Best Grandparents Day Gifts

With Grandparents Day approaching, the buzz is on the best gifts. This article was written for Mother's Day and lists outside-the-box (and envelope) gift-giving ideas. The concepts apply to Grandparents Day gifts, too. There's a lot of competition for our gift-giving buck. Stores and vendors are ripe with advice about what mom supposedly wants. That's why families should think heart (as in gifts from the) and smart.

Speaking of smart, for Mother's Day shopping (and Grandparents Day, thinking inductively) the best tips I found come from Denver Post $MART columnist Amber Johnson. Johnson surveyed moms about what they wanted most. Essentially, the consensus was to dial down the spending and pay attention to the individual mom's preferences. I'd add skip the three Cs (cards, candy and cut flowers). If you want to send a card, don't buy one. Use free printable greeting cards from my blog. And for shopping, use this advice for grandparent gifts, too. Mother's Day Gifts

Back to School Eye Exam and Glasses from Walmart, Best Gifts for Kids

There's one aspect of back to school preparation that sometimes gets overlooked--eye exams and glasses. We scrupulously follow school supplies list. We buy pencils, notebooks and backpacks. We shop for school clothes and shoes. We stock the cupboard with healthy school snacks. But we forget the one thing that can make or break a school year for a child--good vision. This year, give the gift of sight with Eye Exam and Glasses from Walmart