Fleeting Gifts
During a recent visit to a toy store looking for the perfect gift for a child, the insight I received gave me a very rude awakening. A child is born with all kinds of gifts tucked right in there with the cute little smile and the tiny toes and fingers. There is creativity, inspiration, imagination, and fun. It is all right there - just waiting to be encouraged, and allowed to grow and mature. What really happens when family and friends lavish gifts of the latest toy trends and gift ideas that toy manufacturers insist are the "in" thing? These precious and fleeting gifts are not nurtured and give the "food" they need to become the basis for future careers, jobs, and lifestyles.
Instead, they allow the child to be a bystander and "watch the world go by" - but not become a "mover and shaker" of what is going on. In other words, the script, cast, and everything in between has been scheduled, programmed, and packed - all in one box. Children are the future of each and every one of us - they will be the doctors, lawyers, judges, politicians, cooks, clerks, parents, citizens, etc. No one is so isolated that they will not be affected by the decisions and actions of these children when they become adults. You can run, but you can't hide from what the future will bring - and from those who will bring it about - today's children.
While a child may whine and cry for the very latest in what the ads show as the "craze" of the times, you are the purchaser, or the main ingredient in the child oy experience. Maybe making a total about-fact is not a reasonable choice for you and your child, but seek out a few alternatives. If you buy a "pre-programmed" action figure, vehicle, or play set, offset it with a few "standard" items. Lincoln logs can still fascinate, art sets (whether clay, paint, or pencil) can nudge that creativity, or games that allow the child to think, react, and plan. Books, craft kits and building blocks of all sizes, shapes, and forms, give hours of pleasure and allow the child to become the "programmer", not the "bystander." With the Holidays coming on in a hurry, think about the "fleeting gifts" that will go away if they are not given a chance to sprout, grow, and blossom.
Look for ways to allow your child to expand their imaginations and interact with their playthings - create backgrounds, situatins, and results. While the world rushes by with all kinds of things money can buy for your child, don't rush them right out of their childhood. Allow them the fun, freedom, and fascination that breeds healthy, happy, and successful adults. Those few precious years are just that-precious. They cannot be retrieved or erased - only encouraged, motivated, and celebrated.
This holiday season, watch a child grow and become all he/she was intended to be and become a part of the future - a future for each and every one of us. ENJOY! ? 2003 October.
Gifts: Giving to the Beginner Golfer
GIFTS: GIVING TO THE BEGINNER GOLFERby A. HeathIt's golf season again! And you might be looking for a gift to give to someone who's just starting off in golf. So, here are some suggestions. These beginner golf gifts target those new golf souls... the ones who don't yet know what their in for, or the ones who are already hooked after just playing a few times.
Golf LessonsThe single best choice out of all gifts for the golf beginner is golf lessons. There's nothing that the beginning golfer can use more. It's even better than a set of clubs, because it will give him/her a chance to really decide if he/she likes the game and wants to stick with it. After all, golf can be extremely frustrating, but it's also highly addictive. Start them off right with a lesson and give them a good swing foundation.
Contact your local golf course or instruction facility to find out what options you have in your area.
Golf BooksIf you can't afford to buy golf lessons for the beginning...
Gifts > Gifts: Giving to the Beginner Golfer
Mothers Day and Fathers Day Gift Ideas Shift to Unique Rather than the Usual Gifts
Flower Mound, TX (ContentDesk) April 26, 2006 -- The gift industry kicks into high-gear in April as May traditionally heats up the gift giving season after a lull in February and March.Mothers Day, Fathers Day and graduations are seen as a major catalyst for gift giving, along with the increase in weddings and corresponding anniversaries in May and June.
The industry is abuzz with the prospects of 2006 being a record year for sales as a result of an improving economy.Though many merchants are looking for record sales, consumers are making it clear that they are looking for unique and unusual gifts.
I am so tired of giving the same things year after year, I am just trying to find something really cool and different to give, Anita Rubio, 35, Island Heights, New Jersey, explains. I want to give something they will...
Gifts > Mothers Day and Fathers Day Gift Ideas Shift to Unique Rather than the Usual Gifts
It's a boy! It's a girl! It's Oh Baby! Website offers instant, terrific baby gifts with panache
(ContentDesk) May 8, 2004--Oh Baby! Gifts, Inc. - supplier to the stars, from hip hop to Hollywood -- is proud to announce the birth of their new website, http://www.ohbabygift.com.
The site will allow shoppers to peruse a selection of irresistible and unique gifts for moms, moms-to-be, babies and kids, and have them shipped within minutes. Featuring everything from luxurious massage creams for new moms or moms-to-be, to gorgeous gift baskets and adorable hand painted rocking chairs, the site promises to be a true one stop shopping destination for anyone looking for baby related gifts and baby baskets. Oh Baby! Gifts was founded by Miriam Eichenstein, a new mother who hated the fact that she couldn't get everything baby related in one place and that many of the gifts she found at typical outlets weren't as well made as she would have liked.She set out to create a store that would offer the kinds of gifts she'd be proud...
Gifts > It's a boy! It's a girl! It's Oh Baby! Website offers instant, terrific baby gifts with panache
New Website Delivers Gifts for Career-Driven Women
(ContentDesk) August 3, 2005 -- Today's multi-tasking moms have little time to shop for the perfect gift, let alone wrap it, select a card and then bundle it all up and deliver it. Many women spend their lunch hours gift shopping or rushing out to the store between Billy's cub scout meeting and Susie's ballet lesson.Metro Moms is here to give women a break and some really cool gifts at the click of a mouse. A new idea in e-commerce, Metromomsinmotion.com's interface is easy to navigate and features secure web and phone transactions.
Non web-savvy moms can call via a toll free order line ? 888-moms-gifts ? which also answers questions or inquiries. Users can also develop ?gift-lists' where users create secure lists of friends and family for future one-click gift giving.
The carefully selected gifts include desk art, gifts for the golfer, gifts for the home and gifts for virtually everyone on your list! For a complete list of gifts you can browse the web site or request...
New Website Delivers Gifts for Career-Driven Women
Gifts > New Website Delivers Gifts for Career-Driven Women
Traditional Bridal Shower Gifts
The tradition of hosting a bridal shower for the bride to be grew out of a desire of the friends and family of the bride to get to know each other better, strengthen the bonds between new friends and offer moral support and assistance with marriage planning for the new brie. The idea of offering bridal shower gifts did not actually surface until some time in the late 19th century. Prior to this time, traditionally, a young woman would come into a marriage with a dowry intended to help a new family set up their home.Legend has it that the very first bridal shower originated in Holland when a young Dutch girl fell in love with a poor miller and the two had no money to set up her home. The girl's father refused to support her marriage to the poor miller, despite the fact that he had spent a lifetime helping those needier than he. Because the bride had no dowry due to her angry father, friends of the bride and groom joined together to shower the couple with gifts to help them set up their...
Traditional Bridal Shower Gifts
Gifts > Traditional Bridal Shower Gifts
Traditional Bridal Shower Gifts
The tradition of hosting a bridal shower for the bride to be grew out of a desire of the friends and family of the bride to get to know each other better, strengthen the bonds between new friends and offer moral support and assistance with marriage planning for the new brie. The idea of offering bridal shower gifts did not actually surface until some time in the late 19th century. Prior to this time, traditionally, a young woman would come into a marriage with a dowry intended to help a new family set up their home.Legend has it that the very first bridal shower originated in Holland when a young Dutch girl fell in love with a poor miller and the two had no money to set up her home. The girl's father refused to support her marriage to the poor miller, despite the fact that he had spent a lifetime helping those needier than he. Because the bride had no dowry due to her angry father, friends of the bride and groom joined together to shower the couple with gifts to help them set up their...
Traditional Bridal Shower Gifts
Gifts > Traditional Bridal Shower Gifts
Hiking with Children
There is nothing quite like hiking with small children. The thrill of introducing these young ones to the wonder of nature is matched only by their eyes as they take it all in. If you follow a few simple rules when hiking with children, things go extremely well. Forget these simple rules and your treks with the young can be a recipe for disaster.The first thing to remember is that young ones don't understand or know the dangers of a trail that might seem the most basic of realities to anyone...
fruit baskets Fleeting Gifts Hiking with Children
Gifts > Hiking with Children