Five Gifts That Never Fail

A good gift says “I took the time to find you something special.” An even better gift says “It took me no time at all to find you something special!” This year I’ve banished my ghosts of Christmas past––those haunted seasons spent standing in interminable lines, dodging shoppers, and falling flat on my face with pricey gifts. This Holiday season, I’m falling back on my old reliables.

See, I’ve overcomplicated this gift-giving process. For some reason––I’m not lying down here but it may have something to do with Martha Stewart and Oprah Winfrey––I’ve fallen into the trap of thinking that the obvious gift is the easy way out. My sister loves pajamas, but do I buy her a cute new pair? No, that’d be the obvious gift. I buy her a pair of high-tech running shoes to track her distance, speed, and calories burned. Can she cozy up on the couch with these shoes? No. Will these shoes bring her comfort after a long day? No, in fact they’ll probably haunt her, not help her.

I push myself to go to great lengths to make people happy, when the truth is most people on my list are easily pleased. In my years of overachieving in the gift department, I’ve disregarded the gifts that never fail. This year, I’m coming to regard them for the simple pleasures that they are. I’m also coming to realize that there is such a thing as a one-size-fits-all present––that still feels one-of-a-kind.

Pajamas

You just can’t go wrong with pajamas. My sister buys pajamas for my sons every year and they never fail to please, even as the kids get older. Her trick is to tailor the PJs to the kid’s current interests. One year she gave Bob the Builder pajamas, another year it was Batman pajamas, then Spiderman, skateboarder, alphabet, and this year The New York Yankees pajamas. The beauty of pajamas as a gift is that they come in every fabric, color, and size so they can create warm fuzzy feelings for almost everyone––little or not-so-little––on your list.