Post Series: Advent: Poem with an explanation: Christmas gift ideas

Are you having a difficult time thinking of Christmas gifts to buy for the people in your life?  The following poem can help.  It provides (in poem form) eleven categories of gifts that you can use to come up with ideas.  (After the poem, the gift categories are laid out more explicitly.  That is what makes this a poem with an explanation.)

The first gift,
is really as basic,
as the food you eat.

The second gift,
like the first,
is consumed,
but in a different way.

The third gift,
is the standard,
upon the person’s flag.

The fourth gift,
should be interesting.

The fifth gift,

The sixth gift,
should express a sentiment.

The seventh gift,
follows money.

The eight gift,
fulfills a request.

The ninth gift,
requires action.

The tenth gift,
comes from the hands.

The eleventh gift,
takes things to a new level.


Each stanza above expresses a gift category that you can use to think of a gift to buy a person.

The first gift category is food.  Food makes an excellent gift because everyone eats and it is easy to get something gourmet or something in a fancy package that can make something simple be more like a gift.

The second gift is that of a consumable.  A consumable is something a person uses up.  This could be anything from office supplies to things for their pet.  The idea is to buy a person something they use up on a regular basis.

The third gift is a standard gift.  A standard gift can fit a gender or a profession.  As an example, some standard gifts for men might be: ties, shoes, suits, briefcases, tools, sports items, outdoor items, shaving items, cologne, car items, and grilling items.

The fourth gift is something related to an interest a person has.  For example, if a person likes golf, some gifts might be: golf balls, golf tees, golf clothes, golf gloves, golf bags, golf lessons, and golf clubs.

The fifth gift is an event.  Rather than giving a person a thing, you can give them an experience.  This could be something like tickets to a sporting event or paying for them to take a class.

The sixth gift is something sentimental.  This could be something personalized with the person’s name, something with an image important to the person, or something from the person’s past.

The seventh gift is to buy a person something they buy themselves.  The idea here is that if a person buys something, they like it.  If you buy them something similar, they might like it too.

The eighth gift is to buy a person something they asked for.  A person might have explicitly said they wanted something, or they may have mentioned it or an idea related to it in passing.

The ninth gift is to do something for a person.  This could be something like mowing their lawn or fixing something they have that is broken.

The tenth gift is to give the person something you make.  This could be anything from cookies, to a scarf, to furniture.

The eleventh gift is to upgrade something a person has.  You can buy a person a better version of something they already own.

These categories cover just something things you could buy a person as a Christmas gift.  There are of course more.  These are just a starting point that you can use if you have trouble thinking of what to buy a person.

As a side note, if you know someone who likes poetry, you might consider buying them M. Sakran’s published collection of poetry, First Try.  It contains poems on a variety of topics.  Someone who likes poetry could enjoy it. (It would also make M. Sakran quite happy if you gave someone the collection as a gift.)