Not Another Gift Guide – An ✨Acts of Service✨ Guide

Give the gift of knowing it's done

I don’t know about you, but there are several members of my family that just do not respond to gifts. (Couldn’t be me.) It’s not that they inherently dislike gifts, it’s just that it’s not how they receive love — it’s not their love language.

Some people want the $150 Loewe tomato candle.¹ Others want you to descale the coffee machine, alphabetize the spice drawer, and toss the leftovers they’ve been emotionally attached to since Thanksgiving. Last Thanksgiving.

This is a guide for those people. The ones who light up not when you hand them a box, but when you say the magic words: “it’s handled.” The ones who think the greatest gift of all is just someone finally breaking down the cardboard boxes that have been out back since October.

So instead of linking you to 47 different items “on sale for the next 12 minutes,” may I present: Not Another Gift Guide — An Acts of Service Guide.

The only holiday list that requires elbow grease, not Amex points. Because the best gift this season might just be you fixing the Wi-Fi.

Not to be confused with a Turbo Man action figure with the arms and legs that move and the boomerang shooter and his rock’n roller jet pack and the realistic voice activator that says five different phrases including, ‘It’s Turbo time!’”

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1. The Closet Whisperer

Tackle a closet, a pantry, a junk drawer — whichever space in their home currently resembles the HomeGoods clearance section. Bonus points if you buy matching bins. A few years ago my brother completely reorganized my dad’s basement workshop and we’re still talking about it.

2. The Car Glow-Up

You swoop in, remove the iced-coffee-cup-graveyard, vacuum the crumbs (french fries?), restock the gum, and maybe even top off the windshield wiper fluid. Happy Honda days.

3. The “Sherpa of Returns”

Every single online return, packed, labeled, taped, and personally delivered to UPS.
This is an act of heroism and should be legally tax-deductible.

4. The Tinsel Task Force

Tinsel isn’t the only gift that keeps on giving this Christmas. Offer to come over after the holiday to break down boxes, un-decorate, and restore order. It’s the task everyone avoids, which is precisely why it’s a gift.

5. The “IT’S DONE”

Cancel a subscription, book their doctor’s appointment, call the insurance company. Whatever they’ve been complaining about for the past two weeks — wrap it up by saying, “It’s done.” (You could alternatively say say “fin” for dramatic effect.)

6. The Chief Errand Officer

You’ve been promoted to CEO! Target run, dry cleaning, post office, pet store, Goodwill to drop off the hand-knit sweaters from their “folklore era” — whatever. Give them an hour of their life back. That’s luxury.

7. The Geek Squad

Reconnect the printer. Reset the Wi-Fi. Sync the Sonos that for some reason is only connected to your Pandora account from 2008. You don’t have to be good with tech, you just have to be the only person willing to deal with it.

8. The Vacation from Planning Vacation

Make their packing list, grab their travel-size toiletries, print their confirmations (they’re that person), and clean out their suitcase. Research if there are any events happening when they’ll be there, best restaurants to try, stores they might like. They’ll say “mahalo” faster than you can say, “wait I thought you were going to Amsterdam?”

9. The Spreadsheet Salvation

Make them a budget spreadsheet, a meal-planning spreadsheet, a wedding spreadsheet — whatever chaos their life requires. It’s the one gift guaranteed not to end up in a drawer.

10. The Fridge Detox

If your parents are anything like mine, they have a jar of capers in the back of the fridge that are from the Obama administration. Toss anything expired, sticky, leaking, or “mysterious but hopefully fine.” Wipe the shelves. Reorganize the condiments. Give them the closure they deserve.

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At the end of the day, some don’t feel most loved through things – they feel loved through attention, effort, and follow-through. Acts of service say, “I see what overwhelms you, and I can help carry it.” And in a season obsessed with more more more, there’s something quite nice about lightening the load.

If you want a fun way to present (hehe) these acts of service, I made these cute little editable Christmas coupons and put them on Etsy because apparently I’m in my ✨creating✨ era. They’re $4.50, but watching your mom realize her drawer isn’t supposed to fight back? Priceless.

Take care of yourself (and each other xo)

Allison

1. It’s obviously me who wants the $150 Loewe candle