Results: I decided to change the way I gift for Christmas this year.
Published on 01/13/2025
Rather than buy my grandchildren gifts I decided to give them memories. They are still talking about their "gifts" and I hope they will be doing so for years.
QUESTIONS
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Comments
1.
1.
My grandson is 7 and has so many toys he could open his own store. I decided to take him to his favorite restaurant for Christmas rather than give him a material gift. Is this something you would do? I already do something like this.
14%
310 votes
That's a great idea, I would love to do that.
37%
820 votes
No, I think I'll stick to traditional gifting.
20%
429 votes
Not Applicable
31%
683 votes
2.
2.
My granddaughter is 11 now so I decided to take her to an English tea room for her Christmas gift. She loved it so much and we had a wonderful afternoon. Is this something you would consider for someone you love? That sounds like a great idea.
40%
890 votes
This isn't something I would or could do.
8%
166 votes
I would not choose that experience but I have other ideas.
13%
284 votes
I will stick to traditional gifts.
14%
315 votes
Not Applicable
28%
623 votes
3.
3.
My granddaughter's birthday is also in December. She loves Cerreta's French Mints so I took her to Cerreta's candy factory and let her buy any candies she would like. We had a great time and took the long way home; the conversations were the best part of it for me. I would do something like this.
50%
1092 votes
I think I'll stick to traditional gift giving.
15%
327 votes
I wouldn't or couldn't do something like this as a gift.
7%
151 votes
Not Applicable
31%
672 votes
4.
4.
My mother gave me experiences rather than gifts when I was a teen and I remember them all. They were simple and inexpensive but I treasure those memories. I'm 70 and won't have all the time I would like with my grandchildren so I opted for experiences rather than gifts. Is there a special memory you made with your parents or a loved one that means more to you than a material gift?
No
0%
21 votes
n/a
0%
9 votes
None
0%
8 votes
Na
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5 votes
Yes
0%
3 votes
Not that I can think of.
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3 votes
unsure
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2 votes
Yes.
0%
2 votes
Not really
0%
2 votes
I prefer something I can hold and touch and keep
0%
1 votes
No special things like one on one but we did get special gifts that were meaningful to only us from our parents
0%
1 votes
I have lots of rememberances, but none replaced traditional Christmas gifts.
0%
1 votes
I always enjoyed going to our cabin with my grandma when I was young and all through my teenage years. I also enjoyed time with her watching her bake and going to her house every Christmas vacation. Many great memories with her.
0%
1 votes
She took me to a theatre place staring Dame Judith--I don't remember her lads name but it was a wonderful experience.
0%
1 votes
Experiences are always more memorable.
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1 votes
LOL!
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1 votes
After my parents retired I took them on trips I could afford and they are beautiful memories.
0%
1 votes
Travelling
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1 votes
Yes, they gave me gifts that I wanted.
0%
1 votes
I lost my Grandma and Dad just to spend time with them aging
0%
1 votes
I think yours are some of the best gifts ever.
0%
1 votes
those memories will last a lifetime, the toys are forgotten very soon
0%
1 votes
Life is a gift.
0%
1 votes
It depends on the activity
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1 votes
Yes, many
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1 votes
yes to take my granddaughter to Paris for her 16 birthday on top of the Eiffel Tower
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1 votes
great ideas if you live nearby, sadly all my friends and relatives live very far away
0%
1 votes
I just don t know about this
0%
1 votes
Yes life experiences were great.
0%
1 votes
We would get a stocking with an orange, apple nuts and candy. We would get 1 gift . I remember one Christmas I got a Fred Flintstone bank and my sister got Barney
0%
1 votes
Yes, use to give them different kind of jam i do or marmalade. Now with the 3 granddauther's we do differents activities. Theater, exibition of art, swimming etc. It's time to do it because they are getting old for some activities ! (16,( 16, 18).
0%
1 votes
This is a great idea!
0%
1 votes
Making candies with my mom will always stand out to me
0%
1 votes
Any time I got to spend with my grandparents alone was special to me.
0%
1 votes
Of course!
0%
1 votes
Nil
0%
1 votes
Yes, the many pro ballgames that my father took me to. Those times together were so much fun. Now I'm telling my grands about them and doing the same with them.
0%
1 votes
There was a time I would have done this with my nieces but everyone grew up and went there separate ways.
0%
1 votes
unfortunately not
0%
1 votes
I ABSOLUTELY DO GET IT AND IT IS A BEAUTIFUL THING TO SHARE THESE EXPERIENCES WITH YOUR GRANDCHILDREN, THAT'S AWESOME, BUT WE CAN DO THAT ANYTIME, NOT JUST AT CHRISTMAS. MY GRANDSON'S FAVORITE RESTAURANT IS MCDONAL'S...HOW WOULD THAT LOOK ME TAKING HIM TO MICKEY D'S FOR HIS CHRISTMAS GIFT, REALLY...??? IT WOULDN'T WORK FOR ME. SO FOR SOME PEOPLE IT MAY BE POSSIBLE, BUT MAYBE NOT FOR ALL. I COMMEND YOU FOR THE GREAT MEMORIES AND TIMES YOU SHARED WITH YOUR GRANDCHILDREN. WE MAKE MEMORIES EACH AND EVERYDAY AND THAT ALONE IN ITSELF IS THE REAL GIFT, THE GIFT OF DAILY LIFE. BLESSINGS TO ALL.
0%
1 votes
No experiences
0%
1 votes
Don't recall
0%
1 votes
I guess I was lucky. I had wonderful experiences with my grandparents through out the years and also received tradition gifts on special occasions.
0%
1 votes
so many and I wish my mom and dad were still alive to relive them with me
0%
1 votes
I got my husband, two kids and my oldest s partner a trip to Mexico for Christmas. We leave in 5 days.
0%
1 votes
Nope.
0%
1 votes
X
0%
1 votes
I do remember experiences with both of my grandma's and I treasure every memory. I do not have Grandchildren but if I ever do I will definitely do this with them.
0%
1 votes
albomme photo
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1 votes
No.
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1 votes
yes, she let me bring a special friend home to spend the weekend with me.
0%
1 votes
Yes,
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1 votes
Yes they did
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1 votes
I do have lots of memories.
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1 votes
Experiences and adventures are things remembered. Toys are often fads and come and go and are forgotten.
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1 votes
I write my grandkids letters and stories that I hope they will always cherish.
0%
1 votes
This sounds very nice.
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1 votes
No. My parents died when I was Young.
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1 votes
mamy memories
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1 votes
My parents never took me anywhere. In fact, they made sure that I was working or at NG summer camp when they decided to visit places and go on vacations. I have never been anywhere. Thanks so much for this painful reminder!
0%
1 votes
I loved sewing and knitting with my grand daughters. They enjoyed learning.
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1 votes
I agree. Experiences make memories. Most material items are used for a while then discarded. Memories last forever.
0%
1 votes
My mom and I went to Hawaii
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1 votes
Many times I was given experiences
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1 votes
This is a potion
0%
1 votes
Yes. I am 69 and have two granddaughters 26, 18 and a grandson 14. I have always made memories throughout their years ie., taken them to Mexico to swim with the dolphins, regularly bake with them and do traditional experiences around Christmas time. I consider myself extremely lucky to have had grandchildren while I was young and able to spend much time with them. I feel privileged that all of my grandchildren, given their age, still want to participate in these traditions with their grandparents i.e., making individual gingerbread houses, spending a week-end at Niagara Falls to see the Festival of Lights and staying at a hotel. All of these memories are a gift for all of us. I find it sad that I have friends that admit to not spend time with their grandchildren and consequently, don't have that deep emotional bond with them.
0%
1 votes
these are wonderful ideas
0%
1 votes
stock shares
0%
1 votes
My parents took me to Las Vegas on my 21st birthday. I'd never been there before, and the pilot banked the plane so I could see the lights on the strip at night.
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1 votes
NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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1 votes
non
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1 votes
Yes!
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1 votes
Spending quality time with them are the most valuable gift for seniors
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1 votes
Just some that no one would understand unless they lived in my home!
0%
1 votes
My mother took me to Halifax in 1970 to buy my wedding dress. We stayed at the Carleton Hotel, shopped at Wood's Brothers, which was a rather classy store at the time, and went to a a nice restaurant for dinner (whose name might have been the Cameo - it's long gone). Nowadays the trip would not be a big deal, but it certainly was back then!
0%
1 votes
Good and fun
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1 votes
Nothing what so ever
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1 votes
Yes, many memories walking with my parents and lots of stimulating conversations.
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1 votes
Gifts are almost always meaningless. I can't remember any I received as a child. Experiences last a lifetime.
0%
1 votes
Yes, my 27 year old daughter painted two water colors for me.
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1 votes
Attending LIVE with a grandchild promotes wonderfull memories!
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1 votes
not that I recall
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1 votes
One of my best times this Christmas was a day spent with my granddaughter, helping her sew an apron.
0%
1 votes
TOO MANY TO MENTION HERE
0%
1 votes
I would like to spend a day with my grandmother when she went shopping in stores that are not open/in business any more. We used to go to Woolworths and Pitiz. I always liked the Brach's candy section of the store because we always got lots of candy, like caramels and red hots.
0%
1 votes
Love them is the greatest gift
0%
1 votes
Not that I recall.
0%
1 votes
not good at all
0%
1 votes
A gift is a girt
0%
1 votes
Yes! When my Grandfather was still alive he would take us with his horses, and wagon for a ride. It was so beautiful socializing with family, and when available looking at the moon, and stars.
0%
1 votes
My very young life was outside in the wild (with first nation parents) and Xmas was not celebrated. Only much later did I celebrate Xmas with my adoptive parents, when an orange in the stocking was the most wonderful thing in the world.
0%
1 votes
Remember being taken to the Hershey chocolate factory when I was a kid. Great experience for me and my grandmother.
0%
1 votes
Yes, my dad used to take me on a Daddy Daughter night every so often. He would take me to play games at an arcade, or to a movie I wanted to see. We always ended the night with a donut. These times are some of my most precious memories.
0%
1 votes
Yes, too many to mention.
0%
1 votes
mother was my best friend she would do any thing for me
0%
1 votes
These were material gifts, but I'd sew pajama's for the grandchildren, and they expected them. My mother did the same thing, and my children looked forward to her package under the tree. Usually the children would unwrap her gift first, and put on their new PJ's right away.
0%
1 votes
I hated the fact I couldn't enjoy the holiday like any other children.no gift no nothing.because people are absence minded and refuse to celebrate as a result of that
0%
1 votes
When I was growing up, handmade gifts were a tradition in my family. I still have several special items - a blown glass vase my uncle made me, a few jewelry pieces, a Ragady Ann doll, etc. I cherish them. I wear the jewelry to this day and have the vase displayed in my living room. It helps me feel close to family members who have passed on.
0%
1 votes
For my sixth birthday, my mother took just me and her to a diner and bought me a banana split- something I must have seen or heard about and wanted. I felt so special. As an adult I realized it was just me and her because my parents could not have afforded something for a family of five. Still feels special to this day. I'm 73.
0%
1 votes
yes. my father took some of his busy schedule to pass the day with me. my best birthday ever.
0%
1 votes
I take my grandsons to a fast food restaurant for lunch each Thursday.
0%
1 votes
None come to mind except my trumpeting on their birthdays!
0%
1 votes
Yes I think I would give anything to have thT angsine . But my family is all decided
0%
1 votes
None that I can recall.
0%
1 votes
Yes my SON payed for a very expensive dinner after the death of his Aunt
0%
1 votes
Never git one
0%
1 votes
I always write about memories to my daughter on her birthdays; she lives far from me
0%
1 votes
going for boat rides to different islands to have a meal was always a great time
0%
1 votes
I got gifted a trip to Disneyland with just my Mom & me one year for Christmas. I opened a card with all these pictures of Disney taped inside & it told me about the trip we'd be taking over March Break. Never ever forget the memories made with my Mom
0%
1 votes
My family did that all the time when I was growing up. Children today could use more experiences vs. material things.
0%
1 votes
Taking my grandchildren and children to Storyland
0%
1 votes
Not that I can think off
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1 votes
Not with my parents, but with my kids.
0%
1 votes
camping
0%
1 votes
Unsure how to answer this since my family stopped giving me gifts at age 14.
0%
1 votes
fishing
0%
1 votes
My parents took me to Disneyland on Christmas day as a teen. We did have close relatives had a house 5 miles away from the park, so that made it easy. We also lived in state at the time. The park had unique features for Christmas and the weather was actually in the 80's there that day. It was definitely a memory I'll never forget.
0%
1 votes
Yes, but I can't really share it because it makes me a bit sad and happy at the same time. My Grandmother passed away many years ago now, but I still have the memory and will treasure it always. You're a great Grandmother I can tell, keep making those experiences for as long as you can. Things get lost, broken or stolen, but this Granddaughters remembers all the memory experiences her Gran gave her and to me now at age 56 they are priceless?. Cheers!
0%
1 votes
Nothing currently comes to mind.
0%
1 votes
Going to the zoo with my grandmother when I was 7. Also traveling with both my parents and my grandmothers.
0%
1 votes
GIFT GIVING IS THE SPIRITE OF CHRISMASS
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1 votes
Time is more valuable than something you grow out off
0%
1 votes
I like to choose gift cards for places they like to go and can have dates with there parents, whether it be movies or restaurants or play places, my children and grandchildren love this
0%
1 votes
UNKNOWN.
0%
1 votes
The time I spent with my mom learning to crochet and knit. We made clowns for new born babies and had so much fun doing that together, tea and cookies too,
0%
1 votes
N/A I have started doing this with my grandchildren.
0%
1 votes
nope
0%
1 votes
I made Christmas special for my two sons by taking them to the local Christmas store and letting them select a Christmas ornament for our tree every year until they finally grew out of that tradition. I still have their selected Christmas ornaments in a box in storage.
0%
1 votes
I think your ideas were all thought of with great heart and love.
0%
1 votes
We would go on family movie dates including art house in DC with fancy French desserts and coffee. Mom and I enjoyed repertory classic horror such as Rear Window with Carvel or McDonald's. I would eat Japanese food and enjoy Kirin and Sapporo with Dad. Grandma and Grandpa took us to Hershey Park.
0%
1 votes
Being my parents and family are deceased, anany
0%
1 votes
No. My parents talked at me, not to me.
0%
1 votes
My grandmother and I having tea parties with real china cups and saucers
0%
1 votes
c'est une exellente id e
0%
1 votes
The best experience my parents gave me was birth.
0%
1 votes
I had parents that had no parenting skills, which they passed on. Does that count?
0%
1 votes
My mother always made German Cabbage Rolls and I was the first child she taught how to make them, we always worked together to make a couple of pots full of cabbage rolls for every special family gathering. Also we made sourkrautt .
0%
1 votes
I was never close to my mom . we never did much of anything .
0%
1 votes
That sort of memory went along with the 'material' gifts, each were special, for me, as the material expanded my interests, and the experiences interaction memories.
0%
1 votes
My mother gave me many memories, I really miss her.
0%
1 votes
yes experiences will be remembered
0%
1 votes
when my mom would take us camping and cooked food on the open fire
0%
1 votes
Nice
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1 votes
Last two years we go on a family vacation for Christmas.
0%
1 votes
Of course
0%
1 votes
I would prefer presents that are meaningful.
0%
1 votes
Yes memories are important to me, there are several stored away in my mind. I had many educational opportunities, worked and volunteered, family and survival on my own these times. I pray others remember their good memories.
0%
1 votes
We talk on the phone several times a day
0%
1 votes
We have one grandson who is 7 years old. From the day he was born we have been putting money in 529 for his education. For every occasion we make a deposit and give him a small gift. Hopefully he'll be happy when he goes to college.
0%
1 votes
We didn t have much just being home together & having our health was a gift in itself
0%
1 votes
A little of both = gifts & memories would be great.
0%
1 votes
so bew
0%
1 votes
like
0%
1 votes
I do this as well. Experiences last so much longer than toys or clothes or other things that they get from everyone else. Great survey and great Outlook
0%
1 votes
Just being with the family is a great memory!
0%
1 votes
Mom took me to see Fiddler on the Roof because I played the violin. The movie wasn't about violins but was a very powerful story and I remember the story and the time with my Mom to this day
0%
1 votes
Going to Cardinal games as a family has the most meaning for me.
0%
1 votes
my mother gave me step by step thoughts of when she was a little girl in poland
0%
1 votes
Every time they would come in from out of state (they passed away) they would take us to our favorite restaurant which is Burger King!
0%
1 votes
Many.
0%
1 votes
Going on vacation. We visited historical sites, I saw the ocean for the first time, we visited areas of natural beauty, and experienced the cultures of the eastern U.S. and southern Canada. We never could get Dad to travel west.
0%
1 votes
For my 7th birthday, my parents took me (but not my younger siblings - alone for the first time / a special treat, just for me!) out to dinner, then a show. I got all dressed up in a long dress saved for special occasions. The restaurant had a castle theme. The show was a Christmas pantomime, Snow White. My Dad's English, so this was a traditional Christmas event for him. I'd never heard of pantomime; if you haven't, they're lots of fun for kids. My Mom made me a Snow White birthday cake. After the show, I got to meet Snow White. So the whole birthday was all in this one theme. As you can tell, I still have great memories of the whole thing. Definitely, experiences make some of the best gifts.
0%
1 votes
Nothing readily comes to mind but I agree, experiences are better than possessions.
0%
1 votes
No, we were always a traditional gift kind of a family but i changed that on my part.
0%
1 votes
my girls taking me out on birthdays and mother's day
0%
1 votes
I think spending time together is better no matter where.
0%
1 votes
COMMENTS