The best Christmas gift you can give your daughter

Very few childhood memories actually include the gifts I received.

I distinctly remember the year that I got a silver charm bracelet. But other than that, my gift receiving memories are pretty sparse. Which got me thinking….

What type of gifts can we give to our children that they will never forget?

What gifts will truly impact their lives and change them forever?

Today’s society spends millions of dollars every year purchasing useless gifts that we don’t need or will never use, more useless crap to add to our already over cluttered homes.

What if this year, we purchased something useful for that special person.

Our daughters don’t need any more things that are an external distraction.

What if you actually bought her something that educated her, something she could take out into her world and action?

When I was 14, my parents bought me a public speaking workshop for my birthday. I was a little hesitant at first, as I had no idea what to expect from the experience.

It was a 2 hour workshop that ran over a course of 8 weeks. I was by far, the youngest person attending this course.

Initially, I thought it was the oddest gift I had ever received but I signed up and what came out of that workshop literally changed my life.

In the thick of suffering from a horrific dose of teen acne and depression bought on by the enormous grief I felt having to attend boarding school, this course quite literally gave me my voice back.

It reminded me that we all have a right to be heard. I remember how much my confidence escalated and how secure I started to feel as a person.

To this day, I still remember things that were taught to me during this life changing course.

As I got older, I realised just how smart my parents were. They could have opted to buy me another dress, more shoes, make up, a hair straighter or any other girlie item that would have made me feel fantastic on the outside but do absolutely nothing to assist me internally.

Instead, they gifted me with tools, education, new ideas and platform that I could use to move ahead in a much more positive way.

I believe it was this course that actually planted the seeds for my desire to create and launch Beautiful Minds some 14 years later.

I am an avid believer that the books, the music, the education, the messages we provide our children with will deeply impact the choices they make in their life.

So with all that said, as Christmas is around the corner, look at gifting your daughter something that will inspire her, educate her and empower her to be the best version of herself.

Image courtesy of Shutterstock.com

36 Comments

- - ella12 said
  - 29 Nov 2017
    4:13 pm
How very true, thank you for sharing.

- - mom81879 said
  - 21 Nov 2015
    3:57 pm
I hope I have achieved all of the above for my daughter. I hope she reaches for the stars and achieves all her goals. I think she will!

- - GeoEllie said
  - 31 Jan 2015
    9:51 am
Such an interesting perspective, thanks

- - mom109463 said
  - 18 Jan 2015
    9:45 pm
What a wonderful article, inspirational, we need to inspire our daughters and make them independent successful woman, but we need to ensure our sons are not left behind and that they learn to respect woman and treat them as equals.

- - priyachirag said
  - 13 Jan 2015
    2:00 pm
Very well written piece that makes me think about all the presents my girls get. Thanks!
- Beautiful Minds replied
  
  14 Jan 2015 , 9:12 am
  Thank you for your feedback. Its always great to know if a piece resonates with the readers, Marina x
- - mom113991 said
  - 11 Jan 2015
    6:25 pm
definitely food for thought. thank you for this article.
- Beautiful Minds replied
  
  13 Jan 2015 , 11:32 am
  My pleasure, thank you for taking the time to read it and comment x
- - mom111518 said
  - 27 Dec 2014
    8:42 pm
perspective is a beautiful thing. this world loves us being consumers however… dammed if you do, dammed if you dont

- - stepmom107932 said
  - 13 Dec 2014
    7:42 pm
I love this idea. but how on earth could i do this for my 6 yr old we buy her books regularly so i am not sure about that… hmmm
- Beautiful Minds replied
  
  13 Jan 2015 , 11:33 am
  I think books are wonderful for kids! It strengthens their imagination and stops them getting into technology too early. Love it!
- - mom57808 said
  - 06 Dec 2014
    6:46 am
my daughter wanted karate lessons and I am all for it, she will be able to protect herself now
- mom94125 replied
  
  01 Jan 2015 , 10:57 pm
  wow that is a great idea! taking courses in self defence is a great idea!
- - mom93821 said
  - 05 Dec 2014
    10:16 am
Thanks again for the article; have shared info with friends.
- Beautiful Minds replied
  
  13 Jan 2015 , 11:31 am
  My pleasure, thank you for passing this information on. x
- - mom71820 said
  - 04 Dec 2014
    2:21 pm
What a beautiful story! Makes you really think about what’s important, thank you.

- - mom93821 said
  - 03 Dec 2014
    1:42 pm
Thanks for sharing this interesting article; good for thought.

- - cloverstorm said
  - 30 Nov 2014
    3:42 am
That’s actually a very useful gift. I quite like the idea of giving experiences as gifts, things you wouldn’t normally do or never get around to doing. Memorable events.

- - zenbart said
  - 26 Nov 2014
    11:32 am
I remember giving our daughter a Tennis lesson for one term when she went in grade two. We’ve decided our son to have it, then it tuned out she’s more interested. So as a Christmas present a lesson for the whole one term cost a lot, but we didn’t look back. Now at 17 she’s four consecutive years champion in our town and the adjoining town. It’s truly a memorable present.

- - mrsdew17 said
  - 23 Nov 2014
    3:58 pm
Some of the gifts I received as a child were more memorable because it was something I specifically asked for or really wanted. Some of those gifts that were random…well, I just don’t even remember what they were!

- - june11 said
  - 23 Nov 2014
    1:50 am
When I was oyunf I reckon one of the best presents I ever received was a large rubber stamp set. They were in trays in a wooden box. I learned how to “make” pictures and colour them in. e,g, I used zoo animals stamps to make (design) a zoo. I used a house stamp and drew things that go with a house, then coloured it in. There a stamps of adults and children = a family; stamps that make a nativity scene and many others, From memory there is a bout 60 – 80 stamps in total. My younger brother and I entertained ourselves for hours with it, especially during school holidays, after school and on weekends during bad weather. We also used them when doing ordinary school homework or projects that were done over a period of a couple of weeks (done in special books) which are now called assignments. They were also shared with our friends or relatives and we had a great time sharing our ideas.

- - lepumpkinhead said
  - 20 Nov 2014
    2:40 pm
This year I bought my daughter a concert ticket so I can take her to her first concert, I keep trying to think outside the box as I want to give my daughter everything she wants, but I know that she does not need everything she wants. The present I still remember is when my mum bought me a dolphin experience to swim with dolphins, that was 10 years ago and I still remember that. I want to create memories for my daughter too.

- - Threelos said
  - 20 Nov 2014
    1:26 pm
I definitely agree – we need much less focus on jewellery and make up and clothes and hairstyles and body shapes and much more focus on developing girls and young women to reach their full potential as confident, clever, creative people!

- - 222jodes said
  - 20 Nov 2014
    7:11 am
Moisturise…alway always…its probably the best beauty advice i have for my daughter

- - rachkap said
  - 20 Nov 2014
    4:28 am
Some interesting ideas! Thank you