Gift Fatigue

Once upon a time, I was a decent gift-giver. Not the best, but certainly decent with people I knew well. I walked through toy stores or picked out outfits. And I believe most people were happy. And if they weren’t, they didn’t tell me, so I’m choosing to believe they were.

But in the past few years, I’ve moved to checks. Not even Visa gift cards. Or store gift cards. I’ve gone straight to checks, which may be the most unexciting thing you can give a child. Or even some adults. But that’s what we’ve done unless the person tells me, “I want this exact thing” or something like that.

I think the check thing is kind. I mean, a gift card means they now need to track a physical or digital card. While they may feel guilty spending money on something when they use a check vs. a gift card, I feel like that’s a small price to pay for the convenience of getting to make a choice on their own timeline whenever they need something fun in their life.

Maybe I’ll loop back to the fun side of gift-giving. I still do get physical things when I see something and think of the other person. But that’s different from gifting on command; gifting in a specific moment because it’s a holiday or birthday.

Clearly trying to be okay with this.