Every year I want to do gift-idea posts, and I wait too long and run out of time. Or I keep finding ideas I can’t post, because too many recipients are here. This year I am going to post some gift ideas I used LAST year, which are no longer spoilers. I am going to use Amaz0n links mostly, because it is easy and gets me photos, but I am very keen on the idea of “see it here, buy it elsewhere/local instead.” I am going to list ideas until I get tired, and then start another post with more ideas.

 

I have a family member who is very keen on a bird-identification app, and I tried to use it too because it seems like real-life Pokemon Go, but I couldn’t get it to work on my phone. Anyway, I bought these bird flash cards from the makers of that app, for that friend:

 

Paul wanted The Annotated Wizard of Oz:

He also has The Annotated Alice in Wonderland, and I have annotated Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Emma, Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey, and Persuasion. I have to be in the right frame of mind to read an annotated book—but when I am, it feels like all the pleasant parts of taking a little class in something I’m interested in. I feel studious, and interested, and as if I am Bettering My Mind.

 

Last year Elizabeth asked for something that would let her watch DVDs using her laptop. I asked my dad, who is the family maven, if he would be willing to research this for me, and I should have known he would already know of just the right thing:

I don’t use it, so I don’t know exactly how it works, but I guess it connects to your laptop and lets you watch DVDs, since that is what Elizabeth wanted it to do. I was going to get one for freshman-college-student Henry this Christmas, but he mentioned there’s a DVD player on his dorm floor and people already have a habit of gathering there to watch whatever DVDs anyone can round up. So instead I got him a huge pile of DVDs that the library was getting rid of.

 

My mom wanted an ornament that looked like their ridiculous spoiled baby of a tuxedo cat, and I bought this crocheted amigurumi cat (the one on the right) from ZattaCreations on Etsy:

She has tons of other ornaments, and I recommend ordering early—not only to give them time to ship, but also because last year the price gradually went up as Christmas neared. As I type this, the price is $17, which is the lowest price I saw last year before it started going up. I can imagine being an Etsy seller and trying to figure out how much more valuable my time gets as we get closer to the holiday, and how much the price of the product needs to go up for me to be willing to rush around packaging things up and then fighting my way to the post office, when I have my own holiday prep to do.

 

My dad wanted a t-shirt from his local library, but his local library doesn’t seem to sell them (or at least not online), so I got this Support Your Local Library t-shirt instead:

It also comes in a women’s fit. I’ve bought many of these Amaz0n merch-on-demand shirts for myself, and for sizing purposes I can tell you that I like an XXL Tall in Old Navy, and I wear a women’s XXL in Amaz0n merch-on-demand. An XL fits me more flatteringly, but I like a roomier fit for work where I’m moving/bending/reaching a lot.

I don’t know if you know how much stress libraries are under with this administration. Not only is our funding threatened, but there are constant assaults on books that involve “””DEI/LGBTQA+ issues.””” We also have “First Amendment” activists coming in with video cameras, recording us and trying to provoke us into a reaction. And now we have a new “parental rights” law to contend with.

If you don’t have a library card, you can help your library out by getting one: it helps to show that people are using the services. It’s an errand that’ll take you about 5 minutes if you have a driver’s license with your library’s town on it.

 

Two of the kids asked for and received a pomodoro timer:

It’s a time-management device. As I understand it, you flip it to how much time you want to spend on something: a video game, a homework assignment, a chore. When it rings, you stop, and flip it to how much time you want to spend on your next thing. There are a bunch of different designs. William’s been using his constantly since last Christmas. (Rob maybe has been, too, but he doesn’t live with us so I can’t testify.)

 

Speaking of William, we have pretty much committed to getting him one pair of these bogglingly expensive L.L. Bean flannel pajama pants each year, because he is very very tall and these are the only ones that have a long-enough inseam (he says other brands’ talls are not as tall, even if they say they are):

We have the L.L. Bean credit card, which means we get free shipping and also means we gradually accrue points, which means by the end of the year I can usually get a pair of pajama pants either for free or for a really good discount; also, certain plaids will go on sale, and there is usually a sale near Christmas. STILL.

By the way, if you are sending a child to college and you want them to have access to a credit card for emergencies and for authorized expenses, L.L. Bean is the one we eventually settled on—to my surprise, since we originally got the card ourselves only for the free shipping. The account-holder can add up to five people allowed to use the same account, but each person has their own card with their own name and own number. All the charges come to the account-holder (in this case, me), broken down by who spent what and where. So for example if a college child spends money on concert tickets instead of on textbooks and Tylenol, I am on them like a duck on a june bug. Initially we tried to share a different credit card; and although it let us add a child, that child’s spending was mixed in with ours and I felt as if I was going to lose my mind trying to figure out what was a legitimate charge and what wasn’t.

 

Henry asked for Bea Wolf and it did not disappoint:

It’s a graphic novel retelling of Beowulf, for middle-grade kids. Henry was a high school senior at the time, but that did not dim his enjoyment. But also he is an English major, so.

 

Last year, one of my regrets is that I did not have/make time to do my new Eurographics Christmas Doughnuts puzzle; this year I am DETERMINED to prioritize it. I mention it in case you want to be puzzle twins with me:

If you prefer a more difficult puzzle, I can say that the Eurographics Sweet Christmas puzzle was one level above my ability to do, while still being very good. One of Henry’s friends had to help me. (Henry ran a weekly D&D group, and every week this friend would arrive a little early and work on the puzzle. It was the only way I got it done. All that brown and tan!! all that cream-colored background!!)