46 weeks to Christmas – far, far away yet right around the corner.

First suggestion on this adventure: Find a small assignment notebook that will fit easily into a purse or diaper bag. If you are a wallet carrier then a sturdy piece of notebook paper folded to fit. 

Purpose:  to help you pay attention to gift suggestions from your nearest & dearest. We are *not* talking about the commercial cues from a Saturday morning cartoon session or a walk down the toy aisle. (Toy not being limited to children, grown men & women have their own toy aisles though the overhead signs are labeled auto accessories or jewelery.) This is to jot down those off the cuff comments that occur in everyday life.

Adult comments usually sound like this:

1. “One of these days I’m going to get a _____________”
2. “know what would make this job easier?”
3. “Do we have any ________ seems like we are always out of ___________”

For children observe what they seem to play with all the time when left to their own devices. If they are involved in a regular activity there may be a comment about needing a bigger bag or some piece of equipment being broken or too small. It is very easy to overlook the inconvenience of a too small bag or a broken piece of equipment or zipper but the need still exists.

Remember its the off the cuff, just mentioned in passing, easily forgotten comments that are important. Write the item or comment down! Some wants/needs are mentioned on a daily basis but others are few & far between both are good gift ideas but the few & far between are better. Unfortunately those impromptu suggestions are the most easily forgotten at Christmas gift buying time.

Here is an example from my own life a few years back:

Grits had been taking dance lessons since she was five years old and had accumulated quite a collection of all the junk that goes with being a dancer. She had a bag that held all her stuff – mostly. Her bag zipped closed – mostly. That mostly occasionally caused her some severe frustration. She would run in from the bus, grab her bag, run for the car and the zipper would pop. Adding pointe shoes meant the bag had to be carefully packed to include everything or unpacked/repacked nightly. Nothing hard or difficult, not especially time consuming but annoying on a regular basis.

One day I heard and also listened to the off the cuff comment about needing a bigger bag. I knew it was small but never realized what an annoyance that bag had become. Or how much easier something as simple as a bigger bag would make her life. Guess what was under the tree that year?

The new bag was a huge success. Grits never expected a new bag - it wasn’t needed, the old was just a minor inconvenience, it wasn’t on her Christmas list. The bag she received was big enough for her to be zipped up inside.  Fyah zipped her in to prove it could be done. Despite the overly large size, that bag held all her dance junk for the rest of her dancing career.

Got a notebook?

Next week’s is begins some of my online finds for cool homemade Christmas gifts.

Gotta take care of those gifts…Sooner or Later…