Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to send care packages to people you
Speaker 1: love just for fun. No need to wait for your
Speaker 1: kids to go to summer camp to get creative about
Speaker 1: putting together care packages. Instead, send packages anytime as a
Speaker 1: way to stay connected to friends and family of any age.
Speaker 1: As people have physically distanced and spent less time in
Speaker 1: person with friends and family over the past year, care
Speaker 1: packages and shipped happies have proliferated. There are lots of
Speaker 1: subscription kits out there, or of course, just mailing cookies
Speaker 1: or something else you've made to someone. The mail can
Speaker 1: be a great way to stay connected as life slowly
Speaker 1: goes back to normal. Some of this impulse may disappear.
Speaker 1: If you can see your friend in person, will you
Speaker 1: mail something to her? Well? Why not do? Both? Relationships
Speaker 1: can thrive on small, thoughtful gestures. So think about the
Speaker 1: people in your life you'd like to celebrate, and then
Speaker 1: think about what care packages might really perk them up.
Speaker 1: Anything local from a place that's meaningful to you and
Speaker 1: maybe the recipient would be great. I think a rub
Speaker 1: from your local barbecue, a bariable from a local potter,
Speaker 1: a jar of honey from a local beekeeping farm. Supporting
Speaker 1: small businesses feels good, and many of them might have
Speaker 1: great ideas too. Your local independent bookstore can probably put
Speaker 1: together a care package of books for a friend if
Speaker 1: you tell them what she likes. Of course, the concept
Speaker 1: of a care package has a strong do it yourself element,
Speaker 1: so you might put together your own box based on
Speaker 1: conversations you have with people. If you're recently retired, father
Speaker 1: is loving time in his vegetable garden but complains about
Speaker 1: getting sunburned, send him a wide brimmed hat to wear
Speaker 1: when he works outside, plus some sunscreen and maybe a
Speaker 1: gardening trinket or two. It is really not that complicated
Speaker 1: to go to the post office with a box and
Speaker 1: mail it. If you don't have boxes, they can sell
Speaker 1: you one there. Or of course, you can order a
Speaker 1: group of objects at the same time from an online
Speaker 1: retailer and arranged to have them come in one box.
Speaker 1: Maybe even wrapped presents aren't just for birthdays. There for
Speaker 1: any time you'd like to let someone know you are
Speaker 1: thinking about them. Now, you don't have to do this
Speaker 1: all the time, not by any means. Well, you might
Speaker 1: send a package a week to a kid at camp.
Speaker 1: This rhythm would be pretty hard to maintain for other
Speaker 1: people in your life. Part of the fun of adult
Speaker 1: care packages is that they are unexpected, So just aiming
Speaker 1: to send one a month to someone in your life
Speaker 1: would let you reach out to six people twice a
Speaker 1: year or twelve people once a year. That's not too
Speaker 1: much of a burden in terms of time or money. Now,
Speaker 1: if this doesn't come intuitively, maybe make a note on
Speaker 1: your calendar for I don't know, the twelfth of the month.
Speaker 1: On that day each month, take thirty minutes to think
Speaker 1: up a care package and order the items or make
Speaker 1: a list for when you shop next. It is a
Speaker 1: small investment, but the payoff and good feelings will be huge.
Speaker 1: Do you ever send care packages? I'd love to hear
Speaker 1: about it. You can email me at Laura at Laura
Speaker 1: Vanderkim dot com. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening. Here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod.
Speaker 1: That's B the number four, then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: podcast at i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,
Speaker 1: I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is
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