Shopping for someone who is significantly underwhelmed by really awesome gifts is excruciating. That someone is my boyfriend, Ryan.

My family is easy is to shop for. I ask them what they want, I buy it, and everyone’s happy. However, shopping for my boyfriend is somewhat less enjoyable. After dating for a year and a half, I kind of know what he likes, but there’s still this doubt lingering in the back of my head when I’m at the checkout.

“Will he really like this? Will he even use it?” I think to myself as I swipe my debit card.

This holiday season I really tried to think back to every time he actually gave some kind of visceral reaction to something that he liked.

I got it! It was perfect. He had been asking for it for several months and even told me that he was going to take matters into his own hands to make it happen if I didn’t.

A hair cut. My hair to be more precise.

I have really thick red hair that’s neither straight nor curly. But, one special thing about my hair is that it grows incredibly fast. It always has.

That’s why for the past seven years I have been growing it out just to chop off 10-12 inches of it to donate to an organization that creates wigs for kids who have lost their hair. So far, I have donated my locks three times to two different organizations. Rinse and repeat.

The most recent cut was in June, right before graduating college.

Aside from when I was a toddler and gave myself a mullet, my hair had never been as short as it was at graduation. It was terrifying.

But, my boyfriend loved it. Not that he didn’t like my hair before, which he felt he needed to repeat nearly every time he complimented me on my new ‘do, but he especially liked it now.

Since then, my hair has grown out. It’s already past my shoulders. I really loved my long hair but I know my boyfriend would like it short again.

So I made the appointment, just a few moments ago in fact, for the Tuesday before Christmas.

I’m going to try my best to keep my hair a surprise until at least Christmas Eve. How, you ask?

My handy, dandy hat.

We’ll be going to my parent’s house, a four-hour drive, for the big holiday and we’ll be leaving very late in the evening. I’m anticipating the drive will be cold and I will be sleepy. That will make a perfect cover to wear my hat and nap for the duration of the trip.

Hopefully he doesn’t ask too many questions about me wearing a hat in the warm car.

***

On the drive over it was really difficult to not tell my boyfriend about what I did that day, it’s what we do every night when he gets off work.

But, I held out until we got to my folk’s place.

After my dog calmed down from my unanticipated appearance and Ryan was about ready to fall asleep in the chair in the living room, I gave him a card. It read, “Your present is under my hat.”

I tilted my head down, he grabbed the fluffy ball of yarn on the top of my hat, pulled it off and revealed my new locks.

His reaction was probably a little inflated due to the fact that my mom was sitting just a few feet away. But I think he was definitely surprised and I even saw a tiny smile creep up onto his face as he said, “You cut your hair.”

***

It’s Christmas Eve and Ryan and I hop in the car to go shopping, of all things. On the drive back to my parents house, he says, “I really like your hair…” (You can guess what three-letter word that starts with “b” is coming next), “…but I really like it just a little bit longer.”

Congratulations, you just promoted yourself from hard-to-please boyfriend to nearly-impossible-to-please.

But, it’s just hair. And I know in a few months when it’s his “preferred length,” he’ll be happy.

He may have wanted some other things for Christmas more than me cutting my hair a few inches, but I think the surprise and the thought of doing it is what really counts in this case. I listened to his pleads for months and I finally obliged.