Someone mentioned these fidget things (I am remembering it was Suzanne but let me know if it was you instead), and I bought two. I collect stocking stuffers throughout the year, so it’s hard to know who has how much of what. When I’m organizing all the stocking stuffer stuff near Christmas, I’ll give the fidgets to whichever two stockings look understuffed. The kids all pretty much pass around all the little toy things anyway.
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I am having a silly problem, and it is this: I like to let my hair air-dry for awhile before I put it up, so I bring a hair elastic (actually one of the kind that look like a loop of phone cord) (oooh, actually that’s another good stocking stuffer idea)…
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…downstairs with me after showering/dressing, and put my hair up later at my computer. Then I need to go back up to the bathroom to check it in the mirror, using a little extra mirror so I can see the sides and back; but often by then Paul is in the bathroom, and I need to leave for work so I can’t wait around. This is such a long and boring story. Anyway, all I need is another little mirror to keep at my desk, and then I can check my hair in any OTHER house mirror. But this is a silly little problem NEAR CHRISTMAS, so this pretty little peacock mirror is going in my Christmas stocking:
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Also it is a nice upgrade from my upstairs-bathroom accessory mirror, which is an old empty Cover Girl powder compact.
Priorities is an interesting getting-to-know-you game, and I think it works best in a group where people know each other in different ways: where some people are MARRIED OR DATING, some people are SIBLINGS, some people are PARENTS/CHILDREN, some people are IN-LAWS—so I think it would be perfect, or possibly catastrophic, as a holiday get-together game.
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One person is “It,” and that person secretly ranks five randomly-dealt cards (which say things such as “broccoli,” “France,” “new socks,” “the ultra-wealthy,” “licorice,” “amusement parks,” “glitter”) in order, favorite to least-favorite. Then everyone else argues about what order they think that person secretly chose. You get some interesting discussions going, and you have to decide which players you think might know that person better on the topic of, say, “traveling light”: his GIRLFRIEND or his SISTER??, etc.
At the kids’ colleges, people are playing this ridiculous clothespin game. It seems like the whole game is that you try to secretly clip a clothespin to someone? Anyway, I bought these rainbow clothespins:
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I bought one set to distribute among stockings, and another set for myself: we use clothespins as bag/chip clips, and these are prettier than the plain clothespins we’ve been using.
I have a kid who (1) files his nails and (2) likes Keith Haring’s art, so this Keith Haring nail file set is going in his stocking:
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I bought this set of multicolored charging blocks for stocking stuffers:
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It would be distressing that there were only four nice colorful ones, except that Henry is in a phase of ALWAYS choosing black, so that’s all set.
Do you have people in your life who are losing their minds over the current attempted takeover of the U.S. government by far-right Christian nationalists and/or fascists? They might enjoy this collection of essays by A.R. Moxon:
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I have purchased it for half a dozen people so far.
Elizabeth and I were searching for something else when we happened upon this giraffe frame, and she immediately fixated on it. “What kind of picture would you put in it??,” she wondered. “WEDDING picture? GRADUATION picture? BOYFRIEND/GIRLFRIEND?? Picture of someone feeding a giraffe??”
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So I bought it for her. She can figure out what kind of picture to put into it.
I am in favor of politically-active nail polish, and also I like this color:
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Last Christmas, Henry wanted some work boots. I chose these, with some nervousness (it can be difficult for a middle-aged person to know what will be cool to a teenager):
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And they’ve been great! He’s been wearing them for nearly a year and even as they’ve gotten a rough breaking-in (he is NOT careful with them, and wore them to walk to school in the snow/rain), they’ve continued to look good (in, as you’d imagine, a more broken-in way).
I am loving these posts! I’ve already added many things to my Amaz0n cart that I will try to find elsewhere. Last year, we got the game Worst Case Scenario, which is similar to Priorities. One player ranks 5 scenarios, ranging from horrible to silly (chased by a bear, eat a box of maggots, lose your memory (not as unlikely as you get older 😞)) and the other players try to guess the ranking. It’s kind of fun with family, when you know someone is very afraid of bugs, or thinks they’re a big tough guy who could last in a boxing ring 🙄. I’m here for more game recommendations, everyone!!
I brought my sister (gamer) the Stardew Valley board game this year. Hopefully she (and the rest of use) will like playing it!
These posts are so fun!
My kid still loves that fidget! I am excited by Priorities – sounds like fun!
I HAVE a picture of my older child feeding a giraffe at the Cincinnati Zoo! Who knew the perfect frame existed for that?!
I love that you bought the giraffe frame for her after that conversation.
ME TOO.
This is a fantastic post. I have gotten my son to agree to trying smoothies for breakfast and was looking at a device to make that easy. My husband of course said “can’t you just use something we already have?” Sure, the world’s loudest immersion blender or the GIGANTIC Margaritaville blender that we haven’t used in 15 years are very convenient options. Ahem. Anyway. The hand warmers also look very nice!
College clothespins – interesting because it’s been a thing in girls sports for awhile except you write words of affirmation and decorate the clothespins, then attach to girls’ hair/bags/uniforms – preferably girls from other teams without them noticing. I’ve seen it in softball and volleyball. I think it is a very cute community game! Some of the words of affirmation are, um, interesting. A kid I know got one that said “I like your tan”. But they are mostly “nice at bat today!” “Good Luck” “play your best” kind of thing.
I will be ordering a few – thanks!
As someone who went to university in a drinking-heavy cohort, that is NOT what the clothespin game used to be.
I have questions!!!!
It’s so nice of you to recommend Andrew’s book! Fwiw, he has an agreement with our local bookstore and if you purchase through them, he’ll do any dedication you’d like (or he’ll choose it if you’d prefer to be suprised). It’s https://www.schulerbooks.com/ and you’d need to choose the GR one. It’s cutting it close this year, but file it away for the future! He’s happy to do it!