I mostly don’t like gifts. But one year my kid decorated a really simple book bag. I do use that regularly. If i ever washed it, the design would come off. But it does get used. I think a pre school teacher had them assemble a tiny clay pot, clay in pot, popsicle stick in clay. Stick is flower stem. Has a paper flower shape glued together the top. In the middle of the flower is a tiny picture of my kid.

I like that these are simple, and fast activities. I remember making stuff in school as parent gifts that took one million years of effort.

I’ve been asking my kids to make me things instead of buying. I have a wall in my workshop where I post everything they make me. They’re coming into the teen years now and still making me little cards and gifts. I’ll cherish them forever.

My kid painted a plate at school of me drinking a beer and grilling… Thanks.

Nothing, which means that I got exactly what I wanted. I am convinced these days are only marketed as such by whoever tries to sell you stuff for the occasion, and my family knows that I preferred if I was not part of the reason why this strategy works.