Holidays can be stressful for many reasons. One truly simple thing you can do, for children especially, which costs nothing but time, is to make sure they have a library card. Even if you are not able to easily get to a local library, Libby and other apps make it possible to download books, magazines, audio books and even some movies.
https://libguides.com.edu/LibraryApps
If you don't have Internet, but have a smartphone or laptop, you can download items from any hotspot (like McDonalds, the library, etc), and read or listen even offline. You often can even use an old cellphone or tablet with WiFi but no cell plan! A great gift that lasts forever!
And, I just realized that 'first world problems' for some of us might be an opportunity to bless others.
Like probably many of you, my wife and I had to get 'new' cellphones when our carrier switched to 5G. Perfectly good phones, that weren't able to 'register' on the 5G network (no voice over IP capability). Now, expensive junk...
But, even sans SIM card, they can connect to WiFi hotspots just fine. They have a decent amount of memory, and could be wiped and have library apps like Libby installed - and even message apps like WhatsApp, etc. - all w/o a cell phone bill.
I need to check this out, but maybe I can donate a phone to our local library, have them pair it with a library card for someone, and give them access to books and other things.
If someone else wants to try this, please do!
Another win for 'Buy Nothing Christmas' !
