Gifts
Gifts and occasions
The gifts that survive past the following week are almost never the ones with a name printed on the outside. These guides cover the difference, occasion by occasion: birthdays, Christmas, and the harder problem of buying for grandparents, who have had sixty years to acquire every object they want and are usually short of only one thing.
Gifts
Grandparents Day Gifts: What to Give, and When It Actually Is
Grandparents Day gifts that get kept, the date most people get wrong, and what to give from a child too small to make anything themselves.
24 min read
Gifts
Gifts for Grandpa From the Grandkids, Beyond the Novelty Socks
Gifts for grandpa from grandkids that actually get kept: why grandfather gifts go so much worse than grandmother ones, and the four kinds that last.
22 min read
Gifts
Gifts for Grandma From the Grandchildren, Including the One Who Has Everything
Gifts for grandma from grandchildren that she keeps: why most personalized gifts miss, and what to give when she says she does not want anything.
23 min read
Gifts
Personalized Birthday Gifts for Kids: What Survives Past the Following Week
Personalized birthday gifts for kids that get kept instead of shelved, how the four gift rule works, and what to give a child who has plenty.
22 min read
Gifts
Christmas Gifts for Kids Who Have Everything (Without Adding to the Pile)
Christmas gifts for kids who have everything: how the four gift rule fixes the pile, and the presents that are still around next Christmas.
23 min read
Gifts
Mother's Day Gifts From a Toddler, When the Toddler Has No Money
Mother's Day gifts from a small child with no money: what a two or three year old can give, what mothers want, and how to make it come from the child.
23 min read
Gifts
Father's Day Gifts From the Kids, Beyond the Mug and the Tie
Father's Day gifts from kids that are not a mug: what a small child can really give, and the one thing fathers say they want and never ask for.
21 min read
Gifts
Big Sister and Big Brother Gifts: What to Give the Child Nobody Is Visiting
A big sister gift, or a big brother one, for the day the baby arrives: why the timing matters more than the gift, what to bring and what to avoid.
20 min read
Gifts
Christening and Baptism Gifts: What Is Appropriate, and What Survives
Christening gift ideas that get kept: how much to spend, whether money is acceptable, and why the traditional silver gift almost never gets used.
22 min read
Gifts
Kindergarten Graduation Gifts: What to Give a Five Year Old Who Just Finished
A kindergarten graduation gift a five year old wants and parents keep, plus the honest answer for teachers buying twenty-five of something.
23 min read
Gifts
Disney Gifts for Grandma, From the Grandkids: What a Disney-Loving Grandmother Actually Keeps
Disney gifts for grandma that she keeps: the four kinds that last, ideas from toddlers to teens, for a grandma who can't travel, and the dates.
20 min read
Gifts
Christmas Eve Box Ideas for Kids, by Age, That End the Night in Bed
Christmas Eve box ideas by age, from toddlers to big kids: what goes in, what to leave out under four, when to open it, and the one thing that lasts.
21 min read
Gifts
Gifts for Grandchildren: What Only a Grandparent Can Give, by Age and From Far Away
Gifts for grandchildren that outlast the toy box: what only a grandparent can give, ideas by age, for grandkids far away, and what grandparents spend.
21 min read
Gifts
Christmas Gifts for Grandparents Who Have Everything, Except Enough of the Grandkids
Christmas gifts for grandparents who have everything: what they are actually short of, and gifts with the grandkids' hands in them, near or far.
20 min read
Gifts
A Gift for the Whole Family: Who It Is Really For, and the Ideas That Get Used
Gift for the whole family ideas that get used, not shelved: who it is really for, what works at each age, and what to skip in a house with small kids.
20 min read
Gifts
Christmas Messages for Grandchildren: What to Write at Every Age, So It Gets Kept
Christmas messages for grandchildren to copy: 12 fill-in lines first, then grandson, granddaughter, funny, religious, short, and what to write by age.
28 min read
Gifts
Christmas Gifts for Mom From Kids: What Each Age Can Really Do, and How to Make It Theirs
Christmas gifts for mom from kids, sorted by what a child of each age can really do, and how a partner makes a store-bought gift feel like theirs.
21 min read
Gifts
Sentimental Christmas Gifts for Everyone on Your List, Sorted by Time and Money
Sentimental Christmas gifts for a partner, mom, dad, grandparents, kids and friends, sorted by what each costs in time and money, and what makes one count.
21 min read
Gifts
Christmas Gifts for Dad From Kids: What Each Age Can Really Choose, Make or Say
Christmas gifts for dad from kids, sorted by what a child of each age can really choose, make or say, and how the other parent makes it theirs.
22 min read
Gifts
Christmas Gifts for Mother in Law: The Hard Part Is the Relationship, Not the Object
Christmas gifts for mother in law, by kind: Grandma to your kids, far away, has everything, new to you. Plus whose idea it is and who signs the card.
21 min read
Gifts
Christmas Messages for Grandparents: What a Baby, a Child, a Teen or a Grown Grandchild Can Write
Christmas messages for grandparents from grandkids: 12 lines to copy, then funny, religious, short, far away, memory loss, and Grandma in heaven.
26 min read
Gifts
Christmas Messages for Kids: What to Write on the Card, the Tag or the Page, by Age
Christmas messages for kids by age and by where they go (card, tag, stocking, box or book), with sample lines and four moves for writing your own.
21 min read
Gifts
Non Toy Gifts for Kids: Real Ideas by Age, From 2 to 10
Non toy gifts for kids, by age and by type: experiences, books, classes, keepsakes and things to make together, plus how to ask relatives for fewer toys.
20 min read
Gifts
Letter From Santa Template: 11 Free Letters to Copy, by Age and Situation
Letter from Santa template: 11 ready-to-copy letters by age and situation, plus the USPS North Pole postmark and how to make it feel real.
21 min read