On January 1, when I had decided I would start this Giveaway project, I was very unsure about whether I could keep up the giving and the writing for a year, and whether I even really wanted to even try. I went to a New Year’s brunch in our neighborhood and had a lovely chat with two lovely fellow mothers at our son Theo’s school. One of them was Staci, to whom I gave something on September 28, and the other was Jennifer. When I mentioned my Giveaway idea, they were both incredibly encouraging, which gave me the reassurance I needed to actually begin the project.

I see Jennifer a lot around the school, especially now that she has taken on the Herculean or perhaps even Sisyphean task of co-chairing our school’s fundraising body this year. This is no ordinary PTA. They spearhead the annual raising of $450,000 that our school needs to cover some very fundamental aspects of our kids’ education – library aids, PE, music and classroom aids. Jennifer is a practicing psychologist with two daughters and has plenty on her plate already. She is also an athlete and is in fantastic shape. Having someone as smart, dynamic and hardworking like Jennifer in my corner for this project makes me feel all the more motivated to complete it. When I bump into her at Theo’s karate class, she regularly asks me how the Giveaway’s going, and this adds fuel to my increasingly sputtering fire.

When I asked her the other day what type of gift she would like, she revealed that she loves cooking and baking (how does she have the time or the energy?!!). I looked through the kitchen drawers and pulled out a sushi-making kit. We have more sushi-making equipment than any one family needs, so I decided this might be a fun gift for her. Tonight after making dinner, when my husband David had taken Theo to his soccer practice, I rushed over the catch the end of an event at the school. It was 7pm and, of course, Jennifer was there. As she was stacking up chairs, I handed her the sushi making kit. I’m sure the sushi she makes with it will be impressive. Because that’s just how she rolls – if you’ll pardon the pun!