I virtually give you…

I do believe that it’s the thought that counts when it comes to gift-giving. We cannot all afford to spend the money, nor can we make room in our homes for all the potential gifts people might want to give each other.

If you have, as I do, a mother, a mother-in-law, a step-mother, and each of them have female friends and cousins, you have a lot of trinkets coming your way in a steady flow. Travel souvenirs, stuffed animals for your child, and cute kitchen accessories. I have lots of these things. I propose instead having the thoughts, and not giving the gifts.

Today my honored recipient is Holden, a two-year old boy with a strong fondness for butter. Heather sometimes tells Holden there is butter inside his vegetables in order to get him to eat them. This is how much he likes butter.

When I saw this Butter Boy, designed to help you apply butter to your food, I thought immediately that I’d like to buy it for Holden, but then I reminded myself that it’s the thought that counts. Considering the environmental costs associated with shipping the product, disposing of the packaging, and then the need to store it in their kitchen and wash it from time to time makes me believe that Heather and Alec and Holden would rather just read about this product and know that I virtually give it to them than actually own it. Correct me if I’m wrong, guys.