it made me furious and sad:
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_
Please remember this holiday season that we are in two wars and a
global environmental and economic crisis. This should be a time of
sacrifice and saving. None of us know if our jobs are safe. We all
have relatives with huge medical expenses and mounting debt. People
are losing their homes. I know that none of us are going to trample
people at a walmart, but the story made me think about the holidays
and some of the pressures they put on all of us...
Instead of rushing to buy things that maybe we can't really afford
anyway, how about making something? Are you a good cook? Maybe whip
up pickles or jams or bread or cookies? Crafty with the sewing
machine? How about making tote bags, everyone needs tote bags! You
can take them to the grocery store or to run errands. Plus they're
easy. Or put together a photo album. Everyone keeps all their
pictures on their computers these days so it's nice to have prints to
flip through.
If you to want give something homemade but aren't crafty etsy.com has
tons of great stuff.
I think what a lot of people need more than stuff is free time. Have
a friend or relative who has their hands full taking care of their
kids and home? Offer to babysit, or come over and cook lunch one
weekend. Or pitch in on a cleaning service (I guess this only works
if you know they want one! Ha! It could be sort of insulting to be
told someone's hiring a cleaning service when you think your place is
really clean already).
Good with your hands? Offer to fix the squeaky window or clogged
drain or other little things around the house. Make a little book
full of coupons ("good for one car washing" "redeem for dry cleaning
drop off and pickup"). Some people feel weird about having their
friends do things for them, but I find that if you just show up,
paintbrush in hand, no one's going to stop you!
For all you techy types out there, how about setting up a website or
blog for your parents or someone who's starting a business?
Plus I know some of you are great writers and artists and photographers!
If you're good at organizing stuff, offer to tackle a project. Maybe
someone needs to sort through their boxes of stuff in the garage to
get ready for a big yard sale. These are things that no one really
wants to tackle, but they can actually be fun. Bring a pizza, put on
some music and get to work. While you're at it, organize a big group
yard sale for maximum money making!
Entertainment can be expensive and hard to find time for. Give a
friend a board game with a card that says that you'll host game night
at your place once a month. Or a pack of gift cards to a movie
theater plus your babysitting services. Or tickets to a sporting
event. Or a membership to a museum. Something that they can use
again and again, but that they probably wouldn't buy for themselves.
Share your ideas with your friends and family and see if we can create
some new holiday traditions this year.
Martha Stewart has lots of cute craft and gift ideas on her site:
http://www.marthastewart.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment