On Christmas Gifts
About three years ago my sister and I stumbled on a Christmas Eve/Day formula that really works for us: we cook our turkey and have our big meal on Christmas Eve and then spend Christmas Day opening presents, relaxing, eating leftovers, watching movies, and chatting. In addition, our Christmas Eve dinner has been boiled down to the essentials we love — turkey, stuffing, gravy, and green salad. We like feeling comfortable after our meal and we enjoy having an easy-going Christmas Day with no fussing in the kitchen or bustling around making or receiving visits.
However, it’s only this year that we successfully brought simplicity to our gift-giving practices. This may be the first year that my family stuck to everyone’s wish list and avoided buying “stuff” — gifts that nobody asked for but that struck the buyer as too neat to pass up.
The problem, of course, is that “stuff” becomes clutter, and when it’s a gift, it’s emotionally harder to shuffle it off to Salvation Army. That’s why I was really glad to get only things I wanted or needed this year, for both my November birthday and Christmas. My presents for both observances would probably fit in a medium-sized gift bag — a handful of gift cards for books, music, and clothing; travel supplies for imminent trip to India; food and drink; pj bottoms, because you just can’t have too many; and some manga I wanted to read but was reluctant to buy for myself (I’ll either swap it, sell it, or donate it to the local library, which has been growing its manga holdings). Perfect. Just what I wanted.
In turn, I only gave gifts that family members had asked for, and I felt good when I saw that my presents were sincerely appreciated. Most of them weren’t very expensive, but they’ll all be used. A gift that sits in a closet or gathers dust on a shelf is just clutter.
I hope my family will continue to keep its gift-giving simple from now on. Like the simplified Christmas cooking my sister and I have been enjoying, I think simplified gift-giving will make us much happier and more relaxed over the holidays!
drupagliassotti @ December 26, 2007