3 Gifts That Can’t Be Wrapped

Lisa Beach

If you asked my two teens to name the best gifts they ever received, they would undoubtedly mention their video game console, cell phones, and other technology-related presents.

As a parent however, I know better. Technology will be replaced every few years, upgraded to smaller, better, faster versions. Some gifts though? They last a lifetime.

When I think of the best gifts my husband and I have ever given our boys, these three “intangible gifts” top the list:

Gift #1: The value of education

For various reasons, we chose to homeschool our boys for almost 10 years. We found that, when the public school wasn’t meeting their needs, we could provide a better education for our two boys. Both gifted and with special needs (autism spectrum for the oldest, ADHD for the youngest), our boys thrived with a flexible schedule and a custom-tailored curriculum.

By homeschooling them, we exposed them to a learning lifestyle, where education takes place anywhere at any age. We filled their childhood with field trips, hands-on experiences, co-op classes, books, art, music, service opportunities, documentaries, games, experiments, projects, recipes, real-life learning activities, plays, and concerts. Everything was a teachable moment.

Gift #2: The love of reading

My dad nicknamed me “Booka” because, as a child, I absolutely loved to read. Books ignited my imagination and fueled my love of language, which led me to pursue a writing career. I wanted to pass on this same gift—this love of reading—to my boys.

So, visits to bookstores and our local library became part of the pages of their lives. They enjoyed the library’s story time programs, puppet shows, and magic shows. They participated in the library’s reading challenge every summer, and even volunteered at the library as teenagers.

We artfully instilled a love of reading, which only got stronger through the years as our family bought and borrowed thousands of books, both for leisure and for homeschooling.

Gift #3: The gift of boredom

With all the “enrichment” opportunities available—from art classes and music lessons to soccer clinics and tae kwon do classes—we wanted to make sure our kids were never bored.

Big mistake.

Boredom is often the catalyst for inspiration, allowing creativity to flourish. It gives kids the unstructured time and space to cultivate their creativity, big ideas, and out-of-the-box thinking. This holds true even more so now as the pervasiveness of technology infringes on the free time they do have.

One summer, after a ridiculously busy homeschool year, we decided against letting organized activities swallow up yet another one of our kids’ summers. Instead, we chose to give them the gift of boredom.

What a payoff! When my kids got bored, they got creative. They explored, thought up new ideas, played together (and by themselves), daydreamed, read books, tackled new projects, experimented, invented things, collaborated, and wondered. Now that is enrichment.

These days, I think of giving in different terms. I don’t need to focus exclusively on buying gifts in a store or presenting them in beautifully wrapped packages. Instead, I ensure that among the many tangible gifts I give my children over the years, I am also giving them bigger, immaterial gifts that will last far beyond their childhood.


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One mom shares the three invaluable gifts she gave her children.


3 Gifts That Can’t Be Wrapped was written by Lisa Beach exclusively for BonBon Break Media LLC.


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Lisa Beach is a recovering stay-at-home mom and homeschooler who lived to write about it. Her blog, Tweenior Moments, humorously tackles middle age, friends, family, and all the baggage that goes with it. Her work has been published on Erma Bombeck Writer’s Workshop, Midlife Boulevard, and Ten to Twenty Parenting.