I just had a great idea – maybe – I think – or not.1 Anyway, …
The Timely Arrival Of A Christmas Tip
While looking through photos of Christmas scenes when Da Boyz were still Da Tykez, I paused on scenes of the tsunami of wrapping paper, ribbons, toys, boxes, and other detritus that were the inevitable consequence of the offspring’s propensity to rip and run through the opening of their gifts, and then recalled the wave of confusion that ensued when their mother and I would, some time afterward, attempt to put together names of gift-givers with specific gifts2 to send them thank-you’s that are a tad less ambiguous than “We appreciate your wonderful gift you gave our young’uns, and they certainly love the lovely present your lovingly gave them.”
It occurred to me that perhaps this was a situation in which a handy digital camera could be useful, in this case by providing a photographic record of which gift was given by whom.
But then I realized that a small gifttag was unlikely to be legible in the same shot that also displayed the gift itself. The solution, I thought, would be using an audio tract, i.e., identifying the pictured gift pictured by voice, but I wasn’t sure how to link a recording to a given still photo. Perhaps the photo idea was the problem. Instead, one could use the video mode of a digital camera or a camcorder to record the offspring opening the gift and the accompanying soundtrack to indicate the sender.
Then, the veil lifted.
The Idea Proper & An Example
Rather than use the camera to create an audiovisual list to facilitate sending thank-you notes, why not use the camera to create the audiovisual thank-you notes themselves?
Here’s an oversimplified example that elucidates the vision:
The parent shoots a video of the adorable child opening a gift from, say, the loving grandmother. The kid’s sole obligation, in lieu of writing or calling the grandparents to express appreciation, is to pause for a moment, display the opened present, stare into the lens, and announce, with spirit and gratitude, “What a great pair of socks. Thanks, Grandma. I love you.” The parent edits the snippet, maybe gets fancy and adds a cute title, uploads it online, and emails a link to grandmamma (or puts the video on a disc to be snail-mailed).
And that’s that. Just adjust that example to include all gifts to all participating gift-receivers, and Bob, as they say, is your uncle. (And if Uncle Bob sent a gift, make sure he gets a thank-you as well.)
The Benefits
- No writing thank-you notes
- No nagging the children to write thank-you notes
- Grandparents (and other gift-givers) get to see grandkids (and other gift-receivers) opening their gifts and saying thanks – within minutes of the actual event if so desired
Pretty slick, eh?
- This potentially nifty notion erupted only last night, we’re leaving town for the holidays in a few hours, and this is a Christmas-specific tip so it’s either publish it now or wait until next year — and this ain’t a blog about the Cubs. My point is that I haven’t had time to fully consider this idea. I did a quick search without finding anything similar but that may have to do with the limited time available for internet exploration; it could well be that a more thoughtful and complete exposition of this concept already resides at another URL. So, caveat emptor, your mileage may vary, and there’s no place like home for the holidays↩
- Yeah, I know one should make a list of gifts and givers contemporaneously with the gift-opening, but even when I was disciplined enough to play secretary during the funfest, I was always stumped three days later to read, in my own handwriting, “Big, blue thingie with crank from Phillip or Philadelphia???”↩
No Comments so far ↓
Like gas stations in rural Texas after 10 pm, comments are closed.