Thriftmas!

by Lisa Bradley-Coates

December is Remembrance Month at The Worthy Educator!

Every December, my childhood friends and I keep the same promise we made years ago: Thriftmas—twenty dollars each, no breaking the rule. We were teachers on a budget when it started, and honestly, that part never really changed.

We scatter through the aisles like kids again, hunting for the dumbest, sweetest, most perfect gifts we can afford—three dollars here, five dollars there—bargaining with ourselves at every shelf.

By nightfall, we trade our paper-wrapped treasures and laugh until we cry over weird mugs, soft scarves, and the accidental genius of it all. The budget never changes, but somehow the tradition gets richer every year.

Lisa Bradley-Coates is an Education Administrator with the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice, a Board Member for the disAbility Law Center of Virginia, and a believer-practitioner in the true meaning of Christmas as she continues to honor a tradition started long ago with her friends in education. We wish her the richest of holidays and many blessings in the new year! You can contact Lisa via email here.