I know I have already replied, but I have just been thinking about this a bit more.

So your DH feels like he 'has' to buy you something, but he left it too late and went out to do some last minute shopping to buy something in a hurry? To me that would mean he would end up buying something impersonal, just something that looked good on the shelf at the time with not much thought gone into it, because he felt like it was something he had to do. Why not just tell him not to worry about it? I don't know about you, but I would like to teach my son it is better to give than to receive, and to feel good by the act of giving without expecting anything in return. Kids learn so much by our behaviour, so I would never want to show that I am feeling upset or even slightly disappointed over receiving any kind of gift, or even not to receive one at all.