By Traci S. Sanders

A present every month! If I had told my children this when they were younger, they would have been (in order): ecstatic, reflective, doubtful. As my son liked to say: “What’s the catch?” And here it is: One present a month…including December.

When my friend told me this great idea, if was one week after Christmas. And while I love buying gifts – often highly “recommended” by the recipient – they all come at once.

As much as I’d love to say I remember every gift ever received at Christmas, I can’t; neither can my children. Yet, when I think of a gift my son or daughter chose when we spent time together; in essence, when we made a memory, then, well…that’s a gift in itself.

There is one exception – books exist outside this rule. If my children wanted to buy a book, I never said no. And I never regretted it. Those books are often some of their favorites, and the ones that sit on their shelves long after they stop reading them. 

So, back to the present…

I love this idea for a lot of reasons, but my favorite is that it reminds me that the gifts we never return and never forget, indeed, those we cherish the most, are the traditions we share and the moments we hold. 

So, as your child chooses the “perfect” present each month, enjoy this time. Even if the present breaks, shrinks, rips, disappears, or gets ignored, the most important gift remains…

Enjoy!