Last night my daughter had "elf night" at her dance class, which meant she was allowed to invite a friend to attend class with her. Well, I did not remember this until I read the dance schedule at 11pm on Tuesday night -- a little late to call her friend's house to invite her! I called from work on Wednesday, apologized for the short notice and extended the invitation. Fortunately, the friend was available and excited to attend with my girl. Phew! I really felt as though they were doing us a favor, because it was so last minute and I would have been so upset with myself if my frazzled-ness (I'm sure that's not a word...) caused my daughter to be the only one without an "elf" friend!
Anyway, my husband and daughter went and picked her friend up, they had a wonderful time and they came home at about 7:30pm and my girl was excitedly waving a little gift bag that her friend had given her. It contained a cute little lotion (a FAVORITE of my daughter's -- she's definitely a "product" girl!) and some stickers. Well, she of course, wants to give her friend something in return -- today, the last day of school before the vacation. Now, this gift could have been a little holiday gift, as they are best friends and that would not be out of the ordinary to exchange -- although, I have a feeling that this is more of a "thank you for inviting me" gift, because her parents are very thoughtful! Anyway, not one to disappoint, after my girl went to bed, I through the tons of bags of holiday gifts that I have purchased for my girls and various other relatives (I can hear my "frugal friend" tsk-ing, right now!) and I pulled out a 3 pack of lip gloss with a cute little tin to hold it in, from the new Disney movie "Enchanted." I had bought it for my girl, but she does have a plethora of lip glosses, so she could certainly share the wealth. Then I went down into the basement where I have an old chest of drawers filled to the brim with ribbons, tissue paper, gift bags - you name it! I pulled out a very cute little tiny gift bag and some tissue and I was very pleased with myself for putting something together so quickly!
When my daughter came downstairs this morning for breakfast, it was sitting next to her lunch box on the counter, and she said, "Oh! Is this gift for my teacher?" Um, no, it's for your friend -- why, are other kids bringing in teacher gifts this year? And she said, yes, kids have been bringing them in all week. GREAT! Talk about short notice! Now, last year in kindergarten, I bought 4 teacher-related gift items -- 2 teacher note pads and 2 "101 Words of Encouragement for Teachers" little books. But last year, no one brought in gifts at the holidays, but instead of returning the items to the store, I decided to hold onto them just in case. Thank goodness! I pulled out one of the little books, had my girl sign "To, From, etc." inside, and back I went to the basement to get another gift bag, more tissue & ribbon, and I tied a candy cane into the bow to be festive.
And I had thought I was working on short notice last night! But, having a few extra items on hand saved me once again! I think it's a great tip for mothers who get those last minute notifications from their children about gifts that they need -- if you see something on sale or have a little extra in the grocery money, put a couple of little gift items away to use in the event of a gift emergency!
Friday, December 21, 2007
Emergency (Gift) Preparedness
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4 comments:
Ah ha ha! That must be me cringing!!!
But you are right in that it is good to have a few things laying around that you can gift on short notice. (Notice I didn't say TONS of bags of stuff to gift on short notice!)
Yes, that would be you! And yes, a few things is just the right amount to have on hand! Actually, you would be pleased, on both a frugal level and an environmental level, to hear that most of the gift bags I have are actually ones that we've received as gifts and have still been in great shape, so I've saved them. The only ones I have purchased have been great sales!
Yes, I'm contemplating how to collect everyone's gift wrap over the next few days without looking like a crazy woman who lives with cats....
You crack me up! Um, you are just talking about those people that you are exchanging gifts with, right? 'Cause if you are planning to go through your neighbors' trash, I would definitely frown upon that -- that would definitely make you look like crazy cat lady! Yes, we exchanged with my mom last night and she had wrapped one of my gifs in this beautiful paper and as I was unwrapping it I thought, "Hmm, what do I have left that I could wrap in this...?" But it inadvertantly got thrown away!
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