Scratch That: Parenting & ReParenting Off Script 🌪️ How are we giving (and receiving) gifts?
We are in the season of a million gift-giving choices – What do we want to spend money on? How do we find gifts that make people feel seen/loved/celebrated? How do we buy/make gifts with thought and care when we don't have any time? Today, we dive headfirst into our personal gift giving values and offer a giant pile of recommendations (no one is paying us to make!) with the hope that it sparks something for you that feels good.
Caitlin, Our Favorite Bougie Bitch, prefers gifts that align with the way their brain functions. They prioritize fewer things of higher quality that will last over time and not make their home feel loud and cluttered. They recommend:
🎨 Consumable Gifts (art projects, activities, experiences)
🎟️ Memberships
🥝 Kiwi Co monthly subscriptions or individual boxes (like this play-dough pasta-making kit)
🎭 Gathre vegan leather products for kids (like this doorway theater, seated spinner, car truck mat, and tunnel)
📻 YOTO for screen free entertainment
🖼️ Artifact Uprising beautiful books (you can make board books! Which I did for Charlie his first Christmas that we treasure), calendars, and more! It's so good!
📦 MakeDo I forgot to mention this! But it's one of our favorite toys ever! It's a set of screws, knife, screwdriver for cardboard that little ones can use! We make all kinds of things with it!
Rebekah, The Idealist Without Enough Time, wants everything gift to be handmade and soaking with meaning. She prioritizes items that feel one-of-a-kind thoughtful that don't take quite as much time as a hand-sewn quilt. She recommends:
🧶 ETSY for handmade, customized, feels-like-a-perfect-thrift-store-find items.
📷 Shutterfly or Artifact Uprising (or any company that lets you make things with your own photos) for photo books and inside joke mugs.
✨ Gift cards to local bookstores & small businesses! (Like this cozy spot in KC)
👻 Prints, stickers, buttons, pins from artists! (Like Tender Ghost)
🌱 Small scale handmade gifts that don't actually take a ton of time (like simple collaged photos and little decorated plant pots).
💌 A heartfelt, thoughtful card!!!!
And one of their all time favorite gifts to give – BOOKS! Together, their top recommendations include:
🌵 Instructions for Traveling West by Joy Sullivan
🙏 Gay Girl Prayers by Emily Austin
🐟 Why Fish Don't Exist by Lulu Miller
⏰ The Power of Moments by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
🍂 The Book of Delights by Ross Gay
💫 Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude by Ross Gay
⚡️ You Better Be Lightning by Andrea Gibson
🦋 Lord of the Butterflies by Andrea Gibson
We would love to hear the ways you approach gift giving! What are your favorite gifts to give or receive? How do you prioritize your time/money around this time of year? What are your biggest gift-giving values?
Find us on instagram @sitting_pretty ✨ @caitlinhasfeels