Forget china and crystal, register to fill the toolbox. There's a wedding on the horizon at our house and I'm afraid my toolbox will suffer for it. I've written on this topic before, but I think it is, once again, a necessary reminder that hardware makes a great wedding present. I've quietly encouraged my son Dylan and his betrothed, Elaine, to register at stores that carry hardware.
"Put things like hammers and shovels and rakes and wrenches on your list," I advised. "Don't ask for a breadmaker. You'll use it once and put in the basement because it takes up too much room on the kitchen counter. Ask for a hedgetrimmer instead." When you think about it, tools make a lot more sense than crystal and china and linen. That stuff gets dusted off once a year whether it needs it or not.
Twenty years ago, I wouldn't have considered using paper plates for entertaining. Not anymore. Truth is, I haven't bothered to unpack my good china since my last move.
Tastes change. Home entertaining styles change. Nobody has time for "formal" anything anymore.
There's a television commercial for paper plates in which a bride considers registering for "paper." Silly yes, but it strikes a chord.
If the United States keeps moving in the casual direction it's going, we'll devolve from paper plates and plastic utensils to eating with our hands. That is if we cook at all. Lenox and Waterford are just a bit too glitzy for take-out pizza and McDonald's.
But the toilet still breaks. And pictures still need hanging. And closet doors still squeak. And a current survey showed gardening is among the fastest growing hobbies.
Tools will never be obsolete.
Years ago, when I divorced my practice husband, he got custody of most of the tools. Judges were so sexist back then. I did manage to get away with a few handtools that my father had "loaned" us.
Early on, Dad let it be known he wasn't too happy about loaning out his tools. But all three of his kids inherited his fix-it nature, and, after awhile the figured tool loss was just part of the family plan.
I'm not sure I can be as good-natured. Maybe it's time to invest in a good padlock. I know my Dad will keep waiting for tools to be returned that his kids "borrowed" years ago.

For example, I can't bring myself to return a Stanley hammer I borrowed back in 1992 to use at a Jimmy Carter Habitat For Humanity Building Blitz. Every time I hang a picture, I remember that magical, backbreaking week. If the hammer weren't so handy, I'd frame it. Hardware can be very sentimental.
Time marched on and -- two "handyman specials" later -- I've managed to rebuild my tool collection. With a little help from Dad, I've reached the point where I can handle most home repair jobs without having to run out to the hardware store for the right tool.
It's a good feeling, but it was an expensive odyssey. Have you priced a good pair of needle-nosed pliers lately?
A lot has been written about the "reverence" in which men hold hardware. Rhetoric has it tools are pretty much a "man thing."
If that ever was true, it was for a brief, grossly idealized time in the '50s. All women were supposed to have worn aprons and pearls back then, too.
In fact, on a recent trip to the hardware store, about the only men I saw were wearing aprons. Women were buying electrical supplies and kitchen cabinets, plants, plumbing fixtures and hand-tools.
Don't look now, but home repair projects are chic. Maybe entertaining of the future will mean inviting a few friends over to panel the basement.
In which case, etiquette calls for the hammer to be placed to the left, of th6 drill and the screwdriver should be placed at the tip of the utility knife. And for more informal gatherings, it's perfectly OK to mix your Skil with your Black & Decker.
By Laura Hengstler Reprinted from the Chicago Sun-Times, Sunday, July 4, 1999