's soft to like birthdays but not soft to lie to your wife to avoid her being upset about moldy brownies.

All of this begs the question. If my husband says he loves my brownies, but he's in a soft job, does that mean he's actually telling me the truth? I'm pretty sure he would straight up tell me if food was moldy (mostly because he'd be sad and want me to feel sorry for him) but he also really loves celebrating without a testosterone fueled competition, so I'm confused on how to interpret this.

OP, I'm not a big fan personally of sending junk plastic and dollar store stuff that's just going to get thrown away, so I sent brownies (I hope they weren't moldy!), a bottle of fre wine (it's alcohol free and gross but it made H laugh), a new watch for running, some books, and some really nice pillowcases.

I think the funniest thing I sent him was for Mar 14. Steak jerky and a bouquet of blow pops

[iluvmytxrgr]

Soft =/= equal weak. Soft MOS is a common term used for jobs in HR, supply, secretaries, cooks and such. It's not derogatory. They are called soft because they typically do not wear body armor, which is hard, for their jobs.
Unhitch your panties ladies, I'm not intending shittiness. We all have different experiences with the military. Y'all relayed yours. I relayed mine.

[texaswildflower]

I think he'd totally get a kick out of it. DH and his friends like to be silly, so I see it playing out much like poppet's DH's party.

[brandienee]

I think that would be a fun idea for H, I may take it.