We really did this when we had infants. If you have a little baby (or nutty toddler), permission granted to do the same!
Three easy steps to a super cheap (FREE + GREEN) thoughtful gift:
- 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?
- Write out some fun ideas. Use your markers or different fonts to make it look interesting.
- 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. A few years back, 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 still have two more of the assigned dates to cross off our list (and we won because as far as I know, 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.
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
