Gifts for Grandchildren

Cover via Amazon

Gifts for Grandchildren

It’s the official kickoff of the gift giving season with the classic questions:

What do the children want (that I would like to get them)?  

How much will this cost and/or am I willing to spend?!

(Some people reverse these questions!)

I have had my best success in a number of ways:

1)      Go to a great store or department that provides service in one of the major gift areas (toys, clothes, electronics, books and magazines). Then just ask an associate what’s “hot” for offspring in your age, gender, interest, and budget categories -- by now they have seen the patterns and can advise you.

2)      The internet offers an endless supply of options. For a fee and sometimes for free, there’s no worry about wrapping, packing, and shipping:  

For girls, try: http://www.thecompanystore.com/ or http://www.manictrout.com/.

For guys, try http://www.thinkgeek.com/index.shtml or http://rumbatime.com/

Some great sites for young children are http://rompstore.com/ or  http://www.gummylump.com/, or http://thebabygardner.com/ .

3)      Bring the child a small token gift or candy, and then take them shopping for their gift. It’s a great chance to spend time together and learn more about them and their interests, and by then there should be after-holiday sales!

4)      Give them an experience (ideally with you!). It might be theater or sports tickets, special lessons, summer camp, a manicure.

5)      Money, not a gift card which can be misplaced and/or forgotten (unless of course, it’s at http://www.goodcopy.com/ for your favorite young entrepreneur!).

6)      Actually it might seem silly at first, but getting your young babysitter, dog walker, yard raker their own business cards does make for a very cool personalized present.

Finally, if you discover a hit, don’t be afraid to stick with it! A number of years ago, I revisited my own beginning classic reader, “Storybook Treasury of Dick and Jane and Friends,” and gave it as a gift to all the young children I knew. The kids adored it! (However, they read it over and over and over, and their parents hated it!!!!  I thought it a small price to pay for a love of literature.)

Happy gift giving!