Dear Level
The Official Gift Guide for the Pandemic Relationship
Whether you’re long-term or still in the honeymoon phase, you might need some tips on how to get in your bag like Santa
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Update 6/7/22: Level has a new home. You can read this article and other new articles by visiting LEVELMAN.com.
The holiday season has always been a stressful time for gift giving within a relationship. You’re not only celebrating the season; you’re also letting your partner know exactly where y’all stand. Sometimes you’ll get it right — sometimes you won’t.
Once, years ago, I was expecting a present from my partner that said “We’ve been dating for a few years now, and I once nursed you through a bout of food poisoning.” Instead, I got… a book. It was a great book, and it was one that I’d previously shown interest in. But still: a book. There’s not much you can do to make a book festive. I was grateful and thankful nonetheless — hey, at least it showed he was listening — and as time went on, I got lots of awesome gifts from that guy. Like diamonds. And a baby or two.
This gift-giving season, however, has an added element of weirdness. For obvious reasons.
If you’re still with the same person you were with pre-pandemic, this holiday season might be a little unusual. Either your finances took a hit and you need to be more frugal than in years past, or you’ve been in the same apartment or house with your partner seemingly 24/7 since March.
Remember normal relationships? A year ago, we did things. We had a normal Christmas and Kwanzaa and Hanukkah and Festivus. We went out to dinner. We window-shopped. We traveled, even if it was just for a weekend. Normal stuff.
Then the ’rona hit. And everything about relationships got really strange.
If you’re still with the same person you were with pre-pandemic, this holiday season might be a little unusual. Either your finances took a hit and you need to be more frugal than in years past, or…
