This is a video from my YouTube channel, Jack’s World.
This video is a special Christmas message, as well as a celebration for how far this channel has come in 2023. Enjoy!
Tag Archives: gift giving
Some Quick Gift Advice For Holiday Shopping
The holiday season is officially here!
Saying that should no longer earn any whining or complaints about Christmas displays going up too early. It’s December now. All our Thanksgiving leftovers have since gone bad. It’s perfectly acceptable to fully embrace the spirit and aesthetics of the season. Even if you don’t celebrate Christmas, at least acknowledge that it’s now entirely appropriate to engage in any number of holiday activities.
I know that’s easy for a guy like me to say. I’ve said before that I take Christmas more seriously than most. I’m the kind of guy who has his Christmas tree up and decorated by Halloween. I’m also the kind of guy who tries to finish all his Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving. As I write this, I am done. I’ve completed my shopping and most of those gifts are already wrapped.
I understand this makes me an outlier or an overachiever. I also understand that while many people do have their decorations up, their Christmas shopping may not be over or even started.
Seriously, if you haven’t started your Christmas shopping yet, you’re bound to make it more stressful in the long run. It’s getting to a point where you might be pushing it with respect to finding that special gift for that special someone.
But what exactly goes into a great gift? That’s actually something I’ve learned and refined over the years. I’ve talked about it before, but I feel I should expand on it a bit. I notice that, as I’ve gotten older, it gets a bit harder to buy meaningful Christmas gifts. At a certain age, your family and loved ones really don’t need much from you anymore, aside from your presence and your love during this special time of year.
I know it sounds cheesy, but make no mistake. That really does matter. Just being there and being present on Christmas is often the best gift you can give for some people. That’s all well and good. But like I said, I try to overachieve on the holidays. That means I’ll still try to get that special someone a gift. Sometimes, it’s easy because my friends and family will actually provide a list for me. I always appreciate that and I encourage others to make it easier for their loved ones in that regard.
Granted, sometimes I do have to bug my family and friends for that list, but it’s often worthwhile. You just have to be patient with them, especially the ones with kids. Sometimes, you will end up buying something that the kids love, but the parents hate. As someone with multiple nieces and nephews, I can confirm this conflict. I can also confirm it often makes for great holiday memories.
That being said, I do have some new advice to share for those still struggling to complete their Christmas shopping. Since we’re getting into the heart of the holiday season, I think the time is right to share this. So, here are a few extra tips that I hope will help.
Tip #1: Bigger might not always be better, but sentimental is always better. Don’t just get a gift you think someone wants. Make sure there’s some sentimental aspect behind it, be it a personal photo or something that conjures a memory. An inexpensive baseball glove can sometimes become a kid’s most prized possession if he grows to love baseball.
Tip #2: Customize a gift if possible. You can buy all types of earrings, bracelets, and necklaces. Most do little to stand out. But one that happens to be engraved with a quote from a loved one or an image of a friend can make it all the more valuable. Even a cheap keychain can be made special if it has a picture of someone’s first child.
Tip #3: Consider the fun factor. For kids and adults alike, don’t just think about how expensive or popular a gift is. Consider how much fun you’ll have with it. A toy is only as great as the fun it conjures. The same goes for adults. A book is all well and good, but a loved one might have a lot more fun with a deck of Cards Against Humanity.
Tip #4: A gift can also be an experience. Some people don’t care much for material gifts. They’re more inclined to embrace experiences. That’s why concert tickets or tickets to a sporting event can be very memorable. One year, a relative of mine got tickets to opening day for the baseball season. He still ranks it as one of his favorite gifts of all time. You can even get creative with the presentation. Put the gift in a big box and weigh it down with rocks. That’ll be both surprising and memorable.
Tip #5: Supplement a big gift with something smaller. Sometimes, a big gift is definitely the way to go. But it works even better if you can supplement it somehow. If you buy a pitching net for a kid, add in some new baseballs or a new glove. Let the gifts have both a personal touch and an overall experience. It shows you’re willing to put in the extra effort.
Tip #6: Use every opportunity for a surprise. You can get someone a mundane gift that they asked for. That’s all well and good. But if you see an opportunity to surprise them in a good way, take it. I know someone who once got a book he asked for, but there were concert tickets in the cover. Their reaction was just priceless.
These are just a few tips from a veteran holiday enthusiast. I hope they help you in your holiday shopping this year and in future years. Take it from me. A great gift can have an impact that goes far beyond the holidays.
Happy Holidays and Happy Holiday Shopping!
Filed under Current Events
Attention All Holiday Shoppers: Do Your Shopping EARLY This Year!
I love Christmas.
I love the holidays.
It has always been one of my favorite times of the year. Ask anyone who knows me and they’ll tell you the same. I take Christmas very seriously. I go out of my way to buy extra gifts and I often spend way more than I intend. However, I gladly pay that price because that’s how much I love the holidays.
Last year was a real challenge for obvious reasons. This year promises to be a bit more traditional and we should welcome that.
However, this year brings with it some new challenges, especially for those who just love waiting until the last minute to do their Christmas shopping. We all know people like that. You yourself might be like that. I understand that not everyone is inclined to be that proactive. There’s nothing wrong with that. I don’t think less of anyone who has a procrastination problem around the holidays.
That being said, you should make an exception this year. If ever there was a year in which you got your shopping done early, make it this one. The ongoing supply chain issues that we’ve all heard about will have an impact, regardless of whether you do your shopping online or go to a store.
This is not speculation.
This is a warning.
If you want to make sure you get all the gifts you hope to give, either for yourself or your loved ones, do your shopping now.
Don’t wait until Thanksgiving.
Don’t wait until the first week of December.
Do it now.
You family will thank you and your holiday experience will be less stressful overall.
Filed under Current Events, Jack Fisher's Insights
Recounting A Special Christmas Gift (And What Made It So Special)
The holidays are a special time of year. Even in a year like this, we should appreciate that. If anything, a year like this should help us appreciate it even more. Even if we can’t have big Christmas parties or shop in crowded malls, the spirit of the season is something to cherish.
I certainly have a fondness for the holidays. I’ve made no secret of that. I think a year like this has inspired me to get more personal and share more holiday joy than usual. If it helps distract us from how awful 2020 has been, I’m happy to contribute.
To that end, I’d like to share a personal holiday memory that is near and dear to my heart. It’s also fairly recent, so I won’t rely on the kind of child-like excitement that comes with getting your first bike or video game console.
That being said, I still rank my first Super Nintendo as the greatest Christmas gift of all time, but that’s a story for another time.
This particular story happened just last year, long before we knew 2020 was going to crush our spirits. It involves a very special gift that I received from my brother. I’m not sure if he reads this site regularly, but he knows better than anyone why this gift was so special.
To set the stage, I need to explain some of my family’s holiday traditions. Ours aren’t that unique. Me, my siblings, and their significant others all gather at my parents’ house. We all bring our gifts, put them under the tree, and make opening them this big shared event. It’s simple, but it hits all the right holiday tones.
Traditionally, my family knows what to get me long before Christmas. They know me well and they know my tastes are simple. Get me some comic books, some superhero apparel, or something related to football and I’m a happy guy. I like to think I’m fairly easy to shop for.
That didn’t stop my brother from going the extra mile this year. As it just so happened, his was one of the last gifts I’d opened. At that point, I was already a happy guy, swimming in new comics and clothes. This last gift, however, caught me by surprise in a very personal way.
I still remember holding the seemingly innocuous box. It didn’t look like anything elaborate. For all I knew, it was another comic or Blu-Ray movie. I just casually opened it. That’s when I saw it.
It was a framed picture.
Specifically, it was a picture of my grandmother, who had passed away just a few years ago.
Seeing her again, even in a picture, hit me in a way I didn’t respect. Even though she had been gone for years at that point, seeing her again reminded me of how much I missed her. It was somewhat jarring, but in a good way.
I just remember taking the picture out, holding it up, and looking at it for a good long while. I might have disrupted the overall jolly spirit of the room, but I think they understood why.
My brother, along with the rest of my family, knew how close I was to my grandmother. They also knew how hard it was for her during her final years. I visited her regularly and I watched as her health declined. It wasn’t easy, to say the least.
It helped that this particular picture that my brother framed was taken shortly before she fell ill. She was still smiling, as lively as any woman in her 90s could be at that point. Seeing that look on her face, even if it was just in a picture, was enough to make my heart skip a beat.
I almost broke down, but I managed to keep it together. It helped that my older sister came over and hugged me. She knew how much my grandmother meant to me, as well. It was a powerful moment, but one that made both that gift and that Christmas extra special.
That picture my brother gave me still has a prominent place on my shelf. As I write this, it’s right behind me. It still brings me comfort to this day, seeing my grandmother in that picture. For that, I’ll always be grateful to her and to my brother for giving me such a special gift.
Bro, if you’re reading this, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you for making that Christmas special and for going the extra mile in giving me that gift. You’re the best!
Filed under Jack Fisher's Insights, real stories, Uplifting Stories
Why We Should End The Taboo About Giving Gift Cards
The holidays are here and we should not let the general awfulness of 2020 prevent us from celebrating. I just want to put that out there because I feel like it needs to be said. I understand we can’t celebrate the holidays like we have in previous years due to a once-in-a-century pandemic, but we should still celebrate.
If nothing else, we should celebrate having made it through this year. Regardless of your religious affiliation or traditions, that’s an accomplishment in and of itself.
I love Christmas and the holidays. I fully intend to celebrate in my own festive way with friends and family. I already have my Christmas tree up and I’ve had it up since the first week of November. However, this year may require certain adjustments from my usual holiday activities, but I’m willing to do that for the spirit of the season.
As I and many others do so, I think this is a good time to re-evaluate certain holiday taboos. I’m not referring to any of those associated with religion. There’s a time and a place to talk about that exceedingly touchy issue. This is not one of them.
This particular taboo has to do with gift-giving, which happens to be the holiday tradition I take most seriously. Ask any member of my family, from my parents to my siblings to even my former roommates, and they’ll say the same thing. I go the extra mile when it comes to Christmas presents.
I’ll spend more money than I should.
I’ll buy more gifts than I should.
I’ll put in extra time, thought, and effort.
I’ll often pester people in asking them what they want, making a point to tell me before Thanksgiving.
Getting Christmas gifts for my loved ones is a big deal to me. I take pride in my ability to go the extra mile and make my family feel extra loved during the holidays. It brings me a special kind of joy.
As a result of that approach to holiday gift giving, I tend to avoid the kinds of low-effort gifts that send the wrong message. That usually means I try not to get gift cards or cash for someone. To me, that’s just too impersonal. It implies I didn’t make the effort to show how much I love and care for the person I’m giving this gift to.
I’m not alone in that feeling. Gifting gift cards does have a bit of a taboo to it, even as more and more people shop online. If you were to give your lover a gift card for your anniversary, chances are they’ll be somewhat disappointed. It almost seems like a cop-out, as though you don’t trust yourself to get a meaningful gift for someone.
I understand that sentiment to some extent, but I also think that taboo is waning somewhat. After a year like 2020, when millions of people were stuck in lockdowns for weeks on end, I think it’s waning even faster. Honestly, I think that’s a good thing and we should use this holiday season as an opportunity.
For many people, including myself, it’s just not going to be possible to travel for the holiday. The big holiday gatherings that so many of us treasure just can’t be done safely during a global pandemic. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t exchange gifts. We just have to be smart about it and gift cards could help.
These days, gift cards are a lot more useful than the traditional gift certificates of the past. I’m old enough to remember how limited they were. Before the days of Amazon, getting a gift certificate usually meant getting something for a specific store. You could only use it at that store and it usually had an expiration date.
In some instances, it worked out. If you knew someone went to a place like Best Buy or Wal-Mart all the time, a gift certificate could certainly be useful. It was still considered very impersonal. It wasn’t the kind of gift you gave someone for Christmas. It was usually a birthday gift and even then, it was often a gift of last resort.
Now, in an era where you can buy pretty much anything online, the time is right to flip the script. If you know someone has an Amazon account that they frequently use, then why should a $50 Amazon gift card be taboo? Why should it be a gift of last resort that requires an excuse?
Love them or hate them, you can buy a lot from Amazon with a $50 gift card. You could buy a movie you don’t have, both digital or Blu-ray. You could buy a video game, although not the latest releases. You could buy multiple books and be certain they’re books you want to read and haven’t read already.
From a practical standpoint, that gift card is very useful and there’s a near-certain chance it’ll get used. You can’t always say that about a traditional gift. I’ve gotten people gifts that I was certain they’d use frequently, but they never made it out of the box. That’s the chance you take with any gift exchange.
It’s still a great feeling when you get someone that perfect gift. I can attest to the joy that comes with that accomplishment. I also don’t deny that the perfect gift is not always possible. I’ve got plenty of relatives and family members who are hard to shop for and often tell me they really don’t need anything from me.
However, I know that even those hard-to-shop-for relatives would get use out of an Amazon gift card. That may not make it the perfect gift, but it would still be incredibly useful and sometimes that’s the most you can hope for.
In a year like this, when traveling and shopping have been incredibly restricted by the pandemic, I think a simple Amazon gift card should be acceptable. Even if you don’t like giving or receiving gift cards, this is the year when we should all be willing to make an exception.
That doesn’t mean it has to be impersonal. You can still make giving someone a gift card feel festive.
One year, I got an $50 Amazon gift card for a relative. However, I didn’t just stick it in an envelope or bag. I actually put it in a standard 14 by 9.5 box and wrapped it in shiny wrapping paper. To hide the contents, I even put some washers inside to make it heavier. The relative loved it and I know they used that gift card.
You could either do that or find some other festive way to present it. You don’t have to be overly elaborate with wrapping paper or packaging. You just have to show a little extra effort, which will go a long way towards making a gift card feeling less impersonal.
In the future, long after this pandemic has passed, we may get to a point where that kind of gift-giving is no longer taboo. It may even be the norm, if only to ensure that your loved ones get something useful on the holidays.
There will always be a place for more personal gift-giving. I don’t doubt that. However, I think certain practices and taboos need tweaking. We already live in a new era where shopping from home has never been easier. Let’s use that as a way to supplement our holiday spirits moving forward. After a year like 2020, we’ll need it.
Filed under Current Events, rants
Christmas As A Kid Vs. Christmas As An Adult
As adults, we tend to see things very differently than we did when we were kids. There are exceptions, of course. I’m almost certain the look on my face when I re-watch an old episode of “X-Men” or “Spider-Man” is the same now as it was when I was a kid. For most things, though, our thinking and our perceptions evolve.
This tends to manifest a lot during the holidays. As kids, we know why we loved Christmas. We got presents. We got over a week off of school. We got to hang out with friends, show off our toys, and eat whatever sugary treats our parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and neighbors put in front of us. What’s not to love?
As adults, it changes considerably and the extent of that change differs from person to person. I know people who tend to see the holidays as a chore as they get older. They rarely look happy or festive. They just look stressed out and constantly complain about how hard it is to find parking at the mall in the weeks after Thanksgiving. Honestly, I feel bad for these people.
For others, Christmas becomes more a formality. It’s like Thanksgiving, but with more decorations, presents, and eggnog. It means having a few days off work and catching up with family, especially if you didn’t get to over Thanksgiving. I can appreciate this too. Most of the people I know tend to see Christmas this way and I think it’s perfectly appropriate.
For me, however, Christmas has taken on a whole new appeal since I became an adult. While I don’t see it with the kind of wide-eyed excitement I did when I was a kid, I still get giddier about it than most people my age. I know this because other people, including close friends and relatives, have told me this directly.
That appeal still took a while to evolve. When I was in college, there was only so much I could do for the holidays. I was flat broke, in debt, and still dependent on my parents for all things festive. For several years, I had to do most of my shopping in the campus mall. While my family and friends never gave me a hard time about it, it did dampen my holiday spirit for a time.
Then, after I graduated, started making my own money, and moved out of my parents’ house, things changed. Suddenly, I could celebrate Christmas in my own unique way. For the first couple years, I didn’t even know what that entailed. Once I got going, though, I learned quickly.
I bought my own Christmas tree. I put it up in mid-November and put way more lights on it than my parents ever did. I started wearing ugly Christmas sweaters and novelty ties. I began shopping for Christmas gifts with more money than a broke college student. They were exciting times, to say the least. In the process, I learned something important about Christmas as an adult.
As a kid, Christmas is all about getting.
As an adult, Christmas is all about giving and giving with heart.
I know that sounds corny. I’m sure that will evoke some groans among those who love complaining about how Christmas has become so commercialized and materialistic. I feel bad for those people too because I couldn’t disagree more.
As kids, it makes sense for Christmas to be about getting stuff. We’re kids. We can’t get our own stuff yet. We can’t work, earn money, and celebrate on our own accord. We’re dependent on our parents and our family. Say what you will about that dynamic, those are the logistics we have to deal with.
Once we become adults, we learn what it means to be part of a community and a family. In that community, we can’t just obsess over getting stuff and not just so we don’t become a villain in a Charles Dickens novel. In the adult world, to get the things we want, be it love or a new iPad, we need to cooperate and connect with one another.
Sometimes it’s with friends.
Sometimes it’s with total strangers.
Sometimes it’s with co-workers, peers, or employers.
One way or another, we have to give ourselves to others in order to get what we want, regardless of what day of the year it might be. That’s what it means to be in a family, a community, and a society. It doesn’t always involve giving something material or wrapped in colorful wrapping paper. More often, it means giving our time, our attention, our affection, and our passion.
It may sound like a chore for some, but it’s very rewarding in amazing ways that science has documented. We are a social species, after all. Socializing, forming bonds, and making others around us happy makes us happy, in turn. Around the holidays, we just add lights, food, family, and festivities to the mix, which tends to amplify the effect.
I can attest to the power of this effect. As an adult, some of my favorite Christmas memories from the reactions I see on the faces of friends and loved ones when they open my gifts. The joy I see when I manage to get them something that they love is a true sight to behold. Given how I take gift-giving more seriously than most people in my family, they know I don’t take it lightly.
Those efforts help make the holidays more rewarding for me and my family. For me, it’s not about getting presents. I still enjoy that part as much as anyone who enjoys getting gifts, but I’ve become more and more fond of the giving part of the holidays. By making it more enjoyable for my loved ones, whether it’s through a gift, a treat, or me wearing a goofy sweater, I get more enjoyment out of it as well.
Maybe my idea of Christmas will evolve again once I meet that special someone and have kids. Until then, I have a clear plan for the many Christmas festivities to come. I’ve already completed my shopping. I’m preparing treats and activities, as well. I intend to give my family everything they’ve come to love and enjoy about Christmas. I may not top the previous year, but I will make that effort. That much, I can promise.
Filed under human nature, Jack Fisher's Insights, psychology
Jack Fisher’s Guide To (Awesome) Gift Giving
It’s official now. Thanksgiving is over. The leftovers are mostly gone. That means for the next few weeks, the holiday spirit will revolve entirely around Christmas and Christmas-like festivities. There’s no more complaining about seeing holiday decorations too early. At this point, the time is right to get into the swing of things.
Whether you celebrate it or not, there’s no avoiding it. The season is upon us. We see it in commercials, holiday specials, holiday-themed food, and holiday music. By now, we’ve all probably heard Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” at least a dozen times on the radio.
Without a doubt, Christmas is my favorite time of year. It always has been. As a kid, my family always did so many wonderful things around Christmas. Some of my fondest childhood memories took place around Christmas. As an adult, I found entirely new ways to make it memorable. I’ve every intention of keeping that tradition, especially once I find the love of my life.
Chief among those traditions is my approach to gift giving. Talk to anyone in my family and they’ll tell you the same thing. When it comes to giving Christmas gifts, I go above and beyond. I’m not the kind of guy who will be cheap or thoughtless. I’m also not the kind of guy who puts in minimal effort, stuffing cheap crap into bags and slapping tags on it. I am willing to put extra time and money into holiday gift giving.
It doesn’t matter if I’m buying for my parents, my siblings, my friends, or my nieces and nephews, who are all still kids. I make it a point to give them gifts that are special, memorable, and meaningful. From what I get into how I wrap them, I make sure every gift I give on the holidays conveys a sense of love and sincerity.
For that reason, and in hopes of inspiring others to go the extra mile this Christmas, I’d like to share my unofficial guide, of sorts, to gift giving on the holidays. It’s not a science, but it’s not some wild crap shoot either. You can give awesome gifts without being rich, psychic, or possessed by the spirit of Santa Claus.
These are simple tips and tricks that I’ve learned from years of successful gift giving. I sincerely hope they help enhance your holiday experience, both with respect to giving gifts and inspiring the right spirit for this time of year.
Tip #1: Be Proactive And Listen Along The Way
This may seem too obvious, but I’ll say it anyways. When it comes to Christmas shopping, you don’t want to procrastinate. I know that’s easier said than done. I know there’s a reason why people feel inclined to procrastinate. Given everything that goes on during the holidays, people have even more excuses.
However, this is one effort for which you really want to be proactive. That means planning or at least contemplating your gift giving schedule around Halloween. It may sound too early, but trust me. It pays off.
This past year, I began browsing Amazon, Ebay, and all the usual retail outlets around mid-October, putting together lists of potential gifts for loved ones. I didn’t buy anything at that point. The idea wasn’t to buy it all at once. That’s actually not a good strategy. The best recourse, in my experience, is to have a long list of possible gifts. It’s just a matter of selecting the right gift for the right person.
You won’t always know that in mid-October. You might not even know that until mid-December. That’s where the listening part comes in. As early as Labor Day, start listening to your friends and family. Get a sense for what they want or need. You don’t have to be obvious. A little tact goes a long way.
Then, once Thanksgiving comes around and every major outlet starts throwing big sales, you already have a list of gifts to work with. Take advantage of those sales and you’ll even save money in the process. There is literally no downside to being proactive during the holidays, which is why it’s probably the most important tip I can give for the holidays.
Tip #2: Be Transparent With Loved Ones For Their Gifts (And Yours)
This tactic is a bit more subtle, but it pays off in the grand scheme of things. Sometimes, in order to glean what your loved ones want for Christmas, you have to start by letting them know what you want. Most of my friends and relatives agree. I’m very easy to shop for on the holidays.
That’s not just because I maintain an Amazon Wish List and that most of my requests involve comics, video games, and accessories that rarely cost more than $50. I’m hope and honest about what I want them to get me. I’ll go so far as to text them multiple links to items I want. When you’re that easy to shop for, people are more willing to return the favor.
This has helped a great deal with loved ones who rarely give me any clues about what to get them. Some are just difficult to shop for because they claim to not want anything. Some are genuinely sincere about that. However, they know I’m still getting them something. It can either be just some random thing I guess on or something they can help make meaningful.
Sometimes, it takes a few years to get that sort of rapport with a loved one, but it’s worth doing. Trust me. When you find that right gift for that someone and see their reaction, it makes the holidays that much more special.
Tip #3: Find Meaningful Gifts (Which Need Not Be Expensive)
This is another tip that seems logical, but is easier said than done. That whole notion that it’s the thought that counts isn’t completely wrong, but it still has some merit. Meaningful gifts are the best kind of gifts to get someone. It can have both sentimental and material value. If you really care about someone, you want this gift to send a message. Giving it meaning always helps.
Years ago, a friend of mine got his girlfriend an iPod mini. It was simple. It didn’t seem that meaningful at first. Then, I found out he engraved a quote from his girlfriend’s mother on the back. That quote made that gift more meaningful than anything else he could’ve given her. Needless to say, that was a memorable Christmas and my friend is still with that same woman.
Giving a gift greater meaning also doesn’t mean buying something expensive. Some of the most meaningful gifts I’ve ever given cost less than $20, but they were extremely personal and they sent a message to the person I gave it to. They got that message loud and clear. Our Christmas was better because of it. You can put a price on a lot of things during the holidays, but you can’t put a dollar value on genuine sentiment.
Tip #4: Know When (And How) A Gift Card Is Appropriate
This is a somewhat controversial topic among gift-giving circles. There’s this notion that if you really care about someone, you never give them a gift card. Gift cards are great for birthdays or for people you can’t always see very often, but there’s a taboo with respect to giving them as a Christmas gift. I don’t entirely agree with that.
In general, I don’t give gift cards. I treat it as a last resort, but it’s still an option. I just try to make it more than just a socking stuffer. You can give greater meaning to a gift card. One year, I included a gift card with a Christmas card that has a poem I wrote in it. That poem helped give greater value to the gift card. It made the gesture personal. It showed that I cared and it got the point across.
In the right circumstances, gift cards can totally work. When someone can’t be there for the holidays or is still new to the family, as is often the case with in laws and extended family, a gift card can go a long way towards establishing a rapport. I find that it’s a useful starting point with someone, but it shouldn’t be the endpoint.
Personally, I hope the taboo surrounding gift cards fades in the coming years. With more and more shopping being done online, I think gift cards are a lot more practical today than they were when I was a kid. The rules surrounding them may change, but for now, a gift card should remain a last resort when shopping for a loved one.
Tip #5: Make A List (And Check It More Than Twice)
That old adage about Santa having a list and checking it twice isn’t just a memorable song lyric. It’s a very practical tool for keeping track of your holiday gift giving. I maintain a list on my phone that has everyone I buy a gift for, as well as some ideas on what to get them. I constantly update that list over the course of the year and I let people know when they’re on it.
When the time comes to start buying, I use that list to track what I buy, who I buy it for, and how they react to it. This list, which can get a little bloated at times, acts as both a reference and a guide onto how I perform every Christmas. Given the size of my family and the amount of gifts I buy, it helps to keep track of who gets what. It also helps to identify a certain trend in terms of what certain loved ones like.
Over the years, those trends have helped me refine my gift giving skills for certain people. I learn their tastes. I learn what makes a gift meaningful to them. Most importantly, I keep track of it. Don’t expect to remember all these little quirks over the course of a year.
Keep a list. Check it constantly, especially around mid-November. It’ll ensure you know what to look for and who to get it for when the time comes. It also acts as a way of noting ideas that come to you for certain people. On more than one occasion, I’ll randomly see something online or in a store that I know someone would love for Christmas. I make a note of it and it pays off in the long run.
I hope this helps everyone in their gift giving efforts this season. As I write this, I’m proud to say my shopping is done. I have my presents ready and wrapped for my loved ones. I look forward to seeing their reactions on Christmas morning. I hope everyone else can enjoy a similar holiday experience.
Daily Sexy Musing: Sexy Gift Giving
This is the season of gift giving and gift exchanges. Unless you’re an inherently miserable person or the basis of Billy Bob Thorton’s best movie, it’s a wonderful time of year. I’ve always loved the holidays. As a kid, it was fun because it meant getting toys and eating candy. As an adult, it’s fun for those same reasons, but there’s also festive sex appeal that goes with it.
There have been a few points in my life where I’ve been in a relationship during the holidays. Without giving away too many intimate details, I can safely say that the spirit of gift giving did plenty to raise both my holiday spirit and that of my significant other. Sharing in gifts may seem shallow and exceedingly commercial, but it still conveys a powerful sentiment beyond the season.
It shows, among other things, just how much you care. It shows that you’re willing to put in the time and effort. All functional relationships require that kind of commitment. The holidays, when done right, can celebrate that commitment. It can even be a sexy celebration. Sometimes, being a little naughty makes everything feel extra nice in ways that only adults can appreciate.
With Christmas fast approaching, I dedicate this Daily Sexy Musing to the kinkier, more mature side of gift-giving. There will always be a place for child-like fun during this time of year, but adults can have fun too. If they can squeeze the sexy kind of fun into the mix, then that just makes the season all the more special. Enjoy!
The snow is falling.
The tree is lit.
The presents are neatly wrapped.
For children, it is the most exciting time of the year. They all sleep restlessly, eager to play with their new toys. For us, however, we share a more intimate gift. It doesn’t always involve toys, but it evokes the same excitement.
Under the light of the tree and the smell of fresh cocoa, I give to you a simple gift. It’s small, neatly wrapped, and fits easily in the palm of your hand. What it lacks in size, it makes up for in sentiment. It has to because there’s no package big enough to contain the passion I feel for you.
I watch you open it.
I see your eyes light up with the joy of a thousand children.
I know then that Santa Clause himself just got upstaged.
You throw your arms around me. I embrace you without hesitation. Your touch carries the intensity of a spirit enchanted by something beyond any holiday. It burns brighter than any star, echoing with cheer beyond any season. No one day or month can possibly contain the love we share, but that only makes the moments more festive.
In that unique spirit, we celebrate. An exchange of goods becomes an exchange of passions. We defy the long nights and winter cold, shedding thick layers of clothes in favor of the heat we create together. Every act conveys the extent of our spirit. In the light of the holidays, it offers unique paths with which to journey.
With one gift, I put my love into a tangible form.
With one gift, I tell you more than I can ever put into words.
With one gift, I inspire a year’s worth of passion.
With one gift, I celebrate the love we share.
It need not be large or smell. It just has to convey the feelings we cherish. By embracing that passion, every day we share our love feels like Christmas.
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