Q: I already know i want a cell phone, but my mom can't afford that. She doesn't have much money so i can't ask for anything expensive. Things on my list: clothes, gift card, money, charm bracelet. What are the best gifts that aren't expensive? Please!
A: I had a few ideas, but once I saw your ideas I realized right away that you had already thought of the very best one! I gave my daughter a charm bracelet with a charm on it for her 12th birthday. She is now 20 and told me just a few days ago while we were talking that it has meant the most to her of all the presents. It was so great for me as a parent because no matter what the finances were each year, she always knew she would at least get a charm to add. I tried to give her a charm on each birthday, holiday and for a special occasion, event or accomplishment. The surprise is so fun too. To know your bracelet has been re-wrapped and is waiting with a new charm that was hand picked to remind you of something special about you and you only is beyond the long term happiness a phone can bring. My feeling about this is that anyone can get a phone which in a few years will wear out, get replaced and doesn't represent the same love, effort and thought that would be shown through a handpicked charm throughout your teens and adulthood by your mom. It's something that the two of you can share for decades like I am with my daughter. I have to tell you this too and I mean this from the deepest fibers of my soul--you are a rare, rare and I repeat rare young woman with an amazing quantity of love, understanding and empathy for your mother and her circumstance. You already have a love and compassion beyond 99.9% of those your age. Your mother will want to give you something special because of who you are. Even if you don't get exactly what you want, I know that your mother's wish would have been to give you everything you wanted if only she could. In her heart, I am very sure she recognized how incredibly blessed she is to have such a loving young woman as her daughter as yourself--one that thinks not of herself first, but of others, and most especially her mother. If you weren't already taken, I would choose you too!