Warning: Family, Don’t read This… (But Seriously, I’m Just Being Honest)
Allison Bantz
If you’re family, this is your cue to stop reading. I mean it. Go watch Dateline or check your weather app again—anything but this. Because I’m about to be honest in a cheeky, slightly too real way, and I love you all too much for you to take it personally.
Let’s talk about October. The “fun fall” month that pretends to be cozy but is actually just a warm-up for holiday chaos. The mental load alone could qualify as a haunted house. Between birthdays, early gift planning, and coordinating what everyone else is buying, I’m basically the Chief Gift Officer of my family.
And let’s be real—it’s exhausting. I want my kids to unwrap something that makes their faces light up. I want their grandparents to feel good about what they give, not just default to socks and underwear (which, yes, I still wrap, because traditions matter). But somehow, I’ve become the middleman for everyone’s generosity. The human version of “Add to Cart.”
I get it—it’s not exactly a world crisis. But the stress is real. Because it’s not about stuff. It’s about connection. It’s about wanting the people I love to feel known.
I want my kids’ grandparents to nail the gift without me having to translate every hint. I want my nieces and nephews to get something that says “I see you,” even from miles away. And I want my own parents to feel like they still show up for us, even if it’s through a thoughtfully timed package on the porch.
The truth is, I want that same ease for myself. I want the remembering part—the thoughtful follow-through—to not live entirely in my already overloaded brain. That’s why we’re building HeyDay. Because showing up shouldn’t be another job.
What if the small details that make relationships special didn’t get lost between work, kids, and a thousand “don’t forgets”? What if technology could hold them for us—reminding us to be thoughtful in ways that actually fit real life?
That’s the idea. And as I type this, I’m reminding myself to add two things to my own wish list:
A crime companion (a.k.a. a Wondery+ subscription—nothing like a little murder mystery while folding laundry), and
A meditation companion (Calm app, because honestly, ‘tis the season for deep breaths).
So, family—if you ignored the warning and read this anyway, just know I love you. Deeply. Fiercely. Even when I’m the one coordinating who’s buying what.
Let’s make gifting a little less stressful, a little more meaningful, and leave the true scares to Halloween and my crime podcasts—not the anticipation of the gift-giving gauntlet.
