With today being Black Friday, I suspect many of our readers will be out shopping while hoping to find great bargains. While you’re doing so, may I suggest that we all concentrate on finding the right gifts for our loved ones— not just any gifts?
Through the years, I have been given many items that were obviously part of a re-gifting program. Frankly, rather than being given a random offering from someone’s crappy gift closet, I’d like to receive a hug and a promise of friendship. Those who need mental images of what an inappropriate/surely-to-be-unwanted present looks like, consider the following:
Don’t give Grandma a used mustache cup that you found at a yard sale, even if it does have flowers on it. Your 7-year-old grandson will most likely be unhappy if given a book on tax preparation, even if it once belonged to his great uncle. Mom doesn’t want another bottle of bath beads, lotion or perfume because chances are she already has several bottles of each in her own crappy gift closet just waiting to be re-gifted.
And speaking of re-gifting, if you should decide to do so, make sure that you don’t give it back to the person who gave it to you in the first place.
In our family, we had one present-opening extravaganza several years ago where one of our relatives— I’ll call her Mary— re-gifted things to some of our young family members right in front of those who had so carefully shopped and given to Mary the Christmas before. In some cases, the gifts were re-gifted to the children of Mary’s original gift-givers. Thank goodness we all love her and found the humor in the situation.
It’s true that time is running short for holiday gift shopping, so I suggest that we keep it simple.
Instead of catalogue or mall shopping, how about we spend our dollars at our local retailers and stores in our own neighborhoods? Bixby Knolls, Signal Hill, Wrigley and California Heights stores are just chock-full of creative and thoughtful gift items. Shopping locally not only stimulates our local economy, it also assures that these hard-working shop owners will be able to stay in business to help us yet again during next year’s holiday season. Remember that restaurant gift cards make lovely presents as well.
My mom says she doesn’t want us to give her anything that smells good, no stationery, shawls, slippers or lap blankets. Instead we will concentrate on finding her some tasty gluten-free treats that she can sink her teeth into throughout the season. Knowing what a voracious reader she is, we will also look for some interesting large-print books for her to enjoy while cuddled up in her favorite heated, remote-controlled reclining chair.
For those of you who are wondering what to give to an older loved one, consider the gift of service. Whether you perform the service yourself or purchase a gift card/certificate for a massage, hair-salon visit, pedicure or the gift of a pet grooming or housekeeping, you are sure to bring a smile to the recipient.
If none of those suggestions strike your fancy, how about the gifts for your loved one’s car? Maybe an oil change, new windshield wipers and/or a run through the local detail center and car wash. As my friend Shel says, “A clean car runs better!”
Do you have some creative gift-giving ideas of your own? Please send them to me at neena@signaltribune.com; I will be happy to share them with our readers in the next week or so.
