HOW TO GIVE BLESSINGS, NOT CLUTTER

'Tis the season to shop for useless gifts that the recipients will pretend to like and hide in a high closet shelf once the holidays are over.

That about sums up America's holiday gift-giving frenzy, which officially kicks off in six days.

But it doesn't have to be that way this year...or ever again, as far are you are concerned. It's time to declutter your gift-giving, starting this season. Here are some great ideas for giving smashing gifts the recipients will adore:

1. Ask them what they want! This is by far the easiest way to ensure that the recipient loves the gift you give her. After all, she picked it out.

2. Look at their hobbies and interests for clues. If your best friend loves the cinema, give her a gift card to her favorite cinema and one for a coffee shop afterward. If your mother collects bells, pick one up to add to her collection. Basic idea, but it's amazing how few people actually follow this anymore because it seems so boring or predictable: The old "give dad a tie" kind of gift. Hey, if your dad wears ties, what's wrong with giving him another one?

3. Give gifts to honor their values. Make a donation in her name to her favorite charitable cause. No clutter, much love, and the world becomes a better place instead of a more cluttered one.

4. Give the gift of time spent together. Take a child to go ice skating or to the zoo. Bring a friend to see The Nutcracker. Take an angst-y teen to a movie and buy him the huge bucket of popcorn and an extra-large soda. Take an elderly person to see the ice sculpture contest or garden Christmas light display. Drive the carpool for a bunch of friends to attend a craft show and bring along a few mugs of hot cocoa and iced sugar cookies.

5. Give a disposable or consumable gift. Things such as cut flowers, a plate of gingerbread cookies, a tin of fudge you made yourself, a poinsettia, a jar of exotic preserves or jelly, or a fresh evergreen door wreath will still honor the recipient and leave no trace of clutter after the holidays.

6. Make something. We have become a nation of consumers instead of producers. This year, try making just one of the gifts you give. There are so many ideas out there, and more inside that creative brain of yours. Here are just a few ideas to get your creative gears in motion: a set of six handmade greeting cards, a small scrapbook, pumpkin bread, fresh salsa, a quilted wall hanging, a wreath from trimmings in your yard, a plant you started from a cutting, a beaded necklace, a silk screened scarf, a photo you took and framed yourself, a hand-bound journal, pressed and framed botanicals, felt beret, knitted or crocheted scarf, hand-poured candles, a CD of photos, a wind chime, a 12-month calendar you designed on your computer, and a bird house you hammered together yourself.

7. Subscribe. Purchase a year's subscription to a periodical based on the recipient's interests (bass fishing, gardening, simplicity). There are thousands of periodicals in this country covering almost every conceivable topic. Or purchase a subscription to a magazine you BOTH enjoy, and that will give you more to talk about each time you see eachother.

8. Give a service. Pay to have your brother's house cleaned since the arrival of his first child this year. Arrange a massage, pedicure, or hair cut and style for your best friend. Repot all your mother's scraggly plants. Take your husband's car to get the oil changed (not very romantic, but most busy men will secretly love the fact that they don't have to crawl under their car and do it themselves for a change).

9. Give a party. Truly, the easiest way to celebrate your friends' presence in your lives is to give them a holiday party. Make it an open house on a Saturday like I do, and people can drop by when it's convenient for them. Serve hot cider and cocoa, gingerbread cookies, crudites, and some savory little treats, and bless all your friends in one delightful afternoon.

This holiday season, give gifts of blessings, not clutter! Merry Christmas!

WHAT ORGANIZATION CAN DO FOR YOUR KIDS

Maintaining an organized home has many benefits for you and your children: less stress over misplaced items, less rushing in the mornings to locate clean socks and math notebooks, and family dinners around a cleared-off dining table.

But there are even more benefits to living in an orderly home environment: a strong correlation exists between household cleanliness and organization AND early reading ability.

Did you get that?! The way you maintain your home affects your school-aged child's reading ability. In a study by the National Center for Children and Families at Teachers College in New York City, household order proved to be MORE IMPORTANT to fostering a child's reading ability than how frequently a child was read to.*

Surprise! Taking out the trash, keeping your kitchen counters clean, organizing the pantry, folding bath towels, and hanging up clothing are more important to your child's literacy than sitting down and reading to them. That's not to say you should stop reading aloud to your children--sharing stories and time together is very important--but isn't it amazing that the way you keep your home affects their reading skills more than books do?

Why not include your children in organizing and cleaning your home, and read a book together afterward? You'll get the best of both worlds.



*"Order Helps Readers," WORKING MOTHER Magazine, November 2009: Pg. 68