How Can I Manage Sad During The Winter Months

Winter isn’t everyone’s favourite season. The long, cold days and nights can leave people feeling tired and depressed. If these low feelings continue for weeks on end, then you may be a sufferer of SAD or seasonal affective disorder as it is otherwise known.

Seasonal affective disorder is categorised as a series of symptoms which tend to appear during the winter months, usually between September and April, with the worst of the symptoms appearing around December, January and February.

Symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder

SAD symptoms can include feelings of lethargy and tiredness, sleep problems and mood swings. Mild symptoms can include feelings of anxiety and a loss of libido. In severe cases, SAD can lead to depression. The symptoms usually last throughout the winter season and can cause all kinds of problems for sufferers.

According to SADA (The Season Affective Disorder Association), “SAD occurs throughout the northern and southern hemispheres, but is extremely rare amongst those who live within 30 degrees of the Equator.”

The disorder is caused by a lack of sunlight exposure in the northern and southern hemispheres during the winter months. The sun is a source of natural energy and lack of sunlight causes all kinds of problems. All living beings need light to grow and flourish, but when deprived of light, the body cannot fully grow to its potential. This is because sunlight impacts the body’s rhythms and it contains Vitamin D, which helps the body to absorb vitamins and minerals more readily, essential for growth and production of healthy cells.

Vitamin D, for humans, is obtained from sun exposure, food and supplements. However, only a small amount is actually required, as the body can store Vitamin D for long periods of time.

One of the ways in which people suffer from seasonal affective disorder is through feeling irritable or having low mood swings. A lack of sunshine can alter mood because it impacts serotonin, a hormone manufactured in the brain. The sun can help trigger the production of serotonin, a neurotransmitter which can spur a sense of increased well-being and happiness.

Treatments for SAD

The severity of your SAD symptoms will determine which treatments you may want to consider. One of the most effective treatments is light treatment. You can buy a range of light boxes which mimic the effects of natural light, thereby combating SAD symptoms and increasing the feelings of well-being. Place one on your desk at work or by your bedside table and you will start to feel the effects that its light can bring. It can be beneficial to have the light by your bed, as it can help re-energise you for the day ahead.

Another option to help boost well-being during the winter is to eat plenty of serotonin-boosting foods such as bananas, tomatoes, broccoli and whole grains such as oats, which can be readily eaten in a porridge, for example. All of these foods will provide a natural boost.

There is considerable evidence that a healthy immune system and serotonin are related. The majority of your immune system and your serotonin lie in the gut. The healthier your gastrointestinal (GI) tract, the healthier your immune system. The healthier your immune system, the more serotonin you’ll have.

Exercise is also a great way to feel good and boost serotonin levels, thereby helping to ease feelings of a low mood or depression. When we exercise, our bodies move and our heart has to work harder to pump the oxygen around the body. Exercise can help to boost serotonin levels in the brain, leading to an increased sense of happiness and well-being.

There is evidence that exercise can also help to improve your mental health. If your seasonal affective disorder is severe and you have gone through all the treatments available, you may want to consider seeking assistance from a medical professional.

Bitter Sweet Christmas – Dealing With Difficult Emotions

Christmas can be a difficult time of the year for many people. High expectations, memories and fatigue can bring problems for anyone’s inner child.

Christmas can be a very difficult time of year. Conscious of a media generated image of an “ideal family Christmas,” our aspirations are high, and if we fail to realise our hopes and expectations at this most highly pressured time of the year, the disappointment can be enormous.

Not everyone will have had a good year. Some people will have suffered loss and disappointment. Christmas seems to bring all our feelings into sharp focus, bad ones as well as good ones, and this can make for a very volatile emotional mix. Combine this with the pressures of organising Christmas, the shopping, the cooking and maintaining peace and goodwill within the immediate family, not to mention financial constraints, and it’s hardly surprising that Christmas can be a time of great stress, as well as one of great happiness.

Christmas Memories: Not Always Happy Ones

Christmas time is such a benchmark of each year that we cannot help but remember Christmases past as we prepare for the Christmas which is about to arrive.

Memories of loved ones who are no longer with us are bound to affect us as we prepare for the festivities. Somehow, feeling sad at Christmas time (when all around you are full of Christmas spirit) is worse than feeling sad when no one is expecting you to be particularly cheerful. Being emotionally out of tune with friends and family can be especially difficult, as you strive not to be a wet blanket and cast a gloom on the festivities of others.

If this is how you feel this Christmas, be kind to yourself. Take time out to grieve, to remember those who you may have lost recently. Give yourself permission to explore your feelings of love and loss without feeling guilty, because by taking time to acknowledge your feelings, even in the midst of all the Christmas turmoil, you will help yourself to move on.

Christmas can be a wonderful time for taking stock, for planning ahead, for rest, renewal and preparation for the new year ahead. Loss and sadness are part of life, just as happiness and celebration are also. Give yourself some leeway to feel whatever you’re feeling, even if it is Christmas.

Christmas and the Inner Child

Christmas is a time of year which is very child-driven, but whilst we are rushing around buying expensive presents and huge quantities of food, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that sometimes, perhaps a child would like a few minutes quiet time, rather than being bundled into the car for yet another awful shopping trip. Less rushing around in search of that perfect sheet of wrapping paper or the last punnet of cranberries in the Western world and a little more time spent reading a story, playing a game or even doing some Christmas cooking can be therapeutic for parents and children alike.

Christmas really only is one day in the year, and whilst adults can be driven by the spirit of their own inner child, seeking to make up for disappointments and things forgotten in Christmases long ago, children (especially little ones) can end up being bewildered by the disruption of their routine, the influx of people and an excess of new experiences.

Tend to your inner child as and when you can, as well as to the reality of little ones who may need boiled eggs and bath time on a regular basis at this time of year to keep them happy and grounded.

The Christmas Row

At Christmas, we tend to spend an awful lot of times with our families, undistracted by work, friends or any of the things that make up our normal comfort zones. Disrupted routines, extra pressures, difficult memories and unrealistic expectations can all conspire to add to the volatility of the Christmas mix.

Try to avoid the Christmas row by a little judicious time management. Make sure to incorporate a few healthy walks into the Christmas timetable. Don’t try to cram too many family festivities into too little time, but try to spread events out over the holiday so that everyone can pace themselves and no one ends up tired and emotional too often.

Peace and Goodwill to All Men

All the above is counsel of perfection. The reality is that we all have good Christmases and bad Christmases, and these seem to generate at random, no matter how much or how little effort we put into them.

Remember, when it comes to Christmas, the rules are, there are no rules – make merry in whatever way feels right for you. In a week’s time, it will be a whole new year and a whole new adventure to embark upon.

Best Options For Relieving Headaches

Do you have constant headaches? Did you know that many headaches are food related? Well, it’s true. The foods that you eat can have direct body and mind relations and effects. It’s been shown in studies that if you eat food that you do not care for or food that is forced, it can cause headaches in certain individuals, but when that same person eats food that they enjoy, the headaches are gone. Specific foods have certain ingredients that can trigger headaches.

Most individuals take food for granted and are unaware of how certain foods can effect their body. Take hypoglycemia for example. This condition is connected with low blood sugar, and is quite common in diabetic patients. Having low blood sugar can cause you to have constant headaches.

Monitoring your blood sugar level helps a great deal but when you feel dizzy or weak, you can simply take drink a glass of a sweet beverage such as orange juice to give you immediate relief. Many foods that provide you with simple carbohydrates can also raise your blood sugar back to normal and get you feeling better once again.

Another major cause of headaches are related to caffeine withdrawal. For those who drink many glasses of coffee, tea or caffeinated soda, each and every day, you body may be addicted to the caffeine in these beverages.

When you go a day without your caffeinated beverage, you may experience headaches in between. These headaches may become constant if you don’t cut down on how much caffeine you take in daily. Although caffeine can give you energy, it is usually temporary and the following results are usually fatigue and loss of energy. When cutting down on the amount of caffeine you drink, do it slowly and the headaches will eventually subside.

Some foods can cause headaches in certain people. Foods such as old cheese and yeast extracts have been known to induce headaches. Also, red wine as it contains a substance known as Tyramine that causes your head to throb. A deficiency in the enzyme oxidase can cause chronic headaches.

Avoiding these types of foods and substances can cause the decrease in headaches and eventually make them leave all together. Consuming natural foods is the best way to avoiding getting headaches in the first place. Avoiding foods that contain additives and artificial flavors can be very beneficial.

Allergies is another main cause of headaches. Getting medication to help with your allergies can really make a world of difference. There are many known causes of headaches but knowing what triggers them can help decrease them and give you more effective relief. Instead of taking headache medication on a daily basis, find out what is causing your chronic headaches and try to fix it.

Benefits Of Cardio On An Empty Stomach

Doing cardiovascular exercise on an empty stomach helps burn more fat. So skip breakfast and watch the fat melt off.

Many athletes and trainers have long debated the question of whether doing cardio on an empty stomach is beneficial to fat loss. The answer is yes. A study published in Muscle & Fitness Hers compared the effects of meal timing on the amount of fat and carbohydrates burned and have found that athletes who perform cardio on an empty stomach do get a fat-burning boost.

Research on Morning Cardio

The study compared two groups of people. One group did not eat before performing cardiovascular exercise. The other group ate a pre-workout meal. Researchers found that the former group burned more fat during their workout than the group who did eat before exercising. This proves that doing cardio on an empty stomach in the morning gives athletes and those trying to lose weight a significant advantage when it comes to burning off fat.

Why Cardio on an Empty Stomach Works

In the early morning, levels of muscle and liver glycogen are lower because of overnight fasting. This depleted amount of glycogen and lowered blood sugar levels are the ideal factors for burning fat instead of carbohydrates. Glycogen is reserved carbohydrates and the body’s primary source of energy. So when these levels are low, the body moves on to the secondary source of energy, which is fat.

Morning cardio on an empty stomach is also beneficial because of the afterburn effect. After a cardio session, exercisers will continue to burn fat because of an elevated metabolism that continues throughout the day. Doing cardio at night will only cause an elevated metabolism until the time an athlete goes to sleep, when the metabolism rate drops significantly.

Not to be diminished is the mental benefit morning cardio provides. Starting the day by tackling a difficult task, like vigorous activity, provides a feeling of accomplishment that can help exercisers stay positive and motivated to continue their healthy lifestyle throughout the rest of the day.

Eating Before Training

There are some people, who, despite the proven benefits, just cannot stomach a training session without having some fuel in them. Don’t despair. The study showed that the group that had the pre-workout meal did continue to burn more fat than the fasting group two hours after the end of their exercise session. So upfront fat burn isn’t as great, but long-term fat burn is better for those that do eat before training.

Another option for those who can’t do cardio on an empty stomach is to do cardio after weight training. Lifting weights burns carbs so the body will then have low stores of glycogen at the end of a weight training session. Doing cardio at this point mimics morning cardio on an empty stomach because the body will eat through the depleted glycogen as energy and then move on to fat as the reserve energy source.

Affordable Thanksgiving Dinners

There are several ways not to break the budget on Thanksgiving Day but most of them take work and time. Yet if you have more of this than money, then decide to really celebrate the day the old fashioned day! At least this is the one way of saving money while enjoying the day. Your biggest expense is a turkey and it is reasonably priced.

The rest of the food will not break the bank, especially if you make your pies from scratch, bake your own rolls and buy canned vegetables instead of the frozen packages or fresh.

Another way is to use what you have. Decorate with whatever you have on hand without rushing out and purchasing table cloths and napkins and center pieces simply because you are the host for this year’s feast. If your family is large, and it is at your place, then ask them each to bring food.

You fill in with what they don’t bring and everyone should have a good day and no one will have to do without for the next week or so until the next payday. If you still have one. If you don’t then certainly all you need to donate is your time and your table. Have them bring the food, of the bulk of it.

If you are without work and have no money, don’t hesitate to sign up for a Thanksgiving basket. With the chicken or turkey, potatoes, apples, oranges, cranberry sauce and other Thanksgiving items you should have no problem feeing your family well on Thanksgiving. This is a day to be grateful and no one is go hungry, or should go hungry at anytime, but especially at this time of year.

First, before you panic, look around you and see what you have that you can cook up into a delectable dinner table. If you live in the country and garden, your are the lucky ones. You probably have shelves of canned goods and a freezer stashed full of vegetables and corn on the cob and all kinds of food.

You don’t need my advice, but probably you could spare some of your stash for that family or two down the road that are out of work. Think about it. Yet, if you are the rural poor but have knowhow and can cook well then get to work planning a wonderful feast for your family.

If you have flour and jars of canned apples, but are not able to make pie dough from scratch, ask a friend to give you a hand. It’s not impossible. If that is out of the question, then settle for a casserole of stewed apples. It’s the apples that are so tasty and no one will mind that the crust is missing.

Use what you have, but use it in a delectable and tasty and creative way. If you nave kale or mustard greens and turnips growing in your garden, then you are in luck. Treat them as the finest vegetable, as indeed they are. Kale is about the healthiest antioxidant vegetable you can serve. I

Imagine this: A steaming dish of kale cooked with chopped onion and oil and a bit of that frozen Italian hot sausage from your freezer throw in for flavor, plus a dash of pepper and salt. To dress it up, boil a couple of eggs and slice them and arrange them around the bowl. Just innovate and your dinner will be the greatest ever.

Adopting A Pet For Your Small Child

Finding the right family pet for a small child can be a labor of love. Work with your child to find the ideal pet to adopt for your family and enjoy the results everyday.

Owning a pet can be a wonderful experience for a child. Caring for an animal can teach a child responsibility, compassion, empathy and other life long important values. Walking a dog can inculcate healthy exercise habits. Teaching a parrot to speak can help a child learn patience. Picking out produce for a bunny rabbit can help a child develop healthy eating patterns.

Once you’ve decided a pet is a good idea, many questions arise. What kind of pet best suits your family? How old should your child be when she gets her first pet? What’s the best place to acquire an animal for adoption? Should you go to the local animal shelter? Or seek out a reputable breeder?

Current Living Conditions

The answer to these questions depends on many factors. As the child’s caregiver, you will ultimately be responsible for the animal in question. Before answering, think about your current living conditions. Do you live in a house? A condo? Do you have a backyard? Is someone home during the day? Do you want to breed the animal? Are you physically active? Or more sedentary?

Many experts do not recommend pets for children younger than six. Six is a very good age for a child to have his first pet. Six year olds can easily learn to take care of an animal. Most six year olds can quickly learn to follow simple pet care instructions. Children often love the feeling they get from being trusted with, “big girl” tasks.

Hamsters, Gerbils and Mice

A good pet for a younger child is a small rodent. Diminutive furry animals like hamsters, gerbils, mice and rats can provide your little girl with hours of entertainment and fun. Have your child come with you so you can pick out a pet together. Buying a petite rodent will not put much of a dent in your budget. Most pet stores will sell all you need to get started for under $25. Consider buying more than one so they can keep each other company. Make sure that the rodents are the same sex or they may fight when one animal goes into heat. Brother or sister pairs make very good pets.

The Selection Process

When you go to the pet store ask if you can handle the animal. A good pet store will let you hold the animal before you make that decision. Look for an animal that has no sign of sickness. A hamster’s eyes should be clear. A gerbil’s fur should be soft and shiny. Healthy animals are less likely to disappoint your child and more likely to make good pets.

Once you’ve settled on a choice make sure your child understands all that is involved in taking care of pet. Help the child feed the pet and make sure that the pet has the right water as well as an exercise wheel in good running order.

Work with your young child to introduce her to the joy’s of pet ownership and help her kindle a life long love of animals.

Chicken Tikka Masala – My Take on a Classic

Y’all! I LOVE me some Indian food, but since moving to Kentucky, there are not as many places to find it as there were in Tampa, Fla. So, I went on a mission to recreate one of my favorite dishes, and modified it to my tastes.

In other words, this may not be the 100% authentic recipe you will find on other sites, but it hit the exact spot I had a craving for.

Though I confess it does take a while to make this recipe, I was so happy with how it turned out. And, my husband and I have added it to our meal plan rotation! Best part is you could easily double it to have plenty of leftovers!

Active time: About an hour

Total time: About 90 mins

Servings: 4-6 depending on portion sizes

Ingredients Chicken Tikka Masala (Modified)

For the Chicken Coating:

  • 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice (I totally used a bottle of concentrate, but you could juice 1 lime and get about 1 tablespoon)
  • Generous 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (Note: the more you add, the spicier this dish will be!)
  • 3/4 teaspoon paprika (I used smoked paprika, but many Indian recipes call for sweet paprika)
  • 2 teaspoons garam masala (spice blend)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1/4 cup plain, full-fat Greek yogurt or full-fat sour cream
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic (I used the minced garlic stir-in paste, but you could use about 3 cloves and mince it yourself)
  • 1 tablespoon of stir-in ginger paste or you could use one 2-inch piece peeled fresh ginger root, minced

For the Tikka Masala Sauce:

  • 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
  • 2 8-ounce cans of plain tomato sauce (Make sure you don’t make the mistake of grabbing the one with oregano and basil like I’ve accidentally done in the past!)
  • 6 bay leaves
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (Again, if you add more it WILL kick up the heat level!)
  • 1/2 teaspoon garam masala (spice blend)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin

Additional Ingredients Needed:

  • 1 tablespoon of baking soda
  • 1 tsp approximately of garlic powder
  • Salt and pepper to taste

How to Make Chicken Tikka Masala (Modified)

Step 1

In a 2 qt saucepan, start melting your butter on medium heat, but don’t brown it! Then, add your tomato sauce, and give it a stir. Then, add your other sauce ingredients, stir, and when it begins bubbling, add a lid and turn your stove down to simmer so it can cook while your chicken is velveting and then baking.

You’ll need to stir it roughly every 15 minutes just to make sure the sauce isn’t burning.

Step 2

For the chicken: Using thawed chicken breasts, velvet the chicken with your baking soda

To velvet the chicken you will sprinkle the baking soda all over it and rub it in. Then, let it sit a full 20 minutes.

Pro tip: Set a timer because you don’t want this to sit longer than 20 minutes as the chicken will become mush!

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees while you are velveting the chicken.

Step 3

Wash the chicken and then pat dry with paper towels. Then place the breasts in a greased 9X13 pyrex or equivalent glass baking dish.

Step 4

Sprinkle salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika onto both sides of the chicken. I eyeballed this, but it ended up being about 1 tsp of each spice across the chicken.

Step 5

Place the chicken in the oven for 12 mins, and get to work on your sauce. In a bowl, combine the lime juice, cayenne pepper, paprika, garam masala, salt, yogurt/sour cream, garlic and ginger in a mixing bowl until evenly mixed.

Step 6

Pull out the chicken, spoon on half of the chicken coating to the top of your chicken, then flip it over, and spoon the other half on and rub it all over the top

Step 7 

Place it back in the over for another 10-15 mins or until the internal temp reaches 165 degrees

Step 8

When your chicken is cooked through, cut it into 1 inch cubes and place the cubes back in the pan.

Step 9

Pour your Tikka Masala sauce onto the chicken and give everything a good stir to ensure all those yummy bits of your chicken coating are fully incorporated throughout.

Step 10

Serve with Basmati rice and Naan. I like to pour some of the sauce into the rice and chicken so I can dip the Naan into it. Damn tasty!

To give the sauce a little heat, you can add more cayenne pepper, red chili powder, or Kashmiri chili sauce. We felt the flavor was just fine without extra heat, but we did add salt and pepper to taste.

Ticket to Ride: Build Trains, Block Friends, Win Big

Ticket to Ride_ Build Trains, Block Friends, Win Big - Header

Build train routes, block your friends, and race to connect cities across the map. Here’s why Ticket to Ride belongs in every game collection.

Players: 2-5   |   Time: 45-90 minutes   |   Age: 8+   |   My Rating: 4 out of 5 cupcakes

What Is Ticket to Ride?

Ticket to Ride is one of the most beloved board games in the world, and for good reason. As of 2024, it has sold over 18 million copies and been translated into 33 languages. Those numbers don’t happen by accident.

The basic idea is this: you’re building train routes across a map (usually the United States in the base game) by collecting and playing matching sets of colored cards. Complete the destination routes on your secret tickets, and you score points. Block someone else’s route? Also very satisfying.

How Do You Play?

On your turn, you do one of three things. Draw train cards, claim a route by playing matching cards, or draw new destination tickets. That’s it. The rules really are simple enough to explain in about five minutes.

Destination tickets are where the strategy lives. Each one shows two cities, and if you connect them by the end of the game, you score the points listed on the card. If you don’t complete the route? Those points come off your total. That risk is what makes the game thrilling.

The game ends when one player’s supply of train pieces gets low. Then everyone adds up their scores, including bonuses for the longest continuous train route.

Where the Tension Comes In

Ticket to Ride starts out feeling friendly. Then someone claims the route you needed, and suddenly it’s personal. There’s a real strategic tension between building your own routes and blocking other players. The same turn can feel generous or ruthless depending on how you look at it.

That tension is what makes the game work beautifully for both casual players and more strategic ones. Kids can play and have a great time. Adults can play and feel genuinely stressed about their route choices. A game that pulls that off is something special.

Versions and Expansions

The original US map is the classic, but there are versions set in Europe, Japan, Germany, India, and more. Each one introduces slightly different mechanics while keeping the core game intact. If you fall in love with the base game, you’ll have plenty of places to go.

I’ve only played the US Map, and the London edition. I liked the London version because it was faster to play it since the map is much smaller. Either one is a lot of fun though, and I would like to try the other maps asap!

Do I Recommend Ticket to Ride?

Absolutely. Ticket to Ride is a genuinely great game that works for families, date nights, and friend groups alike. It’s the kind of game you can bring to someone who doesn’t play board games and have them hooked by the end of the first round.

My Rating: 4 out of 5 Cupcakes

A near-perfect gateway game. It’s approachable, strategic, and more tense than it looks. Highly recommended.

Christmas Gifts On A Budget

Make, buy or barter your way to a thrifty holiday season.

Homemade coupons

Give the gift of your time with some creative coupons that your friend or relative can “cash in” later. For kids to give to parents or grandparents:
One car wash, One hour of weeding in the garden, One afternoon organizing old photographs
For parents to give to kids:
One afternoon at the beach, One trip to the museum, One hour of board games
For adults to give to each other:
One backrub, One homemade dinner of your choice, One game of tennis
Cheap, Cool T-shirts
New printing technology and innovative T-shirt retailers combine to provide inexpensive, individualized tees for every niche imaginable.

Use kids’ artwork

Grandparents, uncles and aunts can’t get enough of charming gifts from children’s artwork. FamilyFun magazine has a wonderful selection of ideas. Creating a personalized notepad featuring a child’s drawing on every page is an easy and inexpensive gift that brings pleasure to the recipient throughout the year.

Scour thrift stores for books and small toys

Get gently used books for pennies on the dollar at thrift stores, garage sales and public libraries. Nothing beats watching the look of delight on a child’s face as they open a box teeming with new stories for her to read.

Likewise, stuff a container with knick knacks and small toys gathered throughout the year and wrap it in a festive paper. Don’t be surprised if the cheap plastic playthings gets more attention than the new Xbox.

Buy ornaments in January for next year’s gifts

Christmas ornaments are the perfect gifts for your PTA buddies or kids’ teachers. Wait until after the holidays and find them at least half off their original price. Don’t forget where you stashed them when next Christmas comes around!

Make sane sale purchases
Try to resist buying an item to give in the future just because it’s on sale. You may never find the perfect mate for that Spongebob tie.

Inexpensive art

The Internet offers great suppliers of affordable wall art for the new homeowner or college student.

Christmas Gifts From The Heart

It’s that time of year when most of us are racking our brains trying to think of ideas for Christmas presents. It’s just too easy to buy something quick and be done with it, but it will be remembered as just that. Truly memorable gifts that last for months or years are ones that come from the heart. And, for those people who truly matter in your life, isn’t that what you want, to be thought of fondly and to bring a smile to their face?

Here are several examples of heartfelt gifts:

For the elderly: The elderly would rather receive something that they could use, a handmade afghan or warm blanket, or perhaps some warm bedclothes, robe, or socks. Of course, a photo album with updated pictures of the family is always welcomed.

For women:

They always say that “a diamond is a woman’s best friend”. Jewelry is always a good bet with women. Forget the iron or skillet, the ramifications won’t be pretty. Think about the interests or hobbies that the individual is involved with. Is this perhaps a single parent? The gift of time may be just what she would treasure if she can take some time for herself away from her children or obligations.

For men:

When asked what they remembered and treasured most about previous Christmas gifts, it was the gifts such as their first gun as a youth, or a bicycle that they rode for years. What connection is there between you and the man to be gifted that is unique to only the two of you. Siblings can recreate a favorable memorable time from their childhood with memorabilia, or find objects that remind them of family traditions.

For children:

The list to Santa will most likely be the latest plastic toys from China. Some of those have value in relating to their friends. It’s also time to begin to build childhood memories that last a lifetime. A handmade baby blanket or quilt with their name embroidered on it, or perhaps a personalized picture book with the child as the main character will be forever cherished. Older children remember bicycles, trains, and musical instruments as well.

For teenagers:

Technological gifts usually head their Christmas list with the ultimate gift of independence with their first car. That may be too steep for most budgets; instead, give the gift of teaching them how to drive safely and responsibly. Of course, only if you have the ability to do so in a calm manner!

Christmas time is all about feeling. Finding the right gift that lasts for a long time in the hearts of others is about your connection to them.