Presents

Michael’s birthday is in about a week and I have been thinking about presents. He is very hard to shop for because there isn’t much he wants. The things that he likes (books, piano books, computer games) take time that he doesn’t usually have. I think he just finished a book he got for Christmas last year. The only thing he could think of what going out on a date so we are going to do that. While I think I do better at thinking of things he can get me for birthdays and Christmas I can sympathize with the difficulty of thinking of a good present. It is much harder to think of something as an adult.
I still have two of the first presents I remember getting. A blue snuffuluffulgus ( I completely guessed on the spelling) and a cabbage patch kid. I got the snuffuluffulgus on my fourth birthday, which happened to be the day we moved into our house in Dupont. I remember sitting on the stairs and telling the movers that it was my birthday and that I was four.

I’m still not exactly sure if it is a mouse or a bear. But it was squishy and silky and perfect to snuggle with and use as a pillow.
I think got my cabbage patch doll that same year for Christmas, possibly the year after.

The  actual doll is a box that is hard to access right now, but this is one of it outfits.  It also has a swimsuit (that I think it is currently wearing.) I remember holding it with my arms out stretched and spinning around.
When I was about 8 or 9 I got a skip it for my birthday. It counted how many times you could jump over it. I think it was the perfect gift for a very energetic girl.

This girl is not me but if she put some glasses on could play the young Katie-Beth in the movie about my life.
When I was 13 my parents gave me bead/jewelry making kit. It had a bunch of beads, hemp to weave into bracelets and necklaces and about 10 different colors of fimo clay to mold my own beads. I loved it. I still have the cool container it came in although all the original supplies were used up long ago.
When I was 16 my Mom took me to a place fancier than Supercuts (It might have been JCPenny’s) to chop off my long hair and get a completely different style haircut. She also took me to a make up place to learn how to do basic make up. We went to out to eat afterwards and I got an omelet that had avocados in it. That night there was a stake dance. I wore contacts for one of the first and only times and there were a few people who didn’t recognize me, I loved it.
I still love birthdays and Christmas as an adult and a mom but my excitement is for different reasons. I love to think of what to get people and try and find the perfect present. Especially my kids. It is so fun to see them open a present and want to play with it right away. It usually takes most of the day to get through presents at Christmas. They are still in the "look at this awesome new toy, I should stop and play with it right now” phase which I love instead of the “let’s hurry and open all my loot so I can see everything that I got phase.”
From years of receiving gifts as a child and now years of giving gifts as an adult I have learned a lot.
1. It really is the thought that counts. The gifts I have loved the most have been ones that people put thought into or were made especially for me.
3. You never know which present kids will love the most, and it usually isn’t the one you would expect.
4. Kids don’t need a lot of gifts or expensive gifts to be happy. If a kid would be happier playing with a plastic hanger than an expensive toy, go with the hanger.
5. It is much easier to pick out gifts for kids than adults.
It is Only October but I have already gotten a few Christmas presents and am excited to find just the right thing for everyone on my list. Coming soon, How to give the perfect gift.