The Gift That Lasts A Lifetime
A few years ago I decided to give my kids other gifts besides toys. My son was twelve years old and didn’t play with toys anymore. My daughter was eight but always asked for clothes and between her grandparents, Aunts and Uncles she received nothing but toys! I was sure neither one of the kids would even notice.
Holiday shopping season began and I headed out to a new store. It was rumored to have the latest styles for teenagers. Surely I could find plenty of clothes for my son. I walked slowly as I entered the store. The Neon lights against the black carpet didn’t give off much light. Definitely for teenagers, I thought to myself. As a price tag saying $120.00 beamed up at me I stopped. Unless my eyes were playing tricks on me, they expected someone to pay that much money for a multicolored shirt with no sleeves? I kept walking and found some clearance items that were more affordable. I got a few outfits but spent over half of the budget. That was enough for me. I was out of there.
I decided to switch gears and focus on my daughter. She wanted stuff from a store I liked. This will be easy, I thought. Anything would be better than the black pit I had just left. As I walked through the store looking at the displays on the walls I picked up quite a few items. Before I knew it I had over $300 worth of clothes. That was more than my budget and I only had four or five outfits! I wanted to give her more than that. I made myself put back half of the clothes then decided to spend the rest of the money on something that could last both kids the rest of their lives.
I considered Quilts, Mugs and T-Shirts with photos on them but they wouldn’t last. Then it hit me. A scrapbook! I had been scrapbooking for years, but had never made the kids an album. It was the perfect gift
I placed my photos on the pages. I journaled the stories along with the photos. Then I added colorful stickers and put page protectors on so that fingerprints could be wiped off. Finally, I added a few poems telling each of them how much I loved them and why. Then, I wrapped them with snowman Christmas paper and added them to the presents under the tree.
On Christmas morning, the kids opened up gift after gift. As they opened each one they said thank you, and threw it to the side awaiting the opening of the next one. But, when they got to the scrapbooks they opened them up and started showing them to each other. We sat around as a family and the kids went through all the pages reminding us of what was happening in the photos. They made sure when we went to grandmas for dinner they didn’t forget them. Getting those new clothes on them was a different story!
Memories are important. It doesn’t matter how old you are. You want to share the stories that are important to you. So do your kids. They love to read things about themselves and seeing the photos. I make them one every couple of years now. They usually ask me to cover important events in their lives, like vacations, or school events. It is the gift that makes you feel good and they will cherish it forever.
Vanessa Calleja is a freelance writer specializing in scrapbooking, pets, family relationships, & health and wellness topics. Learn more secrets and tips on organizing the memories you cherish at memories to cherish
Tags: crafts, gift ideas, scrapbooking
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