If you’ve received a goodie book as a gift, you obviously know someone very thoughtful. Nevertheless, you may want to trade in one of the gifts in your book for one of those listed below. The person who gave you your goodie book understands completely and is prepared to swap, no questions asked. Just tear out the unused gift from your book and trade it in for one of the many other goodie gifts listed here. Even Steven. And don’t forget to send us your own goodie gift and pay-it-forward ideas. You could be a prizewinner! Click here for more details.
Goodie Gifts:
GIFTS FOR MOM OR DAD:
  1. Eat all your vegetables, don’t hide them in your underwear.
  2. Clean your room. No really, clean your room. Now.
  3. Do the dishes. With soap.
  4. Take out the trash.
  5. Bring the trash can back in instead of letting it roll down the street and out into traffic.
  6. Do your homework.
  7. Feed the pet(s).
  8. Walk the pet(s).
  9. Stop teasing your brother/sister.
  10. Use good table manners.
  11. Use a napkin, not your sleeve.
  12. Dress appropriately. Without a fight.
  13. Clean the basement.
  14. Rake the leaves.
  15. Put your dishes in the dishwasher, not the sink.
  16. Empty the dishwasher.
  17. Take out the recycling.
  18. Remember to bring your school books home.
  19. Stop teasing the dog/cat.
  20. Stop asking me “Why?” Just do it.
  21. Help me run my errands.
  22. Better yet, run my errands.
  23. Pick up the dry cleaning.
  24. Go to the grocery store for the items I forgot.
  25. Laugh at my jokes, I laugh at yours.
  26. Clean up after yourself.
  27. Don’t leave candy wrappers in the living room.
  28. Don’t leave any wrappers anywhere.
  29. Throw your trash away.
  30. Don’t leave wet towels on the floor or furniture.
  31. Clean the bathtub.
  32. Do your own laundry.
  33. Cook dinner one night.
  34. Drive without distraction! (No texting!)
  35. Keep curfew.
  36. Don’t make me come in there!
  37. Don’t make me talk to you through a closed bedroom door.
  38. Don’t text me from your bedroom to ask me when dinner will be ready.
  39. Don’t text me from the living room. Especially when I am sitting right next to you on the couch.
  40. Look at me when you talk.
  41. Don’t make me walk ten steps ahead or behind you whenever your friends are around.
  42. Tell me I look nice.
  43. Help your brother/sister with his/her homework.
  44. Explain the computer to me. Patiently.
  45. Stop being so flip to me.
  46. Stop acting like a stranger in your own house.
  47. Make your own sandwich.
  48. Answer the door when I’m in the bathroom instead of yelling, “Someone’s at the door!”
  49. Don’t leave things where I can trip over them and kill myself.
  50. Tell me you love me.
  51. Let me tuck you in.
  52. Tell me the dinner is delicious.
  53. Play ball with me.
  54. Do your own school projects.
  55. Refrain from all idiotic and life threatening “dares.”
  56. Think before you light a firecracker in the house.
  57. Think before you skateboard off the roof.
  58. For God’s sake, just think.
  59. Listen to my stories.
  60. Stop saying, “But that’s not fair!”
  61. Pretend you care what I think.
  62. Don’t flush while I’m in the shower.
  63. Take care of your braces. Stop chewing gum.
  64. Tell me I’ve still got it.
  65. Put lotion on my back no matter how gross you think that is. Remember, I changed your diapers.
  66. Blow up the beach raft.
  67. Get yourself up for school.
  68. Get up.
  69. Let me see your eyes – comb your hair.
  70. Give me warning of your mood swings.
  71. Listen to my music.
  72. Explain your music to me.
  73. Return the driver’s seat to my preferred setting.
  74. Stop using my razor.
  75. Spend some quality time with me.
  76. Make your bed.
  77. Bring me breakfast in bed.
  78. Fold the laundry.
  79. Water the plants. Before they die.
  80. Let me stand with you at the school bus stop.
  81. Let me kiss you goodnight.
  82. Refrain from barking in class.
  83. Close the refrigerator door.
  84. Hang up your coat.
  85. Don’t slide your butt across the coffee table and call it dusting.
  86. Keep your eyes open in the next family picture.
  87. Smile in the next family picture.
  88. OK, at least don’t snarl in the next family picture.
  89. Talk to me.
  90. Don’t inhale your dinner in 10 minutes.
  91. Don’t feed the dog at the table.
  92. Give me as warm a welcome as you give the dog.
  93. Write your own thank you notes.
  94. Write your own thank you notes without being told.
  95. Write your own thank you notes in the same year as you received the present.
  96. Make your own Halloween costume.
  97. Be good for the babysitter.
  98. Don’t do anything that will result in having to write an apology note to the babysitter.
  99. Don’t stuff crayons or anything else up your nose or in your ears.
  100. Don’t swallow game pieces.
  101. Don’t point out my liver spots. I don’t point out your pimples.
  102. Allow me some quiet time. The last quiet time I had was 15 minutes back in 1995.

Goodie Gifts:
GIFTS FOR HIM OR HER:
  1. Patiently teach me where the main water valve is and how to turn it off or on.
  2. Patiently teach me how to program the clocks.
  3. Whatever you have to teach me, do it patiently. Or not at all.
  4. For God’s sake, if we’re lost…ask directions.
  5. Replace the toilet paper. Don’t expect a medal.
  6. Replace the paper towels. Don’t expect to be canonized.
  7. Let me have control of the remote control. Just once.
  8. Please stop referring to my “increasingly dysfunctional family.”
  9. Stop answering my question with a question.
  10. Don’t make me leave early just to avoid traffic.
  11. Give me a good back rub. Without complaining.
  12. Give me as warm a welcome home as you do the dog.
  13. Smile when you see me.
  14. Tell me I’ve still got it.
  15. Tell me I’m beautiful.
  16. Tell me Brad Pitt has nothing on me.
  17. Hold my lipstick, car keys or purse when we go out.
  18. Don’t make me hold anything for you when we go out. Hold it yourself.
  19. Don’t tell me I throw like a girl.
  20. Don’t tell me “men are such babies” when I’m sick. It just makes it worse.
  21. Let me have the last word.
  22. Let me decide when we’re leaving the party.
  23. Ignore me when I can’t find my glasses. You know I’ll find them. Eventually.
  24. Don’t ignore me when I can’t find my glasses. Help me for crying out loud.
  25. Don’t make me kill the spider.
  26. Kill the spider yourself, for once.
  27. Don’t tell me who won the game. I have so few pleasures.
  28. Let me choose what temperature we keep the thermostat.
  29. Return my car seat to my preferred setting.
  30. Turn out the lights!
  31. Kiss me goodnight.
  32. Weed the poison ivy for me.
  33. Cook dinner for me.
  34. When on vacation, I won’t make you ride a donkey up a cliff if you won’t drag me to every single art museum.
  35. Don’t leave the peanut butter knife in the jelly jar.
  36. Don’t put the mustard knife in the mayo jar.
  37. Don’t stand over me while I’m cooking and tell me how to cook. Especially since you don’t cook.
  38. Don’t give me “the look.”
  39. Just tell me what you want!
  40. Don’t complete my sentences for me.
  41. Let me tell the story.
  42. Don’t make fun of me for not knowing.
  43. Open the jar for me without calling me a weenie.
  44. Don’t use the same towel to wipe the raw chicken and to dry the dishes.
  45. Promise to do the thing I want…more than once every three years.
  46. Take my calls.
  47. Don’t tell me how to drive. It could be hazardous to your health.
  48. Don’t ask what’s for dinner. Your guess is as good as mine.
  49. Don’t ask, “Is that what you’re going to wear?”
  50. Don’t make adjustments to the task I just accomplished.
  51. Get straight what the doctor said.
  52. Don’t stand in front of the refrigerator with the door open waiting for a miracle.
  53. Don’t ask, “Is it supposed to taste this way?”
  54. Help me read whatever I can’t, now that I have 3 pair of glasses and still can’t see at any distance.
  55. Don’t blame me when you can’t find something.
  56. Be fair with closet space.
  57. Laugh at my stories. No matter how many times you’ve heard them.
  58. Take a hint when I say the laundry is not going to do itself.
  59. Don’t get sand in the camera.
  60. Sew your own buttons back on.
  61. Stop asking me where I’m going every time I get up from the couch or bed. I’m going to the same place I always go. To the bathroom.
  62. Don’t point out my latest nervous twitch, bald patch, or liver spot and I won’t point out yours.
  63. Don’t call me a dottering idiot when I walk into a room and say, “Why did I come in here?”
  64. Tell me I’m the best thing that ever happened to you.
Goodie Ideas:
Sometimes the smallest thing can have the biggest impact.
  1. Let someone in, in traffic.
  2. Say thank you.
  3. Tell someone “good job.”
  4. Tell someone you appreciate what they do.
  5. Learn someone’s name.
  6. Eat dinner as a family.
  7. Don’t be late. My time is just as valuable as your time.
  8. Dare to be dumb. Ask questions.
  9. If you wrote it while angry, save your e-mail as a draft for 24 hours. You may want to revise it the next day.
  10. Pick up the phone. Call somebody.
  11. Nothing happens at a convenient time. Adjust.
  12. Simplify your life.
  13. Motivation follows action. “Just do it” and the motivation will follow.
  14. Do the best you can.
  15. Remember, you’re doing the best you can.
  16. Just listen. It’s the easiest thing. And the hardest.
  17. Count your blessings.
  18. Ask someone if you can start over.
  19. Take your cell phone conversation someplace private.
  20. Pick up trash.
  21. Use things, love people.
  22. Breathe.
  23. Don’t yell.
  24. Be the change you want to see in the world.
  25. Smile at someone who is rarely smiled at.
  26. People are much nicer in real life than they are on reality TV.
  27. Compliment someone.
  28. Share.
  29. Be comfortable in your own skin. There’s only one you.
  30. Maintain enthusiasm.
  31. Ask someone about themselves.
  32. Give someone the benefit of the doubt.
  33. Give someone a second chance.
  34. Laugh at yourself.
  35. Keep the knee jerk reactions to a minimum.
  36. Apologize first.
  37. Ask someone if you can start over.
  38. Dare to do something.
  39. Dare to do nothing.
  40. Say, “How can I help you?”
  41. Don’t run red lights.
  42. Don’t talk in movie theatres.
  43. Don’t sweat the small stuff.
  44. Rise to the occasion.
  45. Pay it forward.
  46. Don’t ‘kick the dog’ ( don’t pick on someone weak).
  47. Walk in someone else’s shoes.
  48. See things from another point of view.
  49. Believing is seeing.
  50. Don’t overlook the overlooked.


 

Goodie Gifts:
GIFTS FOR TEACHERS:

  1. Smile at me as you come into the classroom.
  2. Say thank you as you leave the classroom.
  3. Don’t answer my question with a question.
  4. Don’t ask me when lunch is. Especially at 9 o’clock in the morning.
  5. Find your own lost pencil or pen.
  6. Pick up trash from the classroom floor. Even if you didn’t put it there.
  7. Compliment me on my appearance. Even better, tell me it makes me look 18.
  8. Help me hand out papers and other work.
  9. Sit up in your chair and look interested.
  10. At least sit up in your chair.
  11. Don’t bully.
  12. Stand up to bullying.
  13. Work with the classmate no one else likes.
  14. Take care of the classroom pet.
  15. Help me learn the “new technology”
  16. Teach me something on the computer I don’t know.
  17. Laugh at my jokes (I laugh at yours).
  18. Stop with the ridiculous excuses. Take responsibility for yourself.
  19. Tell your family at least one thing you learned in school today.
  20. At least don’t say “nothing” when asked what you learned in school today.
  21. Remember your lunch before you get to the cafeteria.
  22. Learn to tie your own shoes.
  23. Learn to zip your own zipper.
  24. Help me find my glasses, keys and other misplaced items.
  25. Refrain from making distracting noises in class. Natural or unnatural.
  26. Don’t crawl around on the classroom floor on all fours.
  27. Don’t crawl around on the classroom floor on all fours and bark like a dog. You scare the other kids.
  28. Don’t hit or kick.
  29. Don’t pull anyone’s hair. Including your own.
  30. DO NOT text in class.
  31. Do not draw on other students.
  32. Do not draw on your desk.
  33. Remember, teachers are people too. We have feelings.
  34. Send me a thank you note.
  35. Write neatly. AT least try.
  36. Don’t forget your ___________________.
  37. Put your papers in your notebook. Don’t fold them into a ball and forget where you put them.
  38. Be on time.
  39. Smile at me when I come in the classroom.
  40. Don’t eat in class.
  41. Help the substitute.
  42. Remember to bring the right books home.
  43. Don’t hide your books in the classroom cupboard so you don’t have to bring them home.
  44. Get your notes and papers signed and in on time.
  45. Ask at least three other students about class work before you ask me to repeat what I just said.
  46. Don’t blame me because your mother/father yelled at you this morning.
  47. Ask to go the restroom only when you really, really, really need to.
  48. Do not call other people names.
  49. Store your book bag under your desk.
  50. Raise your hand, don’t shout out.
  51. Participate, don’t make me force you.
  52. Don’t follow me around the room like a lost puppy.
  53. Use a tissue. Need I say more?
  54. Use the steps we learned in school to solve your own social problems.
  55. Clean the blackboard.
  56. Help with the classroom calendar.
  57. Clean out the clutter in your desk. More than once a year.
  58. Bring all the equipment in from recess.
  59. Bring a chair out for me to sit on at recess.
  60. Take the recycling to the bin.
  61. Organize the classroom library.
  62. Dress appropriately for the weather.
  63. Learn to unstuck your own zipper.
  64. As a rule say please and thank you.
  65. Sneeze into your arm.
  66. Wash your hands.
  67. Do not use foul language.
  68. Do not hide the erasers from me.
  69. Do not say “huh?” in response to anything.
  70. Read directions before asking me a question.
  71. Do not throw spitballs or other weapons of mass destruction in class.
  72. Do not bring your favorite toy to school and then tell me that you lost it.
  73. Come see me in one year and tell me something I taught you that you still use.
  74. Come see me in 5 years and tell me your name instead of making me guess.
  75. Come see me in 10 years and tell me what you are now that you’re grown.
  76. Tell me I’m the best teacher you ever had.