In the season of giving gifts, I know all of us are looking for ways to show our loved ones that we care.

But we often miss the most important gift we could be giving them.

Today, I want to share what that is.

Welcome to About Progress, I'm Monica Packer, a regular mom and recovering perfectionist

who uncovered the truest model to dramatic, belasting, personal growth.

Its progress made practical.

Join us to leave the extremes behind and instead learn how to do something to grow and ways that stick.

I saw the funniest Instagram post other day.

It was framed to look like a Twitter post and it said,

14 years ago, I married my husband and promised from that day forward

to be in charge of all of his gifts for his mother, siblings and friends.

Women seem to carry a lot of the gift giving responsibilities in most households.

But this episode is not meant to be a long rant about the unfairness around that.

Instead, it's actually about the power gifts can carry.

A quick confession for you, I am not a great gift giver.

I basically ask my kids what they want and I choose a thing or two from the list and then I get it for them.

I ask my friends what they're getting for their kids and I copy them.

For Brad, I make a few assumptions based on the things I can see he needs.

But I don't really belabor it and luckily he's pretty easily pleased.

And if you listened to my episode on lowering the hurdles a few weeks ago,

then you all know about my gift giving cupboard where it's basically impersonal

and I just get things out of the cupboard for my friends.

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