Giving PresenCE – Mommy & Me Treats

Our family participates in the [Advent Conspiracy]. The four tenants of [AC] are Worship Fully, Spend Less, Give More, and Love All. For the past few years, we’ve been trying to find creative ways to give Christmas gifts that are gifts of presence, not just a present. In the days leading up to Christmas, I’ll be sharing some of these ideas with you.

One of the most well-known Advent Conspiracy gift ideas around our church involves a bag of coffee. An adult son bought his dad a bag of coffee (fair trade, of course) and gave it to his dad for Christmas. What makes this a gift of presence, you ask? The catch was this: the dad wasn’t allowed to drink the coffee unless it was with his son. The two men spent the next year having coffee regularly, and the son got to know his dad and discuss life with him in a relaxed way.

I’ve always loved that idea, but I couldn’t figure out a way to make it suitable for other ages or relationships. Then I saw this post about making personalized six packs. I decided to tweak it a bit, and came up with this.

It’s an empty cardboard Starbuck’s Frappuccino bottle holder. I covered it with regular white typing paper and glued some strips of red paper on the outside, then added the words “Mommy and Me” and “Treats to eat with me only!” Then I took four empty jelly jars and filled them with four different types of candy (I used Skittles, Mike & Ike, gummy bears, and pretzel M&Ms) and made labels for each jar lid.

I’m giving it to the kids for Christmas, and letting them know it’s only for eating together. Maybe we’ll have a regular game night or a special storytelling afternoon, and gobble up our treats together. The key word in that sentence is (say it with me now): TOGETHER!

Note: I got the jelly jars and cardboard carrier at my favorite place, Leftovers (of course). But it’s easy enough to do on your own with whatever empties you have on hand!