Gifting – hate it or love it?

I have always wondered how people feel about gifts. I guess a lots of us like to receive presents, but what about giving? Do you hate it or love it? Personally, I love to give gifts to my loved ones. I love to see the smile on their faces, when they open my present. How about you? Do you like gifting?

Tradition

As I see it in movies or when I speak with my friends, a lot of people give bought presents to eachother for Christmas and other holidays. We can say that it is a tradition, and it can be good too.

In our family the birthday is a big deal, it has to be properly celebrated, and you should buy the perfect gift for the celebrated person. It is not so easy everytime. Especially in my father’s case. He has everything he needs, and he does not really say what he desires… I said you that I love gifting, but not so much when it comes to him. From year to year we struggled to find out what would make him happy. A new sweater? A tablet case? The 100th recipe book maybe? Of course, there were cases when we could give him things he liked, but most cases – in my opinion – these gifts were not too personal. I love personal and hand made gifts more than expensive but soulless ones.

Something new

But this year my mom had an idea that we can give him good memories, not tangible gift… She thought we could buy a ticket for the family in one of the escape rooms of Budapest. Did you hear about escape/exit rooms? They are pretty awesome games. You are locked in a room (or two). The task is usually that you have limited time to find the key that opens the door, and get out. You have to solve puzzles in order to find the key. Sometimes they are easy, sometimes not, but it is so much fun!

So, the base idea was given, and I improved it a little bit. I made the whole day to a game. I also gave puzzles for my father, but they were special, related to our family. The first task was a crossword, including personal questions like „what was the first meal you made for mom?” or „what was the foreign city I really liked?”… It was a pleasure to make it, and it turned out pretty well.

After that I wrote poems about the places we will have visited. And I also arranged that the organizer of the escape game placed envelopes – we wrote in advance – in the scene for my father. You should have seen the look on his face when he found them! He was touched, and almost cried in happiness. This is why I love giving.

Anyway, I would say that in the future I will give memories as a gift, and if I see something in the stores that I know my father/mother/boyfriend would like, I will buy it for them and give them when I think. This is a bigger surprise when they not expect it.

How does it work in your family? Do you like to buy gifts or you prefer spending time with your loved ones? Or both?

I am starting to realise what is really important… Spend time with your friends and family till you can, and make their (birth)days memorable and special!

The key is love

To sum it up for those who are in trouble when it comes to gifting:

• spend quality time with your friends/family,
• express your love as many times and as many ways you can (but of course, no need to exaggerate),
• try to think about what they really like, what they enjoy doing,
• if you see something in a shop, that they would like to have, buy it, just because you love them,
• tell them with your words (and not with your money), how do you feel about them, and how much you appreciate to have them in your life.

And here are some actual tips for gifts:

• escape games – I linked a page to see what I am talking about,
• board games – and you can organize game nights,
• concert/theater tickets,
• online or personal courses,
• airplane ticket or a whole holiday,
• home made presents are always good :),
• you can bake a cake or something sweet like this,
• a trip/hike to a beautiful place,
• make a photo album from the best family pictures,
• if you are good at video editing: make a video of the pictures, add some music and cool effects,
• try to avoid giving money – that is so impersonal…

If you have any other ideas, please share with me! 🙂 Have a wonderful day!

Love,

Suzie