The trouble with buying gifts for friends and family is twofold. If they are good friends and family, you want to buy them the best possible gifts. However, often, these days, they tend to already have everything that they need. This means that Christmastime can be fraught with stress as people comb through stores and catalogues to find something that fits the bill. However, if your friends and family do not want ‘stuff’, give them memories instead:
Tickets are just the ticket!
Tickets to a gig by their favourite band or to a comedy club featuring a comedian that they like will always go down well. Not only will they treasure the day out, they will associate you with that wonderful time, and you are sure to gain best-child brownie points. Check out ticketmaster.co.uk to find out what’s on.
Drive ’em up the… er… road
Your friends and family have probably accused you of driving them up the wall sometimes. Why not thrill them with this ironic yet iconic gift idea: a driving experience? Companies such as trackdays.co.uk offer two types of such treat, driving race cars at high speed around a race track, or getting to whiz around the track in a super-car – think latest Ferrari or Lamborghini… Driving days are a fabulous way for your friends and family to have a break from their day-to-day lives, enjoy something unusual and make a lovely memory. If driving is not for them, you can always book them a hot air balloon ride, a pampering spa day or any of a number of other experience days.
Headline news…
A fun, quirky gift is a framed front page of a newspaper from the day they were born or got married, depending on the occasion that you are wanting to celebrate. Or you could go for broke and get all three: both birthdays and their anniversary! This will be something that they can hang up and enjoy for a long time to come, and is sure to raise a smile every time they see it!
Eat up, eat up!
Failing finding your friends and family any else, you could always treat them to some luxury chocolates, or, if they would prefer it, a cheese and wine set. In this way, they have yummy treats that will last them some time, without adding more stuff to a house that might already be quite cluttered.
Giving is rewarding
Find out what causes your friends and family support, or are passionate about, and make a charitable donation in their name to a cause they would fully endorse. Companies such as Ofxam.org.uk offer this service.These can be wildlife protection and conservation, aiding microfinance businesses in developing countries, and every charitable cause in between. Not only will you have spent money on your friends and family, they (and you, by proxy) can feel good that you have done something to help the less fortunate or needy.
Physical possessions should be carefully thought of from the point of view of your parent as a human being, not merely as your parent. So not ‘mum and dad’ but ‘Jack and Barb, who used to disco dance on roller skates, take foolish risks near cliffs to reach their special cave, and who fell in love over a Sunday church function’, for example! It can be hard to think of parent as existing in a time that you do not know, but once you do, getting their gifts for a truly special Christmas is sure to be easier than ever.
