I have been stressing a bit about Christmas ever since the day after Halloween. BAM! There go the gosh darn Christmas commercials. Really? You could not wait until after Thanksgiving? You have to start on November 1? It makes those of us with NO cash feel just a bit more crappy for a whole month longer. Suck it Corporate retail Santas!
My kids are all adults now...all three of them. (if you did not know, we consider Raymond one of our kids now. hehe) The youngest seems to be the most mature of the three.. Well Rainbow would never say anything so I am just being kind as to not pointing out the glaring omission I am making.
Anyhoo..I told her about the two gift maximum that some of my friends and I discussed yesterday. Two gifts max per person. No high end shit. No electronics. Just nice things. Like a book. Or a sweater. etc. So you feel good that you got something but no one is stressed the fuck out cause they spent the mortgage payment on gifts. She was receptive to the idea. I will still do stockings though. They love the tradition and I love to hunt for weird and unusual things. Nothing costs alot in the stockings. But I find different things in the candy realm, plastic toys, Hanukkah gilt, and that sort of thing.
I will keep the cost down on each gift. So that is 10 gifts if you include me. If I planned this well, I could spend $200 on Christmas easily! Wouldn't that be grand?
I sound so sappy. Cause I KNOW that one child is going to fight this tooth and nail. This child will NOT want a two present max or specific amount spent. This child will talk about how all her choices are inexpensive and she wants all that is on her list. They both make lists. One is an abstract list that gives you ideas. The other is a laundry list of specific things that you must get and dammit! Do not stray from the fucking list!
Yup, these are the children I raised.
I remember one year, my Dad was on strike at work and he was in the hospital for something (not scary) so there wasn't alot of money. My Mother kept asking me if I would like a air pop popcorn maker for Christmas. It was the newest thing out there. I was like 10 and I kept saying NO! NO! NO!
Guess what my ONE gift for Christmas was? The fucking popcorn maker. So my Mom wanted it and made it my fucking gift! AND she said I was ungrateful cause I did not fawn all over the Rival Popcorn Maker. That was one of the suckiest Christmas` on record for me.
So I never wanted them to feel they had one. But they have! I have given them wonderful Christmas Mornings and they felt this one or that one sucked because they didn't get what they wanted! Selfish brats!
I think writing this post is helping to reinforce this whole new way of thinking about Christmas. It is not about the gifts! It is about the family, the season, and the food! Gifts should be an afterthought.
So No Bah Humbugs from me this year!
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