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Putting The Nostalgia Back Into Gift Giving

Author Nicki CawoodPosted on
Putting The Nostalgia Back Into Gift Giving

Gift giving is very much on my mind at the moment. It’s Father’s Day next weekend and our eldest turns thirteen in July. The options for gifts these days is phenomenal. It’s no longer a case of popping to the shop There are online shops, sure but it’s more than that. Nowadays people give vouchers and giftcards, kids ask for points or whatever they want for their latest digital game and I sometimes we’ve become a little disconnected from the art and joy of gift giving.

The sheer joy of unwrapping a beautifully packaged box complete with gift tag and bow has faded away as people have become more enamoured with their smartphones, laptops and tablet screens. This is not something we can say happens only with the younger generation either. Us grown-ups are just as bad. We all get a warm feeling in the pit of our bellies when we remember unwrapping our first bicycle or the teddy bear we ached for. We need to try and inject some of that joy and enthusiasm into the youth of today. It doesn’t have to mean moving away from less traditional gift giving but it won’t hurt to mix things up a bit. Take a look at how you can put the nostalgia back into gift giving.

Traditional Toys

We are an incredibly geeky family, being Dungeons and Dragons players and so on. We love our board games as not only they get you thinking, they are great for encouraging quality family time. Although they might not say it, your offspring love nothing more than spending time with their parents. Whether it’s heading outdoors for a picnic, venturing off on a holiday or simply spending some time together playing games, kids adore being with their parents. They’d never admit it but we know even our Kevin and Perry teens like us (most of the time).

For gift giving you could choose a traditional board game to prompt some quality family time or more modern alternatives. Alternatively, you could choose to explore the world of ravensburger jigsaws. These incredible puzzles are real brain teasers with some jigsaws going up to forty thousand pieces. I have to admit that I am terrible at jigsaws but perhaps a family one would be a good idea?

Experiential Gift Giving

Sometimes a physical gift just won’t cut it. That doesn’t mean you have to retreat to money or the online world yet again. Instead, look at experiential gifts. These can result in the most wonderful days that lend themselves to quality family time and memory making moments. If you have a son or daughter who adores animals, why not purchase a zookeeper experience for them. A friend of ours did this with his new wife for their honeymoon and loved it. They could end up spending the day feeding the penguins or playing with meerkats. If your children (or big kid) is a  mini adrenaline junkie, you could look into go karting, a rock climbing experience or a white water rapid ride. These experiences are out of the ordinary and unusual. They are special and are the perfect way to give a bespoke gift to someone that you love.

Parties

We are those parents who don’ do birthday parties. If we did though we would sit down with the children and let them know what our budget is (not actual pounds and pence, more managing expectations) and use this to let them choose what we’d do (within reason). We might choose bowling, go swimming or venture to a park and have a birthday barbecue. I’d probably choose some fun and quirky goody bag gifts even if we didn’t opt for a traditional party.

Retro Gift Giving

The concept of all things retro and vintage is on trend at the moment. As we accelerate forwards with our technological advancements, we yearn for the more familiar, more straightforward entertainment options. We’re introducing the kids to some of our old video game consoles. A SNES with a 2D platform game like Mario or Donkey Kong could be ideal if you want to show your kids just how good you were in the arcade back in the day. Perhaps you were more into the Sega games. Sonic and Zelda could be played on the Mega Drive or the handheld Gamegear. I was overjoyed to see that the Commodore 64 was coming back. I want to see how they react to having to wait for the games to load up.

Gift Giving: In Summary

I’m definitely going to be adding the nostalgia factor into my gift giving from now on, alongside the more modern bits and pieces. This is for children and the grown-ups! What about you? What’s the best gift related memory you have from when you were younger?

 

In Family Time, General

Supporting Children Through Loss

Author Nicki CawoodPosted on
Supporting Children Through Loss

Loss is difficult for all of us. When we lose someone that we love, it’s hard to understand, we feel a conflicting range of emotions, and it can be hard to just carry on with “normal” life. For children, it can be even harder which is why supporting children through loss as best you can is so important.

Touch wood and all of that, my two haven’t be touched by a bereavement yet. It is bound to happen at some point and as these things usually happen without notice we’ve had to talk between ourselves as parents about how we will handle such a situation.

Losing someone that you love is horrible, but at least as adults, we’re able to comprehend what has happened. For kids, the idea of someone never coming back can be hard to understand. Unfortunately, however, it’s an unavoidable thing. If you are lucky, your child’s first loss will happen when they are a little older and able to understand better, but there’s never going to be a good time. Here are some tips to help you help them at such a difficult time.

Supporting Children Through Loss: Use Simple Words

When talking about death, try not to overcomplicate things. You might have a lot of questions yourself, and you might spend time trying to understand what has happened, but your children don’t need these added burdens. Explain that someone has passed away and that you won’t be able to see them anymore. If you can, try to relate it to things that they do understand, perhaps something that they might have seen on TV, or the death of a family pet.

Talk About Your Own Feelings

Your child might never have experienced any emotions like these, or sadness on this level. They can find it confusing, and wonder if what they are feeling is right. Bottling up your own feelings, and hiding your sadness will only make things worse.

Don’t feel like you have to be strong for them. It’s actually more helpful to show them how you feel when supporting children through loss. Talk about how you grieve, and the things that you feel, rant if you need to. But also spend time remembering the person together. Talk about them, share stories and memories and make sure they know that this is ok. Death doesn’t have to mean that that person can’t still be a part of our lives. That’s how we are choosing to look at someone special passing on.

Talk About the Next Steps

Whether you want your child to attend the funeral is up to you. Your decision should be based on their age, how much they understand, and their own feelings about it. Either way, it’s a good idea to talk about the funeral, and what happens next. Tell them about headstones and funeral traditions. Explain what happens and what it means. Give them an idea of what different people believe, as well as your own beliefs, without forcing any upon them.

It’s also a good idea to talk about the wake (if this is something that your family is likely to do). Tell them that friends and family come together to share their memories and celebrate the life of the lost. Let them know that many people find this comforting, and it can be the start of feeling better. Tell them that it is ok to be happy and to laugh if they want to.

Answer Their Questions

Your child is bound to have a lot of questions. Be honest with them and answer what you can. If they ask something that you don’t know, or about something that you don’t believe, ask if they want to research together.

We’ve looked at supporting children through loss as a topic a fair bit and these are the important points that stand out to us too. Hopefully none of us will have to use any of these methods any time soon.

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