I have in the past found myself in the role of "dumbfounded male" when it has come to gift-giving. I can see now what a big source of unspoken resentment this can be.
My W and I have both caught on to this now, and the biggest cure for this is communication.
I don't think anyone would think bad things about you for your reaction (as you implied) - this isn't about being materialistc, this is about feeling loved. And you're allowed to tell him the things that are important to you, that make you feel loved - remember, one of Michele's steps is ask for what you want.
Is "gifts" one of your love languages? I'm guessing so. It's one of my wife's. It's not really one of mine, so I had to figure this out.
It seems that in our relationships, we somehow fall into this trap where we expect our spouses to spontainously come up with the right ways to love us, and we feel hesistant or embarrassed to tell them what that might be. I don't know why, but it seems to be really common. We tend to set each other up for failure and become resentful.
Anyway, my point is: we're allowed to tell them!! My two cents is, tell your H now what this means to you. Whether or not you tell him that you found the gift, let him know now that it's important to you that he puts thought into this. Tell him that this is how he can make you feel loved, and he's got to own this, this is a way for him to take care of your relationship. Tell him you're afraid of becoming resentful. You've got to talk to him about it, Zoo!
