Gift giving - give you not just "stuff"

"See a need, fill a need"
Mr Big Weld - Robots

Do you give presents at birthday's and Christmas time? Do you give "stuff" or are you a little more creative than that?

I prefer to give experiences rather than just gifts. My daughter's 18th birthday which is right after Christmas, received a night on the town in one of the swanky hotels, and she and five of her mates got to arrive in style - in a hummer limo. 4 girls came back and she and her best friend enjoyed the hotel and the cocktails.

I've also given things like family movie passes to a family who I knew needed to spend some time together, a flying lesson to someone who had always wanted to learn but couldn't quite afford to start (hey 1 lesson is better than nothing), and booked 6 friends into an afternoon session for High Tea. In my early years I also knitted a jumper for my closest friends - I think I knitted a dozen over the course of one year - talk about planning ahead!! and yes I do mean hand knitted - one jumper used to take me about 4 weeks to do, so you can I needed to plan ahead on that one.  That last group falls in to my second kind of preferred gifts - the gift of "me". But we'll get to that in just a moment.

Why do I prefer to give experiences? Well because in most cases - we all have way too much stuff to need any more.

So what am I planning for this year?

Well as Mr Big Weld said - "see a need, fill a need" I thought - OK, my time is worth a lot of money, but I am willing to give some of that time if I can help someone out over the Christmas and New Year period...especially when I also have another passion and I can combine the 2 to help someone... So - this year I am offering to paint one room of my girlfirend's house. She keeps saying she will do it next year - she's been in the place 9 months already - how much longer do you need before you decide you can't live with someone else's decor? (Believe me when I say that room is so ... I would have painted it before the furniture van arrived - but that's just me!!)

Will she go along with the plan? Eventually! She hates me sometimes because I do have a nasty habit of making her do stuff she doesn't necessarily want to do, but I know she does NEED to do.

Anyway, I put the idea to her yesterday - and she is considering it... what there is to consider is beyond me, but she takes procrastination to a whole new level...

What are you good at? Can you give the gift of yourself and your talents to someone who needs it this Christmas?

With many thoughts

Elle