Books are Best as Holiday Gifts

Posted on November 18, 2017 by llpitlwp

Why Books Make the Best Holiday Gifts

by Saralyn Richard

Holiday Gifts

Black Friday will soon be upon us, and the ritual of hunting for the best Holiday gifts will resume in earnest. Children’s gifts are often the hardest to choose, especially when the recipients live remotely and their preferences for things aren’t clear.

Even when there are wish lists, children outgrow toys and games as quickly as clothes, so something that is cherished today may be ignored tomorrow. Fads for certain children’s gifts pass quickly. Remember the hacky sack, Cabbage Patch™ dolls, Beanie Babies™, and spinners?

Oftentimes the gifts children want are not the ones parents want them to have. Noisy, messy, unassembled, or violent toys may fall into this category. Gifts of live animals might be problematic, as well. We all know horror stories about perfect gifts that turned into nightmares.

The one gift that meets the most positive criteria without having the negative ones, is a book. Books are:

Practical,
Entertaining,
Durable,
Sharable,
Educational,
Enlightening,
Easy to wrap

Most books come with targeted age ranges, so you can match the gift to the child with confidence. If you know what the child’s interests are, you can surely find a book that fits. Books extend the child’s experiences beyond his circumstances, so he can learn about new people, places, and things. They also extend the child’s vocabulary, as well as other reading skills, no matter the age of the reader. Books create opportunities for children and adults to share quality time, discuss worthwhile topics, ask and answer questions, and build relationships.

Toys and games come and go, but a great book lives forever in the mind of its readers. That’s why we think books make the perfect Holiday gifts.

Saralyn Richard is a former educator and author of Naughty Nana, a children’s picture book, ranked #30 on the Goodreads list for Best Picture Book. For reviews and other information, check out www.palmcirclepress.com/naughtynana/bookstore.

Weekend Pics from Parenting in the Loop-Holiday Gift Guides 2015

Posted on November 20, 2015 by llpitlwp

Holiday Gift Guides 2015

Weekend Pics from Parenting in the Loop

The holidays can be a wonderful time of giving but sometimes there are just too many choices and deciding what is appropriate for kids, young adults and parents can be challenging.

I have been fortunate to find several Holiday Gift Guides 2015 that really help me out at this time of year. I thought I would share my favorite 2 guides with you. I also included two of my favorite gift links…Kiwi Crate and iBlog Magazine for my blogger friends. Happy Browsing and Shopping!

Source: 2015 Cool Mom Picks Holiday Gift Guide |

A blog about fashion, arts, food, travel and family straight from the Empire State

Source: TheNewYorkMom – A blog about fashion, arts, food, travel and family straight from the Empire State

My own Holiday Gift Guides 2015

Themed crates of arts & crafts and science projects for kids delivered monthly. Create, imagine, explore!

Source: Shop Kiwi Crate

Click the Gift Guide Don’t forget iBlog’s Special Holiday Gift! $0.99 cents/mth 1 Year Digital Memberships until Dec. 31st, 2015! Apply this code at checkout: iBlogGIFT15 Sign up now, limited time offer, low price ends soon!

Source: iBlog magazine 2015 Holiday Gift Guide – iBlog magazine

I hope these Holiday Gift Guides 2015 help make your shopping season easier. These are suggestions that are great for presents anytime…don’t you think?

Holidays and Indulgent Grandparents…

Posted on December 8, 2014 by llpitlwp

Grandparents and Gifts

The holidays are almost here and gifts will be pouring in from relatives to your children especially well meaning grandparents. It can quickly get overwhelming for you as parents and your kids. This is not a good feeling.

What if anything do you do to control the amount and type of gifts your kids receive at Christmas and Hanukah?

Let’s assume that most grandparents are well meaning even though you may think that sometimes they have lost their minds when it comes to gift giving.

If it is not too late, try to have a conversation with them about what your children would like for gifts and what actually might be some really great gifts. This is not always a comfortable conversation to have but if you sandwich your points between two positive comments, it can soften the discussion. You might begin a conversation by telling them how helpful they have been recently, being specific and then swing into the gift topic.

Always end discussions like this with another positive thought as it leaves the conversation with an upbeat feeling instead of a decree about how you are raising your children and what grandparents can and cannot give them as gifts. To me, it is a blessing to have a grandchild.

My motto here, is to be kind as you never know what kind of day your family members are dealing with…we all have our difficulties to negotiate each day.

Christmas Wishes to Jennie

Posted on December 13, 2013 by llpitlwp

Merry Christmas Jennie!

And so, my gift to you is a super easy, really one bowl recipe for gingerbread—or should it be called gingerbread cake? Perhaps I should eat one more slice to try and decide.

via gingerbread cake {a one bowl recipe} – In Jennie’s Kitchen.

If you are at all like me, I am always looking for a gift that is very special at Christmas time when it comes to my family and friends.

Since I love food and trust me most people do…I look for unique cookbooks by unique cooks.

Homemade with Love

is one of those cookbooks.

Jennie Perillo is one of those cooks.

As the year 2013 comes to an end, I am looking back at some of the wonderful people, I have met this year.

Jennie is one of them.

Last spring, I was introduced to Jennie through a group of Instagram bloggers from NYC.

She was launching her first cookbook, Homemade with Love. At first, I was drawn to her by her story.

Jennie had lost her husband suddenly. She and her two daughters were left without their anchor. Jennie found solace in her love of cooking.

As she grieved for her husband, she began to create Homemade with Love.

During her publicity tour, Jennie stopped in Chicago where I live. She did a book signing at a small bookstore.

As luck would have it…I read about the book signing after the fact.

I was so disappointed…

Well, I took to Twitter and sent Jennie a message asking if she was doing any other signings.

“No”!

But I was welcome to stop by her hotel and she would sign my copy.

I was more than thrilled.

Not only did Jennie sign my copy of Homemade with Love but she invited me to a media luncheon which she had prepared in her hotel kitchen. I was actually tasting some of her recipes and they were easy enough to make in this tiny kitchen.

I had fallen in LOVE.

I knew when I read about Jennie and read Homemade with Love…I was being reintroduced to my love of cooking again.

You see, I had been an empty nester after taking care of my own family and my mother and now I was helping to parent my granddaughter…I needed to cook again for a family.

Jennie came into my life and resurrected my love of cooking at a moment when I needed a new inspiration to cook again for a family.

Jennie, I wish you a very Merry Christmas and New Year full of new horizons.

Thank you.

Baby showers, and “sprinkles”

Posted on April 10, 2011 by llpitlwp

“Baby showers, and sprinkles”

For me “Sprinkles” means cupcakes…delicious ones from Beverly Hills now with a store closer to home here in Chicago. But apparently there is another meaning…continue reading a post from the March of Dimes.

I guess I could serve Sprinkles to the guests …YUM!

“We were talking about baby showers the other day and how nice they are for first time moms, how hugely helpful they are in jump-starting the whole ”there’s a baby in the house!” transition.

The question came up about whether or not folks give showers for second babies. One gal thought not, because you already have a crib and gear and baby clothes. Another one said, “Hey, we can’t gyp this baby out of cute stuff just ‘cause he’s second in line!” A third said where she’s from they have showers for the second one, but they’re kind of toned down in the volume of gifts and the party is called a “sprinkle.” Cute! And my favorite response was from a gal who said where she’s from they have a party after the baby arrives called a “sip ‘n see.”

How ‘bout you? Do you attend second showers or sprinkles? What happens if the mom is pregnant with twins? Do you call it a downpour? Would triplets be a thunderstorm? Personally, I get a big kick out of these names and think that any support you can give a pregnant woman is a great idea. I mean really, who doesn’t need diapers and butt cream?

Tags: baby gifts, baby shower, Pregnancy, pregnant woman, sprinkle

via News Moms Need » Blog Archive » Baby showers, and sprinkles.”