My own gifting strategy with my family this year is shifting even more away from the big gifts and completely away from toys at Christmas for my kids. The era of some doll’s Dream Home has passed - everyone is facing a tough housing market.

I am focussing instead on the things they love to DO instead: play music, hang with friends, go to the movies, skate at the rink, eat out at a few favorite local restaurants. I like to go with gift cards and gift certificates for lots of people $5 or $10 at a time - and I'm taking it a little further for the kids this year.

With no travel on the holiday break and many days to fill in our space-challenged home, made even smaller with the addition of an 8 ft tree, we need to get out on the town. We will focus our Christmas spending on a “tour” of Ann Arbor: a holiday stay-cation.

Having always loved the traditions of multiple small gifts - whether it be Hanukkah or the little treats “counting down” during Advent - I am gifting this year with a 12 days of Christmas theme. Little gifts and big plans - something for each of the 12 days of Christmas to get us out of the house if we like.

These plans do involve gift certificates for each of my kids to the places they love to go to eat, play, laugh, observe, explore, relax. Some of these “certificates” are hand-made promise slips - like the “coupons” I get at Mother’s Day but never seem to cash in on... I don’t doubt these ones will get used.

Bigger budget items cover some local restaurant favorites my family loves to treat ourselves to. We try to stick to lunch - it’s less expensive but no less of a treat.

In our case, it’s a culinary spin around the globe. One child craves Dim Sum at Great Lake Seafood Restaurant, 2910 Carpenter Road. It is our favorite local restaurant specializing in Hong Kong-style Chinese food with fabulous fresh fish and seafood. 

The other loves the rolls at Sadako on South U. It’s likely the best bargain for a meal for my family in town - when we order the rolls and a kids meal, it’s pretty close to the meal prices at a fast food restaurant - no kidding.

The concensus “favorite” spot for a special meal out for my kids is Mediterrano - more pricey than Sadako but a feast for all the kids senses - with one of the best “kids meals” in town. It’s real food - and really delicious! 

Pasta at Argiero’s in Kerrytown, with it’s wrought iron-enclosed cafe, provides a taste of Italy and a family friendly atmosphere. 

Mid-week wine deal at Argiero's in Downtown Ann Arbor

Farnham | Contributor 

Dessert and cafe au lait at Cafe Felix downtown offers a similar feel but with Parisian flare - watch the passers by from a cozy downtown French cafe. A friend was just raving about some escargot pastries there - I want to taste those for myself! Take the kids, or a friend, or a date, or a good book for a break on Main Street.

Other ways to pass an afternoon in your own hometown can be more or less active, more or less pricey. Gift certificates, cards and coupons are my new best friend. And we will likely go twice to the Dollar Movies at Briarwood Mall, 462 Briarwood Circle over the holidays. Ann Arbor’s Hands On Museum is a classic kid favorite, step out of the cold for a spell at the Matthaei Botanical Gardens out on Dixboro Road and visit the refurbished and expanded University of MIchigan Museum of Art right on campus. It’s free with a suggested donation of only $5.

We like skating and cocoa dates with a friend at Vet’s Park Arena or outdoors at Buhr Park Ice Rink. It’s sweet, active and social. Bowling with your pals at Colonial Lanes is fun for young and the young at heart. Bargain hunting at the Ann Arbor PTO Thrift Shop supports our budget-challenged schools and stretches holiday dollars further than you can imagine. The bargains are amazing. 

Two hours at the mall with mom - bringing only $5 each for snacks - doesn’t seem like much at first. But we do an extreme version of window shopping which involves formal gowns and shoes.... The “fantasy shoe shopping” is free - and priceless!

Then there are my favorite $5 touring gifts. A dear friend of my younger child gave her a series of wonderful $5 gift card treats to tour the city with for her birthday this spring. It was inspired - and inspiring. This gift strategy really works well for my 12 days of Christmas plan. 

These include $5 Starbucks gift cards to get them a kid “latte”, $5 gift cards from Kilwin’s will buy your child and a friend a junior-sized ice cream cone for a downtown winter ice-cream date, $5 from Peaceable Kingdom goes a long way in that downtown shops’ famous dollar goodie bins. We also love Bubble Tea at Bubble Island, 1220 South University. As that same friend noted, it’s both a food AND a drink! $5 each for our day of thrift shopping, of course, turns the day into both shopping and a challenge to see who gets the “find” of the day for their five bucks.

Stocking Stuffers galore at The Peaceable Kingdom Gift Shop

Farnham | Contributor