Christmas Cards

One of the great benefits of having my niece work for me is it’s ok if I sometimes have her help me with personal tasks. Some years I’ve had Gaby help me with my Christmas Cards! She does a lot of mailer preparation at one of her other jobs, so this task was right up her alley. Her tasks were: stamp on our return address, put on a postage stamp, fold the card, put in a fancy vellum insert, and put the card in the envelope.

As always, I started by putting together some written instructions since Gaby always does better with visual instructions than verbal ones.

I made a couple of examples for her: one of what the folded card should look like, and one showing how the return address and stamp should show up on the envelope.

Then I set up all of the supplies on the table and left her alone (her favorite way to be). Her goal was to assemble 80 cards for me. She read her instructions and managed this all on her own after that. She is good at this kind of task and got it all done for me without questions or issues! I snapped a photo while she worked at my dining room table.

I’ve been working with Gaby for about 6 years now, and I’ve clearly improved over the years at knowing how to set up tasks so Gaby can be successful. Paying attention to how she learns, and what makes her the most comfortable, has helped us both be really successful at working together. She saved me a couple of hours of work and my Christmas cards went out earlier than they would have otherwise!