gifts — 2011 — The 21st Century Matriarch

What do you celebrate in December?

In my family there seem to be more than the normal events to celebrate with the addition of a birthday and an anniversary. The ideas below are more generic –the ‘winter holiday’ celebrations:

Take a winter walk. This is just the beginning of winter so there is a lot to notice in the natural world transitioning from fall. Winter is the starkest time of year but there is a beauty in clear cold days – crystalline nights.
Holiday light displays are popular in the December evenings. I enjoy walking through the one at a local garden, rather than driving. There is wonderful hot chocolate with whipped cream on top at the nature center too – a perfect treat on cold nights.
Finding or making the perfect gifts is the prelude to witnessing the delight of recipients.
Baking favorite foods is part of the tradition in almost every family. My particular favorites are oatmeal raisin cookies and red cake (plain or with whipped cream or with cream cheese icing).
Gearing up for gatherings of friends and family with lots of party mix and veggie trays always ready is another happy prospect.
Cards/letters of seasonal greetings are sent out early in the month and then arrive from others.

December is the special month to savor all the good things that happened over the past 12 months and to fill your thinking with optimism for the New Year to come.

Extra special gifts require some extra thought …to make it perfectly tailored for the recipient. The ideas listed below are intended to get your creative juices started! Remember – sometimes the most memorable gifts are not the ones that cost a lot of $.

An IOU (on pretty paper) for something they would enjoy or need like: a home cooked meal (maybe 3 or 4 of them), 4 hours of babysitting, a trip to a local attraction like a garden or museum with transportation provided, 3 months of pet food (delivered a month at a time), or rototilling of the garden come spring.
A homemade favorite dessert.
A homemade favorite cookie dough for the freezer….to bake and enjoy long after the holidays are done.
A favorite blend of coffee or tea or hot chocolate…or their favorite special creamers.
A box of microwave popcorn wrapped with that movie on DVD they asked for
An exact replacement for a favorite T-shirt or pair of socks that wore out sometime during the year.
A thumb drive of family pictures (assuming they have a computer or frame to view the pictures).
If the person is a reader and you have access to a used book store where there are a large number of books they would enjoy – buy a number of books and wrap them each individually in different kinds of paper…newspaper, glossy magazine pages, etc.
If they are a person that enjoys personal notes – send one daily – either email or the old fashioned snail mail….that lets them know you are thinking about them every day. Do it for a month or more around the holiday. If snail mail is used, there are lots of small flat ‘presents’ that can be slipped into the envelope – a well-wrapped tea bag, a pressed flower, a paper snow flake or heart, a dried leaf, a recipe card.
Create a collection of digital images that the recipient would find soothing or visually appealing that you can load on their computer with instructions on how to play the ‘slide show.’ Natural images are my favorites - botanical prints, bubbling/rippling water, feathers, wood grain.