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Gifts for five-year-olds

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Ten years ago, my husband, Ken, began a wonderful tradition of giving our grandkids paintings of themselves riding their creature of choice. Our first two grandsons got their paintings the same year, but after that, the paintings were gifted to each grandchild on the Christmas they were five years old.

Ken starts with a photo of the child, posed as if he or she was riding the creature of their choice, but of course, it’s a surprise. Here, our grandsons didn’t have a clue why Papa asked them to pose on a pillow flopped over a sawhorse…

Until they saw their Christmas presents the next year—paintings of each of them riding a fierce T-Rex!

Ken might have had second thoughts if he’d known we would end up with a dozen grandkids (counting two on the way!) but I think he enjoys giving these paintings as much as the kids enjoy getting them. Here are the others that have been given since those first two:

This year’s unicorn rider is one of my personal favorites and our daughter reported that this five-year-old couldn’t wait to hang the painting in her bedroom!

Seven down, five to go…and I can’t wait to see what the next five kids (or however many we end up with!) choose for their “Papa painting.”

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Deborah Raney

DEBORAH RANEY's first novel, A Vow to Cherish, inspired the World Wide Pictures film of the same title and launched Deb’s writing career. Forty books later, she's still creating stories that touch hearts and lives. Her novels have won RWA's RITA Award, the ACFW Carol Award, the National Readers Choice Award, and the HOLT Medallion. She is also a three-time Christy Award finalist. Deb is on faculty for several national writers’ conferences and served on the executive board of the 2,500-member American Christian Fiction Writers organization for 18 years before retiring in 2022. She is a recent transplant to Missouri, having moved with her husband, Ken Raney, from their native Kansas to be closer to kids and grandkids. They love road trips, e-biking, Friday garage sale dates, and breakfast on the screened porch overlooking their wooded backyard.
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Comments

  1. I love that Ken shares his talent in this way! What a treasure for each grandchild to have a fun painting like this. I’m excited to see the family grow, too. Congratulations on these precious gifts of grandchildren!

  3. What special memories for your grandchildren to treasure throughout their lives! And you keep amazing us with your husband’s talents. You are definitely a power couple in the creative world. Thanks for sharing your talents.

  5. Thank you for sharing this wonderful gift tradition! It’s perfect on every level! (From their Grandpa’s talent and from his heart, tailored for each child’s animal preference, and an equal gift for all the grandkids turning 5.) Something they can cherish their whole lives. Quite a contrast from a gift that you could spend half a fortune on, then they play with it for a week or two and then lose interest in it. It makes me want to put some more thought into the gifts I get my grandkids.

    • Thanks, Hilda. And I confess that we recently went to giving the older grandkids cold, hard, cash! Haha! It’s just so hard to know what to get them, and as they get older, the things they really want are more than we could spend, but with money, they can pool what they get from all the family and get what they want. We still do gifts for the little kids, but the older ones seem to appreciate cash, and that really makes it easier for us!

      • Yes, they love cash. I always put the amount of their age into their birthday card envelope. So far, none of them seem to think that’s a lame idea! I confess I usually supplement the dollars with a gift card. What cracks me up is the younger ones get so excited with a gift card from Starbucks and the Dollar Tree store.

  8. Can you and Ken adopt me as a grandchild (even though I am probably older than you both)? And then can we pretend that we barely missed my 5th birthday by cough … cough … years? I would love a Pegasus painting in my bedroom.

    All kidding aside, that is a wonderful family tradition.

  9. What a unique and treasured, I’m sure, gift! I applaud you, Ken, for such a creative legacy that you’re leaving!

  11. How personal and what a wonderful way for Grandpa to share his talent with his grandchildren in such a unique way. It is a gift they will cherish forever and one day pass on to their OWN grandchildren.

  13. What a lovely idea!!
    I am sure this gift has brought untold pleasure to your family as well as future heirlooms.

  17. Wow! As everyone else has said, what a neat and treasured gift! I love that he does it when they are five – what a great age for that! And yes, I like the unicorn the best!

    • Thanks, Kris. I’m not even sure how it started out to be the age of five, but I like that by the time they’re five, they look very much like they will as teens and adults. We look back at the four oldests’ paintings and there’s no mistaking who is who!

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