Three more months.

While most of you are content to pace yourselves one holiday at a time, I’d like to point out that you have exactly three more months until Christmas!  Wheeeeee!

So how about a little tip regarding gift giving?  (This really could be applied to birthdays as well.)

It’s pretty easy to keep notes for yourself on your phone these days.  You can download a memo pad or, as I do, use the task manager.  I create a note on each member of my family, including myself.  Then, just as soon as I notice somebody’s eyes twinkle at the thought of something delightful, into my notes it goes.

For instance, if I know that my mom likes a certain restaurant, I put the idea of a gift card to that restaurant into my phone.

If my sister likes baking, I consider various helpful ingredients and jot that into the notes.

If my husband is lamenting his shrinking wardrobe, I type a little note to myself regarding the various garments he’d like to soon receive.

In a couple of months, Brian’s mom, my mom and my sister are all going to ask me what Brian wants for Christmas.  Not only do I have a little list to reference, but I can indicate which party has received specific gift ideas so that they get spread out evenly and not duplicated.

And – not that it’s all about the gifts – but it’s so helpful to have notes for myself.  Quite frankly, my mind goes COMPLETELY blank when ANYone asks, “Hey, what do you want for Christmas?”

Uhhhhhhhhhh…?

Can I get an “Amen”?

So leaving little reminders for myself like, “It bothers you that none of your plates or silverware match,” or “You’re so much happier when you hang your clothes on wooden hangers,” will jog my memory at the appropriate time.  ‘Cause really I’m quite content.  Sure, I might notice things from time to time that I’d like to improve upon, but those things certainly don’t weigh me down.  ‘Tis the beauty of note keeping.

My family has commented for years that I’m a good gift giver.  In all honesty, I really don’t see it that way.  As I mentioned in this post, gift giving actually gives me great anxiety.  If I don’t have clear reminders of a sure hit, I wiffle and waffle and waver all over the place.  Sweating bullets, I’ll pick and item up, then put it back, then pick it up, then put it back, then pick it up, wander around the store with it only to then put it back again.

Note keeping helps ensure that I don’t kill all of that time when I could be securing (or even hand crafting!) a really personal gift.

So, nope, I’m not necessarily a good gift giver; but sometimes I’m a great listener.  That’s really all it takes.