The Grannies' Holiday Shopping Guide

The Grannies' Holiday Shopping Guide

Dear Grandmothers: Our holiday shopping issue of the Observer will be coming out soon, and we can hear our readers asking, “eek, what can I get my kid/grandkid who has everything?” or, given the economy, “what can I get my kid that will be valuable but doesn’t cost a lot?”  What do the Grandmothers suggest? – Erin Randelhew

Dear Erin and all you Observer readers,

Remember “Little House on the Prairie,” when the Ingalls girls were thrilled to receive an orange and a peppermint stick in their stockings, and nothing more? We Grandmothers aren’t quite THAT old, but when it comes to The Holidays, we are that old-fashioned. We would love to see modest gift exchanges become the norm again, as opposed to mounds and mounds of gifts under an over-decorated tree, or, worse yet, unhappy children who had hoped for mounds and mounds of gifts under the tree but were disappointed.

So, if you are quite satisfied with your holiday celebrations as they’ve always been, with excessive gifts followed by excessive credit card bills, you can stop reading right now. But if, on the other hand, you’d like some ideas for some less costly but meaningful gifts for your children, grandchildren, and nieces and nephews, read on. 

For starters, as soon as you’ve put this Observer down, call the family together and tell them that you would like The Holidays 2009 to be different. Talk about these hard times we’re in, and how you don’t plan on the abundant giving of past years, but that there are ways to make The Holidays just as much fun as before. This announcement may not meet with everyone’s enthusiastic approval. But at least you will have warned them. Here are some ideas you might start with as you make your goal more creative and less costly gift-giving:

For the younger ones: “pretend boxes.”  These would be boxes containing props for some of their favorite imaginative play games. The School Box would contain a small chalk board, chalk, paper, pencils, notebooks; the Hairdresser Box would hold combs, brushes, empty plastic bottles, an old hairdryer with the cord removed; the Office Box would be full of office supplies; the Grocery Store box would hold empty food containers, a play cash register, fake money; even the very littlest ones would love pretending to be mommy with an old purse containing a set of unused keys, a discarded wallet, a nonfunctioning cellphone etc.  You get the idea. 

For older ones, art boxes: a box containing washable tempera paints, a paint smock, plenty of paint brushes of different sizes; or a box for the collage artist complete with construction paper, scissors, glue, stickers, pipe cleaners, wall paper samples, old catalogues; or a tool box containing real tools; or a cooking box holding real measuring cups and spoons, a cookbook, and maybe a cake mix or two; or a jewelry-making box full of interesting beads and plastic thread.

For kids who are too old (or consider themselves too old) for all of the above, memberships in museums that they might enjoy, gift cards for their local movie theater, subscriptions to magazines that appeal to their current hobbies and interests.  Better yet, a hand-lettered certificate promising a shopping spree, or a meal and a movie, or some other outing that you can enjoy together. 

All of the above can be made more special by personalizing them. And almost all the needed items can be purchased at the dollar store, or found by scrounging around the house, or browsing the gift card rack at a local Collinwood shop. Just add your special touch – the child’s name written in sequins on a dress-up box, for example, or in cut-outs of cars on the auto mechanics box – and you’ve created a one-of-a-kind gift.

I’m sure we don’t need to add that books are always appropriate, for any age. Also games. Second hand shops and used book stores are great places to shop for these; just make sure all the pieces and pages are still there. Other inexpensive gifts, some of which you could make yourself, are beanbags, nesting blocks, jump ropes, bubbles, sewing cards, dolls, playing cards, and small cars. 

Here’s what the Grandmothers would have you ask about any gift you are considering: 1) does it encourage creativity? 2) is it reasonably priced or better yet, free? 3) does it show that the giver has considered the age and interests of the child it’s being given to?

And for our big finale, we suggest that you consider asking your children/grandchildren if they would like to donate some – but not all – of the money you might have spent on a gift for them to a charity of their choice. Last Christmas, one of the Grandmothers gave to each of her teen-aged grandchildren some money and a blank notebook for recording the names of the worthy causes they decided the money should go to, and the reasons for their choices. She has to admit that the grandchildren did not seem nearly as thrilled with this idea as Laura and Mary were with their oranges. But it certainly made her feel better than she would have had she merely added to the huge pile of gifts under that overburdened tree. 

And maybe, now that they’re used to the idea, they’ll welcome it into their plans for The Holidays 2009. 

May yours be affordable and maybe even joyful!

If you have a general parenting question or would like some advice about a specific problem your child is having, please write it down and email it to us at thegrandmothers@collinwoodobserver.com."

  
Read More on The Grandmothers
Volume 1, Issue 6, Posted 10:02 AM, 12.10.2009