It's the thought that counts

They say that it’s the thought that counts and with the continuing credit crunch putting pressure on us to make each of our hard earned cents count it is just as well they are right.  Thoughtful presents don’t have to be expensive but there can be a fine line between a present looking inexpensive and it looking cheap, especially if you don’t know the person you are buying the present for that well, but really want to get to know them better!

So let me give you my definition of a thoughtful present.  It is a present in which the giver has invested a little bit of him or herself and this investment shows itself to the recipient.  So let me give you an example, when I first left home to go to college my grandmother gave me a pretty tin which had previously contained some toffees – a used toffee tin might not seem like much of a present to you even if it is pretty but to me it is one of my most treasured possessions.  What made the present special was the investment my grandmother made in filling it.  She filled it with various bits and pieces to make it into a sewing box.  Some of the items were new like my tape measure and the scissors but many of the items were parts of her collection of threads, cottons and buttons which she had built up over a large number of years.  I may not use my sewing box that often but each time I see it in the cupboard it brings back very fond memories of my grandmother.

Giving thoughtful presents is a journey for the giver.  In own example I can see my grandmother carefully choosing the tin to use as my sewing box and then writing a list of the things that would need to go in the box and working out which items she would need to buy and which items she would provide.  I can also picture her sitting in her favourite chair going through her own much larger sewing box deciding which items to include in my gift and which to keep.  I know that many of the items in her sewing box held many special memories for her and I am certain that she would have got a great deal of pleasure as she sorted..