Your friends don’t want gifts for Christmas, they want time with you

Thanks to COVID-19 gift giving looks a lot different this year. Normally, I’d splurge on some skincare items or bottles of wine for my best friends, but not being able to see each other in-person makes doling out presents incredibly difficult. While recently sussing out our gifting plans with my childhood best friend, Katie, we came to an important realization: we just want to spend time together.

Of course, giving someone a tangible gift is a great way to show someone how much you appreciate them. But if the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that we should be grateful for the people in our lives, rather than the material things we have. After all, it’s no secret that COVID has hit our wallets extra hard, and I would rather give my friends something they truly want — aka time catching up with yours truly! — rather than another bottle of wine they don’t need. At 28 years old, do I want another sweater or box of soaps in the mail? No, I don’t. I just want quality time with my BFF.

Understandably, COVID has impacted how much we see the people we love. Between the miles that separate us, safety restrictions, and our careers, regularly talking to our friends has gone on the back burner. Sure, you may be in a group chat with your pals from college, but that’s not exactly the place where fulfilling, meaningful conversations take place, is it? It also may not be possible to meet for coffee or enjoy a meal out, so we’re making it a point to video chat with the people we love this year.

Given our hectic schedules — and the fact that Katie is 8 months pregnant! — we opted to forgo gifts and dedicate an uninterrupted hour to good, old-fashioned girl talk this holiday season. Once we’re done celebrating with our respective families, we plan to use the Kovii video calling app to catch up on everything. From our husbands to her adorable new baby to what the heck is going on in the world, I simply can’t wait to hear her thoughts. At the end of a long week — or heck, year! — sometimes the best medicine is just talking about whatever pops into your mind with your best friend in the world.

And the best part about Kovii? You don’t have to constantly text back and forth to set up a time to virtually meet. Once you log onto the app, you see exactly who’s available to call, which means no more phone tag or those annoying, “Hey, sorry, I’m running a few minutes late!” texts.

My biggest piece of advice for anyone stressing over giving gifts in 2020? Put your wallets away and focus on what really matters: connecting with the people you love. An hour-long conversation with your BFF during the holidays will be a lot more memorable than a gift card, I promise.

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