Skip to main content

Adulting 101: Good Gifts and Bad Gifts

We're just now exiting the holiday season, and it was an extra special time for my wife and I as we welcomed a baby girl into our family last week. There is one thing the holidays and baby showers have in common: you get lots and lots of gifts. From the baby showers alone, I think my wife ended up sending over 100 thank you cards to all the people who gave us something!

From the pile of things we received, there were a lot of great gifts, and, well... there were also some not-so-great gifts. Don't get me wrong, we are extremely grateful to everybody for everything they got us. It got me thinking, though, that there are indeed categories of good gifts to give as well as categories of bad gifts to give, regardless of the holiday or occasion. We'll look at five categories from each side of the fence down below.



DO GIVE... GIFT CARDS

People like my mom will rail against me for this one, saying that it is lazy or careless. But let's be real: I think most people would rather receive a gift card to get something they know they'd like instead of receiving something they most likely won't like. This will correspond to some of the bad gift categories down below. My only other tip here: give a large enough amount to make it worth it. For example, don't give somebody a $10 gift card to the Olive Garden. Nobody ever spends less than ten bucks there!

DON'T GIVE... FOOD

You might be surprised with this one since it is such a regularly given gift. I love food, and most of the stuff people give are absolutely delicious. And that's the problem: it's so good that I chow down immediately. Food is the most ironic gift anybody gives these days because everybody is onboard with this idea of promoting health and wellness, yet we still give each other stuff that will make us fat. As somebody who truly wants to support health and wellness, I'm done giving food as a gift.

DO GIVE... CONSUMABLES

Don't confuse this with food. I'm talking about things like cleaning products, toilet paper, paper towels, shower gels, shampoos, razors, and more. Sure, they aren't particularly traditional gifts, but these are things that people need and buy on a regular basis. Instead of giving them food, think about making a basket with some of these things.

DON'T GIVE... CLOTHES

Unless the person explicitly states "I want this precise item in this precise size," steer clear here. Gauging a person's taste and style is very difficult, so you're probably not going to get them exactly what they want. Moreover, if you mess up the size, you may unintentionally insult them. At my former weight, I would still mostly wear large shirts. That didn't stop most folks from getting me XL clothing. Thanks, y'all.

DO GIVE... FAVORS

Okay, this one isn't that tangible, but regardless, it makes a great gift. Offer to mow somebody's lawn. Or to watch somebody's kids to allow the parents to get out for a night. (Hint, hint!) These are things that everybody appreciates, and favors aren't handed out as gifts all that often. And if you want to make it a tangible gift, have fun and print out a special coupon.

DON'T GIVE... HOME DECOR

This one goes in line with why giving clothes is a bad idea: you just don't know what a person's taste is. And this might seem obvious, but I'll say it anyway: anything takes up some amount of space. Large or small, a person has to make room for it. If you're like my wife and I and live in a smaller home or apartment, the real estate of your home is precious. Trying to add stuff to it you don't like is both a pain and not desired.

DO GIVE... MONEY

I bet you got a good chuckle when you read that. I'm thinking about this one specifically from the perspective of kids like my new baby and nephews. Kids get so many toys these days that the literally don't know what to do with them. (Actually, I don't think I have toys on this list. Bonus "don't give" gift: toys for kids.) Instead of giving them gifts, invest in their future. This doesn't particularly meaning giving cash right out. You can give things like savings bonds or opening a CD in their name. I think you, as the giver, and the recipient will both appreciate this in the long run.

DON'T GIVE... KITSCHY CRAP

Mugs with funny sayings on them. Wind-up flashlights or radios. Beer / soda can coozys. Pretty much stuff that nobody asks for nor needs and will end up being thrown away almost immediately. Think about 99% of the swag you get from business fairs. Who really needs a mini-frisbee with the company's name on it? Please do everybody a favor and just don't.

 DO GIVE... EXPERIENCES

 My wife suggested this one to me. Similar to gift cards, my wife suggests, especially for women, getting something like a pass to get a manicure or pedicure. A day at the spa. A professional massage. Whatever the case, get them something that they don't do on a regular basis and would probably love to do more often for not the cost. Pair this with doing that person a favor (like watching their kids while they get the massage), and you've got a perfect gift.

 DON'T GIVE... USED STUFF

 This one might be a little controversial to some people. I understand the heart behind it in some cases, but there are a lot of people who are, frankly, either weirded out or grossed out from accepting used stuff from folks that aren't friends. I'll raise my hand and say that I fall in that camp. You might say these clothes are clean, but are they really clean...? Call me bougie, but I know for a fact lots of people fall in this same category. If you don't know, err on the side of getting them a better gift. Heck, I just gave you five ideas here. Go with one of them instead!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: "The Dip" by Seth Godin

If you think you've seen this book before, you're probably not mistaken. It's not a new book at all. It came out in 2007, and the first time I read this book was actually back in 2011. For personal reasons, I chose to pick it back up, and I'll talk about that in a separate post. Having been five years since my last read, I'm glad I dug this back up. It's a pretty teeny book, as you can see in the image below. A person can definitely breeze through the entire book in an hour or two. Anyway, this is a book review! How does this book hold up in the nine years since it's initial release? Let's get into it.
Post a Comment
Read more

The Christian Civil War of 2016

There's no doubt that the outcome of the recent election had arguably the most divisive outcome in American history. People have not been afraid to voice their anger and concerns about Trump's election on social media. From what I've seen, the most vocalization has come from the left, and I honestly haven't seen a lot of overt support from the right. (That's another topic altogether.) What has quietly gone unaddressed is another issue that has stemmed from the election: a Christian civil war. As somebody who cares for the church, this something I definitely think needs addressed sooner rather than later.
Post a Comment
Read more

Be Mindful of Invisible Scripts

Whether we like it or not, assumptions pretty much drive our lives. We learn to live not because we have analyzed a certain matter thoroughly. Rather, much of what we know today was ingrained in us in our adolescent development. Some of these are more obvious. Take going to college, for example. When I graduated from high school, something like 90% of my graduating class planned on pursuing some sort of college education. Even if my parents didn't encourage me to go to college (they did), it still seemed like the thing I needed to do. But some things aren't so obvious. There are subtle things people do and say that guide our choices in a way we are oblivious to.
Post a Comment
Read more

Being Transparent about LYEATT's Analytics

I'm going to break off from my usual explanation of whatever trending idea to be open with you all about some stuff. I chose Blogger as the platform for this blog because it's housed under Google, and I find Google to be a trustworthy company. What I did not realize is the extent to which Blogger provides analytics. Obviously, I can't see exactly who is reading this blog, but I can see a number of other things. I can see where traffic is coming from, whether from LinkedIn or Twitter. I can also see how many times people have viewed each post. And I can also tell you that I wrote my first zero-view post recently. Also, to date, there has never been a single comment on any post. I'm not going to share which post that is because viewership is not the purpose of this blog, nor am I looking for anybody to comment now. But I will say that it is a little disheartening. This would normally have been the point where I'd shut down the blog and labeled it a failure. Bu...
Post a Comment
Read more

You're Out of Excuses

The Amazon Kindle Fire tablet is $50 and often goes on sale for cheaper than that. You can get free wifi almost anywhere, including most McDonald's locations. The best email platforms, Gmail and Yahoo, are free . Almost all social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, are free . My blog is hosted on the Blogger platform, which is free to use. If you have a library card, you can probably checkout digital ebooks for free via Overdrive. Apps like WhatsApp allow you to make calls to people for free . Interacting with people on social forums like Reddit is free . The barriers to entry have been lowered significantly. You don't have an excuse why you're not making yourself better anymore.
Post a Comment
Read more