Assuming you celebrate it, what are you doing for Xmas gifts this year?

I'm broke, now that I've been unemployed nearly a full year. I'm not a Christian, but I participate in the holiday because of family tradition--sometimes resentfully, sometimes with pleasure--depending on my financial/time/who-in-my-fam-have-I-pissed-off-this-month sitch.

My boyfriend and I made CDs with cool jazzy Christmas music and cuts of ourselves reading Christmas stories for our family members (Cheever and Capote!). That's our gift this year. (Also a portait of ourselves for our respective Mums, who've been insisting on same for the 3 years we've officially been together now.)

I realized, as I was wrapping up the CDs and addressing the cards, that there is something pretty cool about a "gift-giving holiday," if you have the time/money/desire to give. I like it. In the past my gifts have been chocolate bread and glogg--both actually too expensive to give this year!! (Go figure!)

What are y'all doing?

one year I got professional pictures of myself and gave to family and friends and its a great idea, although it seems a little egotistical.

This year I bought my Mom stuff she needed and for a change bought my brothers stuff they didn't need. It's usually the other way around.

held me back from giving pics of myself--but our mothers really are screaming for "couple" pictures of us, we can't refuse graciously.

He'll learn to be a "secret Santa"
We are Christian, so now my son will learn of one of my favroite family Christmas traditions.
How it works,
We know that Christmas is the day we remember and celebrate Christ's birth.(Please no lecture, I know it's not the EXACT date)
So as a birthday present to Jesus, we take toys and foods to a different hospital, group home, charity ect... each year. Leave the bag(s) at the desk, or door with a note, "Merry Christmas from Jesus". We are told in the New Testament that what we do to or for others is equal to what we do for or to Christ.
If someone catches you leaving and asks your name, we say
"Ima, Ima Elf" and keep walking.
LOADS of fun and love. We can not afford to do every charity so we do what we can and rotate. This is my favorite present and I think it remembers and honors the reason for Christmas, Christ's birth.


:)

No lectures, friend, I think you have a lead on the "true spirit of Christmas" competition. Just reading your post brought tears to my eyes--imagine if we were all like that, at the same time . . . Here at the time of year when our respective religous/spiritual/and even agnostic beliefs overlap somewhat (how's that for hedging!) . . .

Yes, yes! Anonymously bringing pleasure, joy, relief! How sweet, and how sweet a reward in itself!

Bless you....

Burning CD's full of songs that mean a lot to you is something I've done, and will do again. I think people really appreciate personal gestures like this.

Also, since I love to cook and bake, I have original 1940s candy recipes from my late grandmother, who was an amazing, self-taught chef, and I find that when I cook up batches of her homemade candies and cookies, and put them in nice (but inexpensive) tins, people go nuts for 'em.

As Lucy pointed out to Charlie Brown in 1965's "A Charlie Brown Christmas," "Don't you know? Christmas is run by a big Eastern Syndicate." She was talking about Madison Avenue, I guess. And it's certainly true that Charlie Brown's mid-'60s fears about the commercialization of this holiday are even more relevant today. I lament the commercialization of Christmas, and I get pissed when a TV ad suggests that if you don't put a Mercedes with a big bow on it in the driveway for your loved one, you presumably don't care enough about them. So I do what I can to take it back to the roots of gift-giving on a personal level.

what would you trade for just *one* of those recipes??

n/t

Make coupons
"A gift to you #hrs of babysitting"
"One day of dusting just for YOU"
"One full hour of listning to your biggist peeves with added free sympathy"
I bet most your friends would just love a call or a hug.
Now lets talk babysitting......

the amount of spending that is expected in this country at the holidays is INSANE. Fortunately, I have a family that is fine with this, and has never believed that spending the next year paying off credit cards is a good idea.

This year the adults are getting a box of assorted holiday cookies and a box of assorted homemade soaps. The kids are getting some homemade toys (twirling ribbons), photo albums full of pictures of them, and gingerbread cut into puzzle shapes. My granddaughter and I also made a pinata for the event that will be full of goodies - candy, balloons, super-balls, tiny troll dolls. I bought a pack of christmas crackers too. Next year I'll try to order the cracking strips to make them, so they can have cooler stuff inside. I'm getting DD and DGD tickets to a play for mid-January.

My daughter is giving people a bunch of jams and marmalade. She probably has something else up her sleeve too.

I've heard a rumour that one of my brothers has been scanning old family photos all fall and will be presenting us all CDs. I can't think of a better present.

Some people seem to think that this is way too little to give, but i would far rather have something that somebody spend some time and thought on, than some impersonal thing. I also like getting and giving consumables since we already have far to many THINGS in our lives.

Some of my daughters friends have expressed worry to her that the GD does not get enough gifts. At her birthday party, some people brought more than any family member sent her. They seem to think she is deprived. :eyes: I don't understand it, since she has plenty, lots of toys, clothes, books, a musical keyboard, art supplies, etc. The big difference seems to be that they believe in absolutely burying children in goodies at birthdays and holidays. I would rather give kids well thought out gifts throughout the entire year. When everything appears at once, nothing is fully appreciated, much winds up ignored, discarded, wasted, sold at the next plastic yard sale.

To me, holidays should be more about spending time with family, doing things together, having fun. I remember the things we DID at christmas when I was a child, driving to see the lights, the national christmas tree, going to see the nutcracker, baking goodies. I remember very few actual gifts.

I wish my family and friends felt as you do. My best friend puts herself into hock every year, practically, to get gifts for her zillion relatives. I don't try to dissuade her--that is her family tradition!--but it just seems so fraught with truama, to me.

My boy and I are making cookies Saturday for the neighbors,(We all have a deal about food swaps,UMMMMMM). Hopefuly Val and Dad will leave a few for our friends.
Got to run friends,
have a great weekend all.

and since my husband posts here too, I'm not about to post what his gifts this year are!

Ha, caught ya looking, John!