On the first day of Christmas my cubicle-mate gave to me, a box of yummy candy and then throughout the day proceeded to eat the entire thing.

The holidays are upon us and with it comes my absolute, least favorite tradition: attempting to buy appropriate gifts for our coworkers. In this group I lump teachers, neighbors, business associates – anyone you want to show some love to but don’t really know well enough to get them something they really want.

This is the most un-wonderful task of the year.

I want to gift these people with something because I really do appreciate them. Without my children’s teachers, I would have lost sanity by now. Without the secretaries in the school office, there is no way I could have kept track of two sets of IEPs for two kids. Without my neighbors this latest PCS move would surely have been a nightmare. And without my coworkers the daily grind would not be nearly as much fun.

But what to get them? If I go over the top, it feels a little funny and my wallet probably can’t handle big time gifts for everyone on my list.

If I give too little, I personally, feel like I’m being cheap or just giving a gift to check the box, so to speak. I want them to know I’m giving it because I want to; because I appreciate them. Because I like them. Not just because it’s the holidays and every add on TV, radio and the newspaper says I should.

For my son’s teacher last year, I felt like that wonderful woman deserved either a medal or a giant bottle of rum. Both were probably inappropriate. So in addition to whatever knickknack I found that he insisted that she would love, I wrote her a letter.

I told her how much her help and dedication meant to me. I wrote in long form what a difference she made not just in his life, but in our family’s.

Turns out, that was the best Christmas gift she received that year.

We hear often how we should tell those we love that we love them. But I say, do the same for people you are with every day, who you work with, who work with your children, who impact your life in some way, even a small way. Tell them that they make it better. Tell them that the exhausting, mundane things they do every day, make all the difference in the world.

Tis the season for giving. Give your love, appreciation and words of kindness, for this is the best gift of all.