It’s the holiday season, and you know what that means – hot cocoa, a chill in the air, Christmas songs in the grocery store, and doorbusters. So many busted doors. Ads fall like snowflakes telling us about all the amazing deals that we just absolutely need to take advantage of. We need to wake up at 3 in the morning, trek to the nearest big box store and elbow our way through the gathering crowd to get our hands on this amazing opportunity. The problem with this is that after fighting off rabid, pre-dawn shoppers, we’re left with the same Christmas gift as everyone else in the shopping mob. What we really need to be fighting for are unique Christmas gifts.
The doorbuster deals are awesome, I won’t dispute that. But they’re rarely for items that make for unique Christmas gifts. Giving a new TV will probably elicit some giant smiles, but it will not stand the test of time. It will be forgotten because a new line of TVs come out every year, and the one you gave will be obsolete by next Christmas.
But unique Christmas gifts endure. They become precious memories unto themselves, like those homemade ornaments hanging on your parents’ Christmas tree that you made in Kindergarten. They will always be tied to you and will always be thought of fondly.
Amazing unique Christmas gifts are something that only you could give, and only the recipient could get. Something that could only exist because the two of you exist. Like a custom comic book. You can tailor the story to your loved one. Illustrate an anecdote or memory you share, include some inside jokes, toss in some details that only mean something to the two of you. That gift will endure the test of time, and you won’t need to wake up before the son to get it.