I do not have a gift for gift-giving. I am overwhelmed as the holiday season approaches and I ponder gifts for my kids, who are already bored of the gifts I gave them for their birthdays; my parents, who already own nicer things than I could afford to buy them; and my husband, who only ever wants specialized hobby equipment that I am not even knowledgeable enough to buy. It seems that anything I can afford to buy en masse for my neighbors and coworkers is junk.
So I have scoured the Exponent archive for tips for remedial gift-givers like me. Exponent blogger Whoa-man, who is a natural at gift-giving, shares tips for choosing the perfect gift in The Art Of Gift Giving. I marvel at the thoughtfulness of the gift highlighted in Jessawhy’s Birthday Gift From My Pro-Feminist Husband. Here are some great thoughts about children’s gifts by Emily U: What Kinds Of Toys Did You Buy For Christmas. A guest poster resolves the neighbor gift dilemma with Simple Gift Suggestions For Friends Who Are Not LDS and these ideas for a Mothers Day Gift From Bishopric To Women would also work well as neighbors’ Christmas gifts. Emily CC reminds us that sometimes we don’t need to pull off the perfect gift, A Good Enough Christmas is good enough!
And this video is a great one to get in the giving mood:
I love seeing these old posts! Thanks for gathering them all, April!
One thing I did last year that was helpful in my gift-giving was to search “book reviews” on The Exponent. We review so many great books that are helpful in lesson preparations and some handy ones on Mormon feminism, Mormons, and motherhood. (http://www.the-exponent.com/?s=book+review&x=0&y=0)
I always thought I was a great gift giver, but I think maybe the truth is more that my family was socialized to be good gift receivers. A disproportionate level of joy and gratitude was necessary for my dad to believe that you liked something, or he might be huffy. While it made for some unhappiness in itself, on the plus side I learned (and so did my family) to be effusively grateful and excited for whatever it is. So I didn’t stress as much because whatever I gave would be greeted as if it were the finest thing on the planet. Now I worry a little more because my husband was not raised that way. But maybe one thing we could work on would be being better gift receivers? It matters less if you’re the best giver as long as the person is a great receiver. Thanks for these ideas!