Okay, so maybe my problem isn't quite as unique as I led you to believe, but I'll have you decide that for yourself. December has dawned and we all know what that means. We've celebrated the other holidays and staved off Santa Clause until his due time. Now it's time for the holiday spirit. All of you “Buddy the Elf” people out there, this is your time. Family, friends, presents: What more could you ask for? Myself, I could use a little help figuring out what I want for Christmas.

See, every year around the beginning of December, my mom asks me what I want for Christmas. This question is a sure-fire way to erase ANY idea of reasonably priced items that I might need or desire. The first things that pop into my head are 1. A new tattoo, 2. A car, and 3. A computer. Usually in that order. Any other ideas vanish in a puff of smoke. Anybody else face this strange phenomenon?

I remember as a kid writing out a page-long list of stuff I wanted. I think this only happened once, and honestly, it was probably a school assignment that took way too much time. Kids find it easier to write a list of what they want. I think that's because as you grow older, you want less and less of the material items. At least, I can't think up a long list of things I want anymore. Most of what I want is more along the lines of life-security and happiness. Things you can't really put on a Christmas list. Remember back when we used to write letters to Santa telling him what we wanted? Yeah, I was bad at that, too.

To make matters worse (or better, depending on your viewpoint), my mom is really great at giving gifts, so even though she already knows that I won't give her a very good answer, she asks me the inevitable question anyway, 'for a direction,' she says. Personally, I have faith (and several documented examples of gifts, like my fuzzy sweater) that even without a word from me, she'll find me something I never knew I wanted but end up loving more than anything I could've asked for. It's a double-edged sword. But honestly, that's my favorite part of gift giving. The surprise inside the box.

The second, more annoying part of this weird phenomenon would be the post-Christmas portion. During the last few days of the year, the long-lost Christmas list comes together gradually. Gift ideas that are totally appropriate (not really expensive) pop into my head, an entire list of things that I couldn't think of during the rest of the month are suddenly packed into a nice, spiteful little corner of my head. While I groan and think about how ungrateful that sounds. Come on brain, couldn't you have given me that information, oh, say... A month ago? No? Cool.

Virtual show of hands: Anyone else have this weird problem? If so, I've got some good news and some bad news. The good news: You're not alone! Hooray! And, let's face it, you could be dealing with much worse problems. The bad news: I haven't figured out a viable, long-term solution for this problem, so I'm about as helpful as a box of rocks. But let's let the blind lead the blind, shall we? Here are some directions you might take to solve your Christmas list problem:

• You could keep track of the things you want all year long, either on paper or by using social media sites like Pinterest or Facebook.
  • You could make a “Christmas List” board on Pinterest, or save posts of things you want on Facebook. (I recently discovered the “Save Post” feature; who knew?)
• You could make a date to go shopping with your mom.
• Alternatively, you could go shopping by yourself and take pictures of all the things you see that you want, then send those photos to your mom.
• If all else fails, ask for gift cards.

If you find some other alternative that's easy and works, let me know!