Declutter Your Gift Giving-Share an Activity!
As a professional organizer, I work hard at being conscientious about not adding clutter when I give someone a gift. There’s something a little magical about gifts that seem to make it even harder for the recipient to let go, because “someone gave it to me.” I like to look for something that can be used up or even better, share an activity to celebrate special occasions.
Recently I had the opportunity to witness firsthand just how special sharing an activity can be! A little friend was celebrating his birthday and my daughter of the same age, invited him over to bake and frost a cake together. No gift. I found out later that his mom was a little skeptical about how baking a cake was going to go over. We found out what kind of cake he wanted, what flavor frosting and bought some candles. No toys, no games, not even a gift certificate to go buy himself something.
I let them do everything themselves, except take the cake out of the oven. They read directions, they chatted, they laughed, they helped each other out and I took photos. When the cake was cool, they frosted, cut the cake and we all enjoyed a piece or two.
It turns out when he went home, he couldn’t stop talking about it. How awesome is that? Two little kids making a cake and that was enough! The next time you have a gift to buy, think about how you can declutter your gift giving and come up with a fun activity so you can enjoy some time together!