We’re in the middle of packing up our apartment to move. (Yes, we’ll be moving in the middle of my third trimester. I suspect whichever highly paid university administrator that came up with the ‘pregnant students must move from married housing to family housing in the third trimester’ policy has not actually been pregnant.)
Being in the middle of packing to move makes one take close look at all the accumulated stuff. A lot of this stuff was received as gifts. Gifts are a funny thing. We spend a lot of time and money trying to figure out what the perfect gift is for someone else but our ability to hit the mark with a good gift depends largely on how well we know the person, and how well we are able to get over our assumptions about that person to really see what they really want or need. Ever received a gift from someone you’ve known and loved and felt like you needed to go reintroduce yourself?
I’ve also had several holiday seasons where I’ve been able to pin down the perfect gift for several on my list, yet got down to the wire for other people on my list and ended up just giving them whatever I could find. Sucks for me as the giver, and then the receiver is left holding on to something that their not sure if it’s ok if they just throw it away because, ew, not so much something I want, but thanks anyways. This is of course after you paid too much money for it in the first place and then paid to ship it across the country.
Gah! Gift giving can be frustrating at times. It’s even more frustrating when you don’t have any money. Well actually in that case, you can just not give anything to anyone. But half the fun of Christmas is picking out that perfect gift. I love the feeling when you find the perfect gift for someone. But you can’t give a gift to just one family member and then just leave everyone else hanging. Still frustrating.
My husband and I have been giving each other non-tangible gifts for years; one year it was a whale watching trip, another a day on a sailboat…. There is quite a large Waste Free Holiday movement here in the Seattle area, many vendors even offer discounts for their non-tangible gifts. There are a lot of great ideas including: dance lessons, sporting events, cinematography classes, spa days, concerts and dinners out. Unfortunately, these are not cheap gifts; a ride in a hot air balloon can run $200 per person, and while I can give a certificate for an eye brow wax for $18, that’s not exactly an appropriate gift for most on my list.
So what about you? Have you come up with any ideas for inexpensive gifts that will be actually useful and valued rather than just an accumulation of stuff?
I like the idea of writing stories, or memoirs and sending those. I also like those layered ingredients-of-cookie-dough-in-a-jar type gifts. Sometimes doing a skills assessment to see what you could make or do is good (I once gave Mama a bunch of coupons for things like doing the dishes, back massage, foot rub, and a day off).
moosenuggets’s last blog post..I Hit a Moose!
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I’m going to give my sons preschool teachers gift cards to the local grocery store, along with one green bag apiece. It’s inexpensive, and useful!!!
Sydney’s last blog post..The Joy of Giving
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Judy, I SO feel for you on moving late in pregnancy. Ugh. I’ve done that twice, hope to never again!!!
Hey, I know somebody who could use the eyebrow wax . . .Mr. Unibrow . . . ;D
In all seriousness, this is one reason I HATE CHRISTMAS! The commercials on the radio, “buy here!” Driving by the mall, “Christmas starts here!” Even at the boys’ gymnastics class, conversation centers on driving to “the big city” for shopping.
It’s not often that I have an idea what to give to someone. And usually we have a small budget, so it’s hard to buy gifts, knowing that the person probably won’t like what you’re giving, and you can’t afford it anyway. People like to ask us what toys our children would like. They don’t need any more toys!!! But folks want to give tangible things and it’s easier to ship gifts than experiences.
For birthday gifts for the kids, we decided to “give” a time with Daddy to make something special. Still has some cost involved, but it’s giving time. And the kid gets to go with Mama to get their free Cold Stone Creamery birthday ice cream.
Christmas, we’re still working on that one. We come from a heritage of “showing love by the number of packages under the tree.” But last year we made ornaments, granola, cookies, and potpourri as gifts and that worked fairly well.
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Oh yeah, I came across this
http://www.daveramsey.com/etc/cms/creative_christmas_gift_ideas_5811.htmlc
there are a few nice ideas here.
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I really struggle with gift giving for most of the men in my family and the only time I ever feel like I’ve really hit the perfect-gift mark is when they tell me the one thing they want, I give it to them, and there are no surprises involved, which just isn’t any fun for me. I love gifts that aren’t things…and my favorite was tickets to a theater performance for my mom where I got tickets for her and tickets for me, and we went together.
Wishing you all the best with the move!
Tricia’s last blog post..Starve the Bitch
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Ugg! Moving in your third trimester! Not a good idea!
We went with useful this year. I’m pretty sure everyone has a coat and a home made scarf under the tree. There’s a skillet too! Shhh! I want it to be a surprize!
But yeah, no electronics, no games, no “stuff”!
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One of my fav gifts to give is a Calvin and Hobbs comic strip book. I can spend hours just flipping through those myself.
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Judy: After I previously commented, I realized you provided the perfect solution and prompt to my quagmire of what to get my three-year-old niece. I really didn’t want to get her a toy. I gave her books for her birthday…what’s an aunt to do?
I ordered tickets for her, her mom and her grandma to attend a theater performance, her first. My gift to her is (I hope) a really fun memory.
Tricia’s last blog post..I Was Waiting for My Mother
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