Four Gifts: A Simpler Way to Give

Are you scaling back your holidays or going full Hallmark movie level celebration?

The Four Gifts idea has been around for a while and with everyone doing more online shopping this year, simple is more relevant than ever. I started this approach for our family years ago. With four twenty-something-year-olds, two more added by marriage, and two grandchildren, my shopping list gets pretty long.

When they were younger, some of our kids didn’t enjoy reading for pleasure. In college, they had limited time to read anything besides a textbook. If your kids are like mine, don’t give up! Get creative with what counts as “reading.”

• Get a magazine subscription in an area of interest.
• Or a cookbook for someone just starting out on their own or experimenting with a new eating plan.
• Or a non-fiction guide to their hobby.
• Find something that inspires, even if it’s a short book of quotes or daily meditations.
• Give a blank lined journal to a budding writer. Bonus points if it has a clasp or lock!

Even reluctant readers have subjects they like to READ.

I’ll be honest, sometimes I stretch the definitions a bit. Like maybe my son needs shoes and a jacket. So one fits the WEAR category and one fits the NEED group. Or maybe he needs two pair of jeans, whatever. Be flexible and creative. Follow the four gifts limit, and you’ll have less time shopping, it’s easier to stick to a budget, and there’s less wrapping and cleanup.

After a year or two, everyone expects to receive four things and one of them is a book. Now, our kids tell me ahead of time their wish list of favorite authors or titles they want to read next.

What’s on my wish list this year? I can’t wait to read Janet Evanovich’s latest book, Fortune and Glory! John Grisham has a new one out called A Time for Mercy. Do I NEED new books? My Want-to-Read pile is huge, but there’s always room for the best-selling new releases, right?

Need Shopping Help? Here’s my picks for fun reading-related gifts

First published December, 2019. Updated December 3, 2020.

Kelly Brakenhoff is an American Sign Language interpreter and the author of the Cassandra Sato Mystery Series, including Dead End, Death by Dissertation, Dead Week, and Dead of Winter Break. She also writes a children’s picture book series with two books, Never Mind and Farts Make Noise, featuring Duke the Deaf Dog.