What to get someone that already has everything he may possibly need, that’s a question I have been hearing a lot lately. Maybe that’s because we don’t really need much. We want much more than we need. It seems like an ongoing race with the fast paste technological changes and the quick turnaround in the fashion industry.
So what is left to give but TIME, the gift of experience and unique gifts that are hand made preferably by the giver.
What ever it may be that you end up giving I think it is important that you really think of the person that you are giving to. Think about what will suit him/her best, something that will touch his/her heart. I always laugh when I think of the gifts my friend used to give his mom when he was very young, a basketball and his favorite record. I guess that would be an example of what not to do…. After all, “the biggest effect of gift giving may be on ourselves. Giving to others reinforces our feelings for them and makes us feel effective and caring.” A Gift That Gives Right Back? The Giving Itself By Tara Parker-Pope, New York Times
A gift of TIME
This post was inspired by a story I heard in a parents group at Ori’s school. It’s about this little boy who had 2 other siblings I believe he was five, and his brothers were two years old and a new born baby. For his birth day his parents asked him what he wanted, his answer was that he wanted to spend TIME alone with them. Not a new Robot, or a new set of Lego’s or what ever was the hottest toy in the market, but simply the gift of TIME shared together.
Makes you think – doesn’t it?
I was thinking (for a change), we are too busy to stop and take the time to be with our friends and family. There is always more work to be done, revise a paper, go to the gym, etc. Most of the time when we are present we are mentally absent. We have all learned to move our heads up and down in understanding while our thoughts are all the way in Hawaii… It takes a lot of effort to disconnect from the busy day, our ongoing thoughts, work etc, and be present at where we are.
Side note: a great book that talks about being present at the moment comes to my mind Tuesdays with Morrie
Ideas for sharing TIME together:
1. I think I will be taking Zoe to the Nutcracker, while Ori will have a football play date with her daddy.
2. A bottle of wine with a note attached “open with me only”
3. Cook dinner for a friend (make sure u include his/her favorite dishes)
4. Vouchers for things to do together (make puzzles, go to the beach, ride your bikes, go to a museum, etc.)
A gift made by you
When you are making someone a gift you are most often thinking about that person while making it. its a really nice feeling. In a way it is also a gift of time. The time you dedicate to thinking of this person while making something that will tell him/her how special he/she is for you. What you make doesn’t need to be complex. Making is usually time
consuming but so is shopping. You can plan it to be part of your
activities with your kids, if you don’t have any kids you should have
the extra time to make things even thought you don’t think you do…trust
me on that.
Ideas for making things are endless
1. Baking cookies (could be done together with kids)
2. Compile a favorite songs CD
3. Frame one of your drawings
4. A necklace or a bracelet. Zoe loves stringing beads. If she makes someone a gift she’ll take the time in selecting the perfect beads for that person.
Resource for making things:
Craft magazine, Martha Stewart (I can see Kristen and Shoshana smiling…)
Need more ideas:
buy nothing christmas
Please share more gift ideas or resources
Who said there are no advantages on being on a budget?...i would say alternative gifting is defiantly one of them.
Happy Making
