As a mom of five, I've been responsible for a fairly ambitious side project: trying to figure out what five different children might want for every birthday, holiday and occasion over the years.
That side project has involved memorizing what they were into; seeing what they had suddenly outgrown; hearing what their friends were talking about; and intuiting what they would be thrilled to open, and what would produce the polite "thank you" followed by immediate abandonment.
And the list never stopped with just mine.
The constant detective work included classmates' birthday parties. Holiday gifts. Cousins. Friends. Neighborhood kids. And always, at the edge of it all, the ever-changing universe of toys, games, clothes, hobbies, collectibles, technology and whatever inexplicable thing had suddenly become the thing they needed to have.
It was the constant guessing and second-guessing that led me to wonder if there was a better way to do this.
So I built the Department.
The Department of Jolly exists to make gift giving easier for every adult who has ever stood in a store, stared at a wall of toys or scrolled endlessly online and thought:
What do kids actually like right now?
The Department of Jolly does the research. We follow the trends. We pay attention to what is interesting, what has lasting power, what is gaining momentum (ideally before everyone else has caught on) and even what may simply be marketing hype.
Then we edit.
Why Jolly?
The Department is named for my grandmother, Grandma Jolly.
When I think of her, I think mostly of the holidays. I see her sitting in her chair, surrounded by her own five children and a growing crowd of grandchildren. I remember the noise, the laughter throughout her very full house and, most of all, her enormous, unmistakable laugh.
She had a way of making people feel welcome, of making a gathering feel like something worth showing up for, and of throwing a really good party. She gave generously and happily.
She was, in every sense of the word, jolly.
That is what I want the Department of Jolly to carry forward.
I want to give you the delight of finding something that makes a kid light up, and the pleasure of knowing you got it right. I want the Department to encourage the generosity of paying attention to someone else and saying, in a small way:
I saw this and thought of you.
That's what Department of Jolly is really about.
A little less gift panic.
A lot more good stuff.
And, in the most perfect world, a little more Jolly.
— Cristin