Sending love.

April 26, 2012 7:49 PM

What are some sweet gestures of support for my stressed out long distance sweetie?

I've just started a long distance relationship with a wonderful man who currently is having a terribly stressful time; work and school are overwhelming, his living situation is not ideal and there was a death in the family last week. We talk often and text everyday but I really want to give him a hug. What are some sweet/nerdy/fun ideas for a hug substitute? Bonus points for least expensive ideas.

posted by anonymous to human relations (9 answers total)

Send an e-card.

Watch the same sweet youtube videos at the same time.

Watch the same evocative Netflix stuff at the same time.

Email pics from tumblr - you know those emo kind of sentimental ones.

Send a care package by snail mail.
posted by hungry hippo at 7:55 PM on April 26, 2012

You talk and text, but do you Skype? Back when I was in a long-distance relationship, we used to use NetMeeting, which served the same purpose, and it was definitely a pick-me-up to actually see each other.
posted by limeonaire at 8:09 PM on April 26, 2012

If you're artsy at all (or enjoy coming up with silly/funny pictures anyway) you could draw a card, a story, or a flipbook to send to him or show him through Skype. And yes, definitely Skype if you can, it's such a huge difference. Bonus points for working in a shared favorite movie or series! Can you bake and does he like baked goods? Because it's not that expensive to ship cookies and there are many delicious flavors that ship well. You could even decorate them (or pack a little decorating kit).

There are also those hug pillows but frankly those are a little weird to me, and I don't think guys tend to go in for stuffed toys as much as the stereotypical lady does. Are there things you know he's passing up on because of the living situation, or school? Could you send a little care package with [making up a fake list of relevant items here] ear plugs, a tiny bottle of alcohol, cookies, maybe a funny comic or five?
posted by jetlagaddict at 8:16 PM on April 26, 2012

Postcards! Letters! Maybe a mix CD? It always feels good to both send and receive solid, physical objects in an LDR.
posted by snorkmaiden at 8:16 PM on April 26, 2012

Send him a gift certificate for a full body massage!
posted by july1baby at 8:41 PM on April 26, 2012 [1 favorite]

Make and send him a card! I do this for my long distance boyfriend when he's stressed or I'm missing him a lot. Feel free to get suuuuper mushy.
posted by MadamM at 9:03 PM on April 26, 2012

(So my dating experience is that people who send cards and sappy text messages and give little random gifts and so on, generally they also expect to get that stuff back in return.

I'm mentioning this because you might want to let him know that that's not the case here — that he shouldn't feel obligated to try to keep up or whatever, you're not sending some sort of coded signal that he needs to be more romantic, you're really just trying to cheer him up and there's no need for him to worry about reciprocating.

This probably seems like it goes without saying, but it's easy to get signals crossed over stuff like this in a new relationship, and especially a long-distance one.)
posted by nebulawindphone at 9:53 PM on April 26, 2012

Try sending him a care package.
posted by lotusmish at 10:30 PM on April 26, 2012 [1 favorite]

Is there a show you both like? You could arrange a 'date' where you both watch it at the same time. Star Trek works great for this.
posted by Blasdelb at 10:22 AM on April 27, 2012