Two geeky girls’ guide to the first year of motherhood.

Three easy steps to a super cheap (FREE + GREEN) thoughtful gift:

1. THINK about your friend. Really think about them. What does she need? More time away from the kids? Time to run a great trail? An excuse to try the newest brunch place?
2. Write out some fun ideas. Use your markers or different fonts to make it look interesting.
3. Pack it up. Pretty envelope. Tin can. Decorative box. Ribbon around a scroll. Glitter on a toilet paper tube. Whatever you have on hand.

This goes along well with our holiday mantra of more fun and less clutter. Ok, I just made that up but it sounds like us.

You can do this for a friend — capture ideas for her to do on her own or things for the two of you to enjoy together.

Or, give this gift to a couple. Last year, in lieu of holiday gifts, Whitney and her husband and me and my husband exchanged the gift of seven different date concepts. It was funny to see where we overlapped. Having written a book together, we were not surprised to discover that our styles of presentation were very similar.

Alec and I have two more of the assigned dates to cross off our list (and we win because Whitney and Ryan have done only one!). If we can only squeeze in a date-night at the rock climbing gym on Friday night, then find a day when the kids are in preschool and we have no work, we might just get the daytime cycling date in as well. 14 days left…

We keep our list on our fridge so we never run out of ideas for dates. You can see our scribbles from which ones we crossed off already. This was indeed a gift that lasted all year long.

Related post: Babies should wish for non-material possessions

Videotape or tape record baby laughing or babbling. These early sounds will delight you later and will also be thrilling for baby’s grandparents, aunts, and uncles. Ok, thrilling is an overstatement.

Whitney went all high-tech to record this one of Scarlett “reading” the Boynton classics but you could use a simple recorder or a 10-second video clip from a digital camera too.

Scarlett translates Boynton into Martian

We have been doing a simple advent calendar with Julian, each numbered door revealing a piece of chocolate after dinner. The excitement is building as the doors are ripped off and Santa’s Hannukah Harry’s arrival grows closer. He has been tuned in to which day of the week it is for a while now, but hearing him say, “is it the 9th?” really amuses me.

Another way to countdown days - one that could be applied to any event your family is anticipating - is with a paper chain. Use seasonal wrapping paper or magazine pages. Cut strips, loop them into circles, and tape or staple. I’m hoping you don’t need more of a tutorial than that.

I suggest this today, because it is maybe a little late to get an advent calendar and have to gobble up 10 pieces of chocolate for every day in December you’ve missed (although I did see them at Target for $0.99 and the pieces of chocolate are really small…) With a paper chain, you could count days until Hannukah, until Uncle Jake arrives, until big boy underwear have been earned, until the driver’s license has been granted, etc.

Gift idea: Want to delegate administration of this task to Grandma? Buy a kit from Big Day Chains.

Designer Kristin Adams Litke makes them for wedding day countdowns, birthday countdowns, and baby arrival countdowns. Anyone on your list with a planned c-section in their future? Consider the baby version.