The very next time you are fortunate enough to visit a foreign or exotic place, take an hour or so of extra shopping time and make a serious effort to take to your children back home a whole new sort of gifting selections for holiday or birthday by buying many things:
- They don't have
- They will likely never see on a shelf in your town
- They will really be surprised over
- They can genuinely share with friends that is not likely to be had by others
- They can challenge their imagination
- They can start a new collection of things from other places
- They can admit that sparks their interest in world differences
- They can enjoy that will break their boredom with the typical and limited "same ol'-same ol' by a different label or name"
- They can see how other peoples have new/different ideas
- They can feel you have put some real thought into your souveniers for them "while they stayed behind"
Examples:
- Carved wooden games, game pieces with funny instructions written in broken translated English
- Woven items of unusual patterns, textures, materials or purposes
- Small tools for crafts or play
- "Collections" important to those particular places or peoples
- Candies in unusual wrappers, shapes or ingredients
- Spinning tops of brilliant colors.
- Nametags equivilent to the children's names in another language
- Soaps and toiletries of different fragrances, shapes, and colors
- Unusual clothing, hats, shoes, slippers or fabrics
- Picture souveniers in variety bundles of places or animals there
- Small hand-held electronic or manual games designed by them
- Hair ornaments or jewelry of a different sort, material or design
- Small crafts indigenous to the area for children/young adults
- A variety of unusual coinage
- Short journal explaining each item, as you understand it to be, having inquired at purchase
- Each wrapped by the other country's clerk in other country's gift paper and trim
- A few "foreign" stamps or stickers
- A magazine or newspaper from the different place
We did this very thing and it was one of the most momentous things
our children ever received from us, well worth our time, extra effort and money for added carry-on "baggage". Where there's a will, there's a way. If having to go through customs, buy the unique gift wrapping/trim and wait to wrap until home in your privacy.
Even if any of the items ever show up on your neighborhood shelves, your children will have already enjoyed them.
By Lynda from TX
