In search of the perfect gift

I gave the little guy a plastic broom and dust pan for Christmas. He was thrilled! Now he has the equipment he so desperately needed to clean the floors. Next, I'm going to get him a toy vacuum (better yet, I'll teach him how to use the REAl vacuum!). They are gifts that only a small child would appreciate. My brother tried giving my mom a vacuum for Christmas a few years ago. He never heard the end of it, she was so insulted. It was almost as bad as the time I gave her a non-stick frying pan. I'm still in the dog house for that 20 years later. These types of gifts make her feel like a household slave. Never mind that she really needed a new vacuum and frying pan (we were just trying to be helpful!). Does the fact that she gave my hubby a swiffer mop for x-mas a few years ago make up for it?

In November, my 4-year old nephew gave my brother a very thoughtful birthday gift -- a couple of used batteries he found lying around the house, and some printer paper that my brother had brought home from work. He beamed with pride as he watched his dad (my brother) open up that gift. Later on, he said, "Dad, can I borrow some of your paper?" It truly was the perfect gift, topped only by a gift my brother gave my mom when he was a young child -- an old toothbrush he stumbled upon in the medicine cabinet. He wrapped up that toothbrush and carefully hid it in one of my dad's smelly old running shoes. It was the toothbrush that my mom used to scrub the toilets with.... What more could a mother want?

If only finding the perfect gift was as easy as it was when you were 4. There would be no need to fight the crowds in search of the perfect thing. You wouldn't have to, because that old shaving cream can that you dug out of the garbage can has "dad" written all over it. And that red, metal coathanger that you bent in half and hid in the toilet tank is just what mom needs.

I tell you, those preschoolers could really teach us a thing or two about the makings of a perfect gift!