Based on some of the comments from Facebook and thehopeline.com, here are
several thoughts about gift giving at Christmas.
1.
Rich or poor, young or old — Christmas today is about presents.
Carter
wrote: The best thing about Christmas is the presents!
wooooo!!!!!!! and worst waiting for the presents
Katherine wrote: The most difficult part is knowing that
some people don't get to experience the joy that it brings because they think
that if they don't have money they can't enjoy the season itself.
Carter
is so excited about getting presents that the worst part of the holidays for
him is the waiting. I’ll say this for Carter: he is definitely focused. The
worst part for Katherine is the thought that there will be no joy for some kids
because they won’t have many presents. Those two comments are actually saying
the same thing—Christmas is all about getting presents. The more you get, the
greater your Christmas. The fewer you get, the sadder your Christmas.
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How
many times have you gotten halfway through the presents on Christmas morning
and realized if we stopped at that point, it would have been more than enough?
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With
that idea in play, it is easy to get the feeling that your love for people is
going to be measured by how much money you spend on them. And so, thought #2 is
not surprising.
2. The most common stress point of the Christmas
holidays is the lack of money. One person put it this way: “I am spending money that I do not
have, buying stuff for people that they do not need and often do not want. But
I’ve got to do it.” Many people feel the same way, but no matter how tight
money gets, they just can’t get away from the obligation.
Angela
wrote: We recently lost our car n got a ugly 1 to replace it
and drinks gas like water. I'm still living with family and I have a kid and a
bf and both of our families have money problems. So while I try buy presents I gotta save for a car, support
gas, and support necessities in the fams. I got 2 jobs but they're both min
wage
Tara wrote: What is the most difficult part of
Christmas for me? Not having enough money to get my kids gifts. Had to borrow $
this year=(
Alma wrote: Feeling pressured to buy all ur family members
presents, when u dont got money cos u dont got a freakking job!
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
I love you dawson♥
Thanks
for the love, Alma.
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No
adult relative on this planet is going to turn down a sincere request from a
13-year old to go in together on a gift for her mother.
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If
you’ve been around grandparents during the holidays, you may have heard them
talk about a small little gift they got for Christmas — a toy truck or a sled. And
if you have been around your great grandparents, you might hear stories about
getting an apple or a piece of candy for Christmas. It was their only present,
they tell you, and they were so thrilled to get it. That was definitely the
olden days.
How
did things get so crazy? A lot of it has to do with living in the most
prosperous nation on earth. Yeah, I know—if you don’t have a lot of that
prosperity, living in the midst of it makes things worse. Sometimes I think it
would be easier if everyone else just wasn’t so prosperous.
A
big part of the craziness is also the result of non-stop advertizing. It’s like
they grab our kids’ brains and make them think they are destitute without the
latest toy or gadget.
What
has also contributed to things getting so out of whack is that we have simply
passed down the tradition from one generation to the next, each one trying to
out-do the last. So, no matter how much great granddad talks about getting that
single apple for Christmas, it doesn’t change things. It’s hard to put the
materialistic toothpaste back in the tube.
I
can really sympathize with parents wanting to give to their kids. Kids don’t
yet understand about it being the thought that counts. But they may not be as
materialistic as we think either, especially little kids. How many parent have
spent a small fortune on presents for their kids to open on Christmas morning,
only to watch them spent the rest of the day playing with the boxes? How many
times have you gotten halfway through the presents on Christmas morning and
realized if we stopped at that point, it would have been more than enough?
3. It’s not easy to give people what they want.
Ciera wrote: What is the most difficult part for me? Figuring out
what to get people, and cooking >.>
Becky wrote:
The most difficult part of Christmas for me is giving. not the act of
giving. but trying to give ppl what they really want. im 13. really hard to get
my mom what she wants when i have a budget of $50 total for presents
GIVING TIP: If you’re
short on cash (and most of you are) and want to give a neat gift, try this
approach: 1) Find out what a person really wants; 2) go for the better gift,
something that is a long-term keeper; and 3) get brothers, sisters, aunts,
uncle, parent, etc. to go in together. A better gift from 2-3 people usually
trumps several little gifts. It works for kids as well as parents.
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Either Way, by asking for the list, you put the burden on them to come up with the idea of a likeable gift at every price range.
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Note to Becky: No adult
relative on this planet is going to turn down a sincere request from a 13-year
old to go in together on a gift for her mother? Don’t have an adult relative
handy? Same thing will work with one of your mother’s good friends. You just
have to come up with a great gift idea.
Heather
wrote: The most difficult part for me, and for some of the
other members in my family, is having family members who will actually open up
their gifts and say it's not what they wanted. It's hard when every year there
is someone who is so blatantly ungrateful and unsatisfied. Kinda takes the
Christmas spirit right out of me.
Note to Heather: Unless they
are your own kids, I’m not sure you can do anything about the bad attitudes.
But try this tip:
GIVING TIP: It is amazing
to me how extreme gift giving has become to the Christmas holidays. But at the
same time, I am amazed at how few people actually make out a detailed wish
list. Everyone to whom you plan to give a gift, simply ask them for a wish list
with price ranges from low to high. You might take the go-in-together approach
on a more expensive gift, or you can go for one of the smaller gift. IMPORTANT
POINT HERE: Either way, by asking for the list, you put the burden on
them to come up with the idea of a likeable gift at every price range.
Next week: How about a
suggestion for thehopeline.com
visitors on how put the real spirit and meaning back into your Christmas?
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