Push Presents

Are you familiar with the concept of Push Presents?
They've become increasingly popular in the last few years and seem to be a somewhat polarizing topic.  There are those that expect some expensive blingy something and then those that find the idea distasteful, claiming that the baby is the only present needed.

I "get" both responses.  Linus is the ultimate present.  He is amazing and I can't imagine my life without him.  It's incomprehensible to me that he's only been in the world for 11 days!  It feels like he's always been here.  I certainly didn't need anything to reward me for bringing him into this world.  The sentimental side of me, however, thinks that having some small something to commemorate the birth of a child is nice.  It doesn't have to be something expensive or fancy...

Ross and I had talked about push presents before I gave birth, but nothing specific.  I knew he was aware of the concept and that he knew my thoughts on them.  A few days after we got back home from the hospital, my push present was delivered.  Ross had warned me that he'd gone with a practical one and that he may have taken "push" literally.  I was intrigued.

The items that arrived may have been offensive to some women, but I was SO excited.  It wasn't exactly a sentimental piece of art or jewellery like I might have imagined (but there's always Mother's Day for that... hint hint), but... it was totally awesome!

Behold:

I've hated (HATED!) our vacuum cleaner ever since I moved here.  It's clunky and the canister is difficult and messy to empty.  I'd put this Dyson Digital Slim on my Amazon UK wishlist a while ago, without any intention of actually getting it, just because I thought it was cool.  Let me tell you- this thing is AWESOME! (AWESOME!!)  It is cordless and light and handles great and does a great job.  The filter canister empties easily and the attachments all store neatly.  I love it.  Whenever I've used it, Ross smiles at me and makes a joke about pushing the vacuum cleaner.

The other item is the Vax Home Master.  I haven't gotten it out of the box yet, but I am super duper excited to try it.  According to the internet reviews, this thing can clean anything- from carpets to the oven.  In keeping with our efforts to eliminate as many chemicals as possible from our home (especially now that Linus is on the scene), it doesn't use any thing besides steam to get the job done!  No cleaning solutions or products required.  We already have a little handheld steam cleaner thing that I've used in the kitchen, but this is going to take it to a whole new level!  I'm pretty sure Ross is nearly as excited to play with this thing as I am.

I decided, before Linus was born, that marking the birth of a child isn't something just for mommum.  I decided that Ross needed something special to mark his becoming a dad.  I thought for a long while about what I could get him that would be sweet and appropriate to him.  I found just the thing!

They say "Simply the Best Daddy"

Now, you may be thinking- "Socks?  Seriously?  That was your big idea?"  If that's what you're thinking, then you don't know that my husband loves socks.  He doesn't have a sock drawer- he has an entire dresser full of them.  He says that his ultimate luxury would be to have new socks ever day.  I presented them to Ross when we brought Linus home.  He gave a very sweet smile and put them in a special place to "save" them for a special occasion.

So that's how we did push presents at our house.
What do you think of push presents?

What about doing them in a non-traditional way?