Why I like gift cards...

So getting a gift card for someone seems impersonal.  It doesn’t require much effort on the buyers part which doesn’t give you the satisfaction of knowing that you spent time thinking of the person you’re buying for.  HOWEVER, my thoughts about being on the receiving end of a gift card are quite the contrary.  Not that I don’t appreciate a hand-picked gift, but a gift card has infinite possibilities.  Getting a gift card starts my mind reeling about all the things I COULD buy that I wouldn’t normally buy for myself.  For instance, last year I received a Target gift card.  I could have used it to buy necessities like shampoo or detergent or whatever.  Instead, I said “No, this is a gift just for me and I can get whatever frivolous thing I want.”  I ended up getting an electric water kettle and a popcorn popper like we had when I was a kid.  It was all for me!  And no guilt for spending money I didn’t really have on myself.  That’s the best part.  Food cards are nice too because it’s like a special treat whenever I want.  If I’m low on cash one day, but really don’t want to eat at home again, I can whip out my gift card!  It’s a free meal!  Right now, I’ve got a Sephora card and an Occasionally Yours gift card burning a hole in my pocket.  I can use some of it now and some of it later if I want.  It’s a gift that keeps on giving.  I can use it all year long.  Plus, (not that I would ever do this) it’s not inappropriate to re-gift a gift card.  It’s just money passing hands, really.  I sincerely use up my gift cards, but if you have one you don’t want, feel free to pass it along my way.  I’ll find some use for it.  I do remember when someone gives me a gift card and think of them when making my purchase...though I may not remember what occasion it was for, but that doesn't make any difference to me.   Last year either for Admin. Professionals Day or for my birthday, my team gave me gift certificates to Milano's - one of my favorite food places.  I used those certificates many times.  I was even able to pay for a friend's lunch that wouldn't have been able to pay herself.  So I even "payed it forward".  My good deed thanks to your good deed.  Win-win for everyone.

What's in a name?

Addison is in her trying-out-names phase. Both for herself and for us. Lately, she’s been calling Greg and I “brother” and “sister”. It feels a bit like I’m walking around in a convent or something. And it’s usually just “Brother, can you zip my dress?” or “Sister, can I have a snack?”. Very strange. Yesterday she was telling me that daddy was her brother and I was her sister, so just to see what she would do I said, “Are you my brother then?”. She looked at me like I was the dumbest person in the world and basically chastised me for being so ridiculous. I got a lecture on how only girls can be sisters and only boys can be brothers. DUH! As for herself, she will announce on her way to daycare that she is no longer “Addison”. A few times she has tried on the name Kathleen. Sometimes she makes up a name that sounds kind of German or Russian…lots of hard consonants. I could never repeat it because I can barely understand it. Forget about spelling it. I’m sure it’s short of vowels. Sometimes she will have a secret name that no one can know. This makes it very hard to ask her to do anything because I never know her secret name. It’s a secret after all. Once or twice she has called us by our proper names. It’s very weird to be called my name by a small child, especially when it’s your own. I understand when people will introduce adults to children as Ms. FirstName or Mr. FirstName. I would hate to be called Mrs. Linard. Nobody calls me that. Calling me by my first name is just a little too casual for a child though. Kind of funny when it’s my kid. She’s so serious when she does it. I swear something possesses her from time to time.




Names are a strange thing. There is so much meaning behind a name and how you address someone, but it’s really just a name, right? Why is it so complicated? There are rules about addressing letters and envelopes. Other rules about addressing people in authority positions. Rules about how you address people you know well and don’t know well. And it’s so easy to offend if you choose the wrong one. Wouldn’t it just be easier if we called each other by our given names? Who decided we needed to add a Mr. or Mrs., or Doctor or Judge? We live in a weird world.