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Welcome to the third annual Downtime gifting hotline, where I answer your most pressing gifting dilemmas. The entries this year were GOOD. Many of them made me chuckle. Some of them made me scratch my head. But in the end, I think we did it: a bunch of delightful gift ideas for the hardest-to-shop-for people in your life.
The new mom living in gym clothes and craving a glow-up.
A thing-hating, gifts-of-service-loving husband.
And beyond the paywall, ideas for…
The zebra-loving, 8-year-old Swiftie who’s moved beyond the toy aisle.
The workaholic, holiday-obsessed, efficiency-loving super-MIL.
The active, almost two-year-old who has clutter-averse parents.
The active, outdoorsy husband and new dad with a green thumb who buys whatever he needs.
The dad who isn’t into sports, drinking, or WW2 documentaries.
The overseas mom who loves her grandkids.
Your new neighbors (when you’re the newbie).
The not-so-fancy but still really cool, quirky mom.
The fancy sister with fancy taste—but you’re on a budget.
WHEW. Thanks to everyone who sent in a question. LET’S DO THIS.
x Alisha
PS - I’m giving away a Downtime Collection candle trio set to the paid sub who sent in what I thought was the best/funniest question. Scroll all the way down to see the winner!
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Gifts for the travel-loving MIL who doesn’t want any “stuff”
My mother-in-law is a clutter-free queen and does not like to receive physical items that will inevitably collect dust in her home. After years of holidays, I feel I’m running out of “experience” and “consumable” gifts for her.
She is a mother of six (!) adult kids. (No grandkids, yet…) Very practical, habitual and “Type A.” She is an *amazing* planner and keeper of the complicated family calendar. I suspect her love languages are acts of service and time spent together.
She loves watching the news, going on her daily walks, red wine, learning about things (she reads a lot of science, history, and other nonfiction books), playing euchre with friends, swimming, yoga.
She loves traveling and planning a family trip — the next one is likely National Parks or somewhere in South America. She cooks a lot and is occasionally in the garden, but I think those are more necessity than passion… She is very into the circular economy and loves to have things repaired rather than replaced.
We adore her! I’ve already done magazine subscriptions, restaurant gift cards, manicures, candies, coffee samplers… but I’d love to find a more surprising and exciting experience/consumable I could gift her.
If you’re short on time and she’s into audiobooks, a Libro.fm gift card and some book recommendations could be a great companion for her daily walks. And if she doesn’t have a nice set of bluetooth earbuds yet, I’ve heard these are good and stay in your ears better than others.
Here are more ideas for your mom from our subscriber chat:
“Have you tried a Chatbooks subscription? My mom got the hang of it quickly (which is saying something) and now is obsessed with the photo books (that she chose!) of all her grandkids. Should also add that she made an entire one for her grand dogs and shows it to all of her friends. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.” —Courtney [Editor’s Note: I have a Chatbooks subscription and it’s such a good way to make use of all the baby pics I have on my phone!]
“Could you plan a day to do something together? A class/volunteering/museum, and lunch. I’d love someone to do this for me!” —Gillian
Coworkers of all stripes, on a $20 or under budget.
My office white elephant gift exchange! Every year, I struggle to find something. The dollar limit is always $20. I always want it to be something appealing that the very different people in my office would fight over, but it’s so hard! Google searches keep showing the same options over and over.
Okay, I think for an office exchange, it’s nice to go with something practical but also delightful and slightly unhinged for the laughs.
Some pretty fish chip clips! Always weirdly a hit. ($3 each)
Something funky and slightly unhinged that you found at your local thrift store, on eBay, or on Etsy, like these socks with dachshunds embroidered on them??
The new mom living in gym clothes and craving a glow-up.
Gym rat older sister who just had a 2nd baby, so clothes are a no-go, doesn’t enjoy dining out or experiences, has every piece of gym equipment/water bottle known to man, but wants to feel effortlessly pretty (with her hair in a top bun), doesn’t have personal style other than gym clothes. 🙂
I’d lean into self-care and easy/effortless makeup or skincare products here:
A nice sleep mask. I’ve had this one for over 5 years and still love it and use it every night. Silky, thick, cushiony, and washes well. ($65)
Since she loves gym clothes, let’s not try to change her entire personal style but give her something slightly more elevated and a teeny tiny step up from gym clothes. Varley is THAT BRAND for me. I recommend their quarter-zip knits ($148) or their super comfy pants. ($128)
Readers in our group chat had even more great ideas:
“Would she appreciate a good food delivery service with the new baby? If she’s really into health-related stuff, she would probably like the ease of having nutritious food around the house.” - Jill [Editor’s Note: Check out Chiyo!]
“You could also do gift certificates to a local beauty place that could do like brow tinting or a lash tint and lift, which goes a long way for the ‘effortlessly pretty’ look.” - Ryn Leigh [LOVE this idea, or even a gel mani-pedi gift card.]
The zebra-loving, 8-year-old Swiftie who’s moved beyond the toy aisle.
My daughter is 8 years old.... she has allllll the toys and she no longer plays with many toys. 8 is such a hard year. She is getting an electronic drum set but I am stumped on other things to get her. I have a collection of books for her already and she doesn’t like getting books as gifts. She’s not into dolls. Has a million Squishmallows. She LOVES zebras (surprisingly hard to come by) and dance (she does tap and hip-hop), Taylor Swift and K-Pop Demon Hunters. When she is a little older I expect her to get into theater and chorus (already has a karaoke machine).
Adding: She has TSwift CDs already as well. My real dilemma is that everything anyone thinks of to get her has already been given to her! LOL
Okay I am loving her vibe. We love a musical queen. Here are a few ideas:
A Camp Snap camera. A screen-free digital camera to tap into her creative side.($70)
A Hally Hair Gem Pen Tool. I got this for one of our nieces who’s around the same age and loves all things sparkly. ($28)
I know you said no stuffies besides Squishmallows, but…a Zebra Jellycat. Too cute! It’s retired but available on eBay. ($65)
What about a musical experience? You could grab tickets to an age-appropriate show and plan some fun treats along the way or after, like stopping at a local ice cream shop.
“Some kind of subscription box. The gift that keeps on giving. They have literally everything. Maybe something dance related or just fun for kids like candy!!” —Megan [Ed. Note: It’s not a subscription but check out BonBon! And I love a candies of the world subscription box.]
“Maybe a magazine subscription like Ranger Rick Jr or Highlights for kids? Something fun to look forward to in the mail every month!” —Hilary [Ed. Note: Check out Anyway Magazine. It’s so well designed and meant for tweens.]
The active almost-two-year-old who has clutter-averse parents.
My almost-two-year-old, whose birthday is in January, so we will get lots of requests from family for what to get him. I’d like to suggest things that will be played with for a long time, won’t take up too much space (please no play kitchen or easel), and aren’t too plasticky/noisy/annoying for parents.
He loves things with wheels, he’s very active, and he’s starting to get into imaginative play. We already have a balance bike, Nugget couch, and a small reading chair (+10000 books). I’m thinking maybe stepping stones, magnatiles, things like that?
No plasticky or noisy things? Hi, you are speaking my LANGUAGE. Lily is a little over 2 now, so I feel compelled to share some gift ideas with you that we have for her:
Ideas are continued beyond the paywall… join the party and become a paid subscriber! There’s a sale right now - 20% off forever. Hint: It’s cheaper if you subscribe via the web app instead of the mobile app because of Apple’s added fees...
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