Christmas in July: Brainstorm Gifts

Now, if you fit into the 'other' category and you don't think you have an easily recognizable talent I think you might find this less of a challenge than you thought. I'm going to suggest making coupons for your friends. Gifts really should say something about them - not about you. So, the fact that you might be talent-less is immaterial. Your friends or relatives may need something and you may be able to meet that need. Your job is to figure out how to do this.

Take the next couple of weeks and months to watch or listen or carefully read their emails to see what they most need. Does an elderly friend need someone to take them to the mall once a week? If so, is it something you could do occasionally? Do you have a young mom on your block who needs a few minutes a week to walk to the school to pick up her older child during the younger child's naptime? If so, could you spend 20 minutes holding down the fort?

Maybe you can't take care of everyone forever, but you can help out occasionally. Make up some coupons. Mother's Helper Once a Month. Trip to the Mall. And my personal favorite, Date Night Babysitter. There is no greater gift to someone in need than meeting their need without them having to ask. People will be more touched that you recognized the real need in their lives than if you gave them another blue sweater with cats on it like Aunt Mary. I promise you and it's the best Cool Idea I know of.

1 comments:

August 2, 2009 at 10:22 PM hope101 (Jan) said...

I'm passionate about buying local. You know that saying "if not you, then who"? We can't expect these businesses to make it if we don't patronize them ourselves. Also, if you're even remotely interested in the environment, it's an important piece of the puzzle.

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