Once upon a time, an extended family member drew my name for Christmas and immediately asked me what I wanted from them. Not thinking much about it, I told them I’d let them know. Weeks later, after forgetting all about that conversation, they reminded me that if I wanted something from them for Christmas, I’d better tell them what I wanted soon, or I’d probably end up with a gift card.
I immediately felt sad, and truthfully, a bit worthless. Not only did this person, who should have known me well enough to pick a gift for me, expect me to do the work choosing my own gift, but they really were not concerned about making me feel special at all. I finally told them about something I’d had my eye on for a while, and that’s exactly what they gave me.
When I opened my gift from them that year, there was no surprise. There was no excitement. There was no special feeling of being loved, thought of, or even cared for. There was just a gift. A gift that I had chosen for myself. A gift that I knew I would like. Just a gift. A simple, beautiful thing. And to make matters worse, they had forgotten a portion of it, so they handed me a wad of green bills and told me to buy myself what they had forgotten to get me. Lovely, right?
When Did We Stop Caring About Making Others Feel Special
When I was little, I didn’t understand the holiday season much at all beyond celebrating Jesus’ birth and getting presents.
However, as I’ve grown older and the responsibility of finding the perfect gifts for friends and family now lands on my shoulders, I realize that, many times, something is missing when it comes to gift-giving and gift-receiving.
I will be forever grateful that the above story is true and that it really did happen to me. It has forever changed my perspective on giving and receiving gifts.
You see, there was no thought put into my gift that year, other than from me that is. This person simply went through the motions they were expected to go through because they had drawn my name. I was just another name to check off of their list.
When did we stop caring about making other people feel special?
That’s the whole reason behind giving a gift anyway. To say, “Thank you.” To say, “I care about you. You are special to me.” To say, “I’m thinking of you!”
This “special feeling” is not only missing for the person receiving the gift, but it’s missing for the person giving the gift too.
We’re Too Busy Checking Off Our Lists
I’m guilty of it too. Truly I am. I’ve pushed that “special feeling” to the back-burner more times than I can count to get what I needed to do done.
You know what I’m talking about mama. There’s the gift lists to write out, the Black Friday lines to stand in, the Amazon wishlist to share, the endless recipes to make, cards to send, stores to visit, photos to take, decorations to hang… no wonder the holidays whiz by and often times we’re left a bit sad afterward.
I think it’s because we focus on the to-do list more than making others feel special.
Thankfully, there’s a solution to this problem.
What We Need Is To Slow Down And Really Consider The Other Person
How about we purpose to do things differently this year? I’m not saying we should get rid of the to-do list or that we can’t ask for help when trying to find a great gift for someone. All I’m saying is instead of buying someone a gift because they’re on your list and you “have to,” let’s infuse some thought, good intentions, and love into what we give them.
How To Make This Holiday Season Special
So what do you say, mama? Do you want to change your busy holiday ways? Even just a little?
Here are some ways you can make this holiday season special.
- You can start by paying close attention to the things friends and family are talking about. You’ll learn their likes, wants, and needs, and then you meet one of those areas.
- You can also make them feel special in the way you present a gift to them. You could wrap it in special wrapping paper and include a heartfelt note along with it.
- Maybe it’s not even a gift at all. Maybe it’s time together and memories to be made with each other. Think “investment.”
- And, of course, I can’t forget my favorite way to make someone feel special! How about making a handmade gift with them in mind?
It’s Time For A Handmade Holiday
This year, my friend Becca Piastrelli from TheDabblist.com, has created a special seasonal course called A Handmade Holiday to help busy mamas, just like you and I, make gift-giving and gift-receiving something special for ourselves and our loved ones. Not only will it help you slow down during the busy holidays, but it will help you be mindful of what this season is all about, and it will give you some awesome ideas for creating handmade gifts for others. And no, these gifts aren’t just skin care recipes!
Let me tell you a bit more about it below!
A Handmade Holiday is a complete holiday gifting solution that not only simplifies your gift-giving frustrations but also provides YOU with all the elements to have a holiday season filled with creativity, meaning, and blissful, deep sighs.
By working with your hands to make beautiful, artisan-quality gifts for your loved ones, you’re giving yourself the gift of creativity and play while, at the same time, crossing gifts off your holiday to-do list and providing others with fun, meaningful gifts.
And here’s the best part about this year’s program: The Holiday Gift Making Kit.
Rather than adding to your to-dos by sending you shopping, you can sit back, relax, and wait for the postman to deliver some special gift-making goodies to your doorstep!
With the Gift Making Kit, Becca’s done all the hard work sourcing quality ingredients for you for 3 of her most popular gifts – Beeswax Candles, Moisturizing Lip Balm, and a Soothing Lavender Rose Soak. You can check out what I made with this kit below.
So, if you want to make this holiday season special for you and your loved ones, CLICK HERE to learn more about how this great online course can help.
Plus, TODAY ONLY, you can get special early bird pricing for both the program and the Gift Making Kit! (Early bird pricing ends at midnight, November, 9th, 2015.)
Those homemade gift sets are beautiful!
You know, I realize that some people have strong feelings about having someone choose their own gift. Of course if everyone made beautiful homemade cosmetics like you, getting a surprise gift wouldn’t be an issue. But in our consumerist society, not everyone has the time or inclination for diy.
The flipside of this issue is that I’ve often received gifts from extended family that I neither need or want. To make matters worse, sometimes it’s cheap Chinese sweatshop stuff. I feel bad that they wasted their money! I have to smile and thank them and then regift or donate whatever it is. At least if you tell someone what you want you can be assured you aren’t just wasting their money on something you now have to give away!
I hear what you’re saying Leah, and I don’t really have any problems with people giving gift suggestions. My point was that if someone doesn’t care to know what you like, as in they’re just getting you something because they have to, then that’s kind of a bummer. It doesn’t make you feel special, and the whole point of giving people gifts is because they’re special to you. I want to teach my kids to put thought into what they’re getting someone… even when we’re buying them something from the store and not making it ourselves. The same is true for the cheap gifts. Most times they’re just filler gifts without much meaning. If that’s all someone can afford and they put thought into it, that’s perfectly fine. I’m only pointing out that we should try to put more meaning and intention into the things we make, buy, and give others during the holidays. I do realize that handmade gifts are not for everyone. We don’t do all handmade gifts, but it sure does make it more fun and thoughtful. Thanks for your comment!
Oh, ok, thanks for clarifying. I agree.