26 Nov
The List-Holes are out and about this time of year, and it’s important to keep your guard up.
You need to keep up with the List-Hole Hounders and put up with the List-Hole Judgers.
Try to navigate around the List-Hole Gatekeepers and try really hard not to be a List-Hole Divider. And no one can help you if you find yourself face-to-face with a List-Hole Ignorer.
From amusing to annoying, there’s more than one kind of List-Hole. And unfortunately, most of us fall into at least one of these categories.
List-Hole Pusher
The List Pusher has made a list and wants everyone to have a copy of it. You might find it in your email inbox, posted on facebook, as an amazon wishlist and attached to her Christmas card. The List Pusher is both helpful and annoying.
The List-Hole Hounder
The List Hounder wants your list – and she wanted it yesterday. She emails you. She calls you. She reminds you every time you speak. Get her your list, or you might not get ANYTHING this year! (Which is a total lie. The List Hounder will always buy you a gift!)
The List-Hole Gatekeeper
The List Gatekeeper wants to be the only one that gets your list. She wants to control your list. And she wants all of the List Hounders to come to HER for your list. She will decide who is going to buy you the perfume that you want as well as who should pitch in on that bathrobe you’ve been eying. As a general rule, List Hounders and List Gatekeepers don’t get along.
The List-Hole Divider
The List Divider serves as her own gatekeeper. She systematically creates a master list and breaks it down by price and category and thoughtfully decides which person will get which portion of her list. She bases this decision on what people enjoy buying, their budget and how likely they are to stick to the list. (List Dividers and List Ignorers – see below – don’t typically get along). List Hounders and List Gatekeepers commiserate in their frustration with List Dividers.
List-Hole Doubter
The List Doubter sees your list and wonders if you REALLY want what you say you want. “She wrote down that she wants a turtleneck from Macy’s – but everyone knows that LL Bean makes the best turtlecks.” The List Doubter uses your list as a general guideline to buy you SHOULD have asked for. List Dividers and List Pushers do not like List Doubters.
List-Hole Judgers
The List Judgers think what you’re asking for is too expensive. Or too inexpensive. Or too common. Or too redneck. Or too hoity-toity. You can’t win with a List Judger – and it’s a terrible combination if someone is a List Judger AND a List Hounder. Just keep your distance!
List-Hole Ignorer
Most of the List-Holes can come together in their dislike for the List Ignorers. The Ignorers see your list. They may even acknowledge your list. And they will totally and utterly ignore your list every single time. The List Ignorers cannot be reasoned with. These are also the people that ignore wedding and baby registries and get really mad or hurt if you return their gifts.
So – what kind of List-Hole are you?
Too funny. I must admit I am the List-Hole Hounder. Just ask my family. :}
Laurie recently posted..How To Make A Feather Tree
I definitely used to be a list hole ignorer but then I wised up. I became a list hole hounder this year with one of my sisters. I can’t imagine someone being the list hole gatekeeper!!! That’s insane!
I am an ignorer, because my husband is a divider. The man can come up with lists with the best of them and then drive sane person insane with his lists. I, on the other hand, sit back and try my best to ignore said list, because I truly could care less, lol!! Loved this really Anna and their is something for everyone here
Janine Huldie recently posted..The Good Fight for the 60″ LED TV…
Guess I’m a hounder. Uh-oh. I can be a Judger, too. Bad combo, you said. But if I hound you, then judge you, wouldn’t that leave me as an Ignorer? OK. I’m just going back to bed and pretend I didn’t read this.
I am the gatekeepers and sort of divider for my kids. I let my Mom have first pick at the lists because she spends more. And also because my mother in law is an ignorer. I am a pusher when giving my list to my hubby but no one else. I am totally a hounder though. To everyone. And maybe a judger with my hubby’s list
Sara recently posted..Happy Monday!
I’m totally a List-Hole Divider. And the fact that you used “hoity-toity” in a sentence solidifies my love for you. When I talk about your blog to other people now, I’m definitely starting with, “So, my bestie, Anna, has this awesome blog…” (Not that I didn’t do that before…*cough*)
I have moments each season where I’m all of these. I write up a list, I sometimes give only portions of my list certain people, I hound people for their lists, and I totally judge other people’s lists and will sometimes completely ignore them.
I both love and hate myself right now…. I guess I’m just a great big giant list-hole.
Kathryn recently posted..Pregnant or Not!
Well – I’m glad that I was able to give you an idea for your post this morning….at least I ASSUME it’s me since we did have a list conversation over the weekend and I DID end up coming home without much of anything for anyone…..I’m not counting the 3 or 4 things scribbled down and stuck in my purse as a list!
So Missy, what do you call the person who judges the person who has attitude about lists? Oh that’s right! We call her “Mom”!!!
P.s. I have decided that I am a multiple personality list-hole, thank you very much!
call me!
love Mom
I don’t even know what I am because I don’t ask for lists and I don’t make lists. Maybe I should start? I’m feeling kind of left out. I am a list avoider.
Lisa recently posted..A Thanksgiving Miracle Part 1
I’m a List-Hole Nonmaker – People ask me if I have a list or if my kids have a list and I say no, no we don’t have lists. You don’t have to get us anything, we don’t need anything, save your money.
I’m a list ignorer. Mostly because I am too disorganize, or shall we say spontaneous to deal with lists properly.
Keesha recently posted..A Reminder for the Holidays: Live in the Moment*
This is hilarious! I have a mother in law who loves the list, and I must say it does make for getting exactly what you want, but there are some downsides. Pretty sure I’ve been just about everyone of these on the list at one time or another!
Rachel recently posted..Sheet music Christmas tree tutorial {from cereal boxes!}
I pay attention to YOUR lists, but I never make my own. And I forget who I told what to when asked. I’m the annoying one who drives everyone crazy!!
butterflyangels recently posted..Sweet Skating Sue
So glad you broke this down for us all!!
hilljean recently posted..10 Best Toys For Young Children
So great to have the classification system, but crap, after reading this I’m now pretty sure I’m a Pusher and a Hounder, and I totally annoy everyone else around me!
Meredith recently posted..What Moms REALLY Want for Christmas
I’m an ignorer — and I’m making the gifts so you CAN’T return them.
(Except one relative figures out how to carefully modify things so they no longer serve their intended purpose — would’ve been find if it had been for her or if she hadn’t told me about it!)
O. M. G. This is so true – I never realized there were categories, but you NAILED IT!
hollow tree ventures recently posted..10 Reasons To Never Trust Your Child With A Camera
Nailed it!
But personally, I like to steer clear of lists so as to get as little accomplished as humanly possible.
Meredith @ The Girl Next Door Drinks and Swears recently posted..Black Friday and a Christmas Explosion
I’m a list hounder… I started asking my sis 2 weeks ago for ideas for gifts for her teenage boys.
Can I just say I have a MIL that is 6 out of 6 of these. She hounds, but she ignores, she gatekeeps, divides, judges, doubts. You name it. Makes Christmas a “hole” lot of fun!
i’m a list hole judger. yep. no shame about it!
wendy recently posted..Enter to win a KitchenAid Mixer and a Keurig Single-Cup Brewer!
I am a list hole avoider….I will make a list of my kids wants but not mine, but only when asked directly…I tend to avoid lists at all costs
hmm. not really sure where I fit in. several Hounders were asking for our list, so I sent a mass email out to all telling them gift cards only please.
but I may be a list judger. every year my mil sends us her list of things she wants (she does this when her birthday is coming up, too) — totally unsolicited! and the lists are always full of ridiculously extravagant things. but you know what each of my kids (her only grand kids) got for their birthdays this year? $15 each. heck yeah I’m gonna be judgy. greedy woman!
gabby guzik recently posted..we are our own biggest critics right? #wreckthisapp
My least favorite of all – the List-I’lltellyouI’mgettingthisandthenIdon’t.
My husband’s grandmother does that ALL THE TIME for the kids. For Christmas last year, I had a list of things that I knew she would enjoy. I would give it to everyone buying gifts for her (if they wanted), they would pick something off the list, then return it to me. His grandmother chose to buy her the Little People’s dollhouse. Great! Wonderful! Christmas morning comes, and she opens a writing chair. She’s 2. Not a whole lot of uses for a writing chair, and she didn’t get the dollhouse.
I’m the crazy aunt who wrapped up a squirrel. Every time. I LOVE this. You are hilarious, Anna. And, dare I say, you may have the makings of a great sociology Ph.D. paper here.
Bethany @ Bad Parenting Moments recently posted..Much Ado About Nothing
I’m’ a list-hole procrastinator: I’ll get it to you ‘tomorrow’.
This was so hilarious, Anna! I’m a List-Hounder-Deflector. I never get them the list!
Kelley recently posted..Aberhollister & Cromitch’s Manager’s Checklist