...gifts are a funny thing.

Gifts are a funny thing. They say the best are those we want to keep ourselves, but in the case of my personal taste the recipient might not feel quite the same way. I would argue on the side of sentimentality, that the best gifts are those that have some value beyond the object itself. Indeed, to me the perfect gift can be some odd, valueless thing...

Maybe it is a reminder of a moment, some token of a day well spent, maybe it can be something castoff by another, it can be used, old, new, an object from nature (in fact, one of my fave gifts ever is the empty wasps' nest in the above photo...I know...odd...but hubby knew I would love it.)

So, this concept of deciding what value is, and thus what makes a wonderful gift...is a tough concept to offer up to many, especially a kid. On top of that, two of my three children have birthdays so close to Christmas that the haze of festivities for one kid's special day blurs into the other, much less the tinsel and lights. Try as we might, it's tough to keep them distinct celebrations.

So I reach for the odd gift. I try to give something really different to each of my kids on their birthdays to mark the day...and I hope that they understand the depth of sentiment attached to the token of my affection.

This year Charlotte, an avid reader, scored a funky "reading chair" for her 8th birthday.

Here it is as we found it...me and Kath, Robin and Denny went AWOL and ran down to Lafayette for pie and a few hours of junk hunting. In this little shop filled to the brim with the old and dusty, was this chair...puke green...or acid yellow, depending on your opinion...strutting its overstuffed and unloved self in a maze of glass wear and heavy mahogany.


We nabbed it for a true bargain of a price -- the shop attendant commenting on its homely nature and how long it had been there. I suppose it was waiting for me.

And then, it was waiting in her room when she arrived home from school that day. I told her she would remember her 8th birthday even when she was an old lady, and that she would have her chair forever; it would become more special with each book she reads in its arms.

She gets it. The whole kit and kaboodle, and she loves her gift. And I love her all the more for it. Happy Birthday dear one.


I am reminded, the greatest gifts are those that help us find something beautiful in the everyday, and give us the chance to make a good memory.

xxoo Jen
Earth Angels