My mother and my son LOVE Christmas. They love putting up the tree, seeing the house decorated, the baking, all of it. Even though she is 83, my mother still loves Christmas and she started telling me back in August that Christmas is "not that far away."
I used to feel the same. I loved Christmas. It was exciting and magical to me, even as an adult. That lasted until.... about 2009? When I got laid off from my job and trying to buy Christmas gifts became a big challenge?! Now I feel somewhat like Scrooge. I grumble and grouse. To me, it feels like just 15 minutes ago we put the tree away from Christmas 2016.
However, this year I am going to make a concerted effort to not stress over Christmas, and to purchase gifts that are useful/meaningful, stressing quality over quantity.
Every year, I try to sort through stuff and sell or donate what we don't need/want/use. Goodwill gets a TON of stuff from us. I don't want to buy gifts that will just go on the donation heap in a year or two..
I have friends who, months ago, purchased an Instant Pot -- the 21st century high-tech pressure cooker/everything cooker. They love it. Everyone I know who has one loves it. I am thinking about getting one for my brother. He likes to cook, and he works a lot, so anything that cooks food fast seems like a good idea.
I am still pondering what to get my son but I am thinking about a pass to Stone Mountain. It's only about 15 minutes from my house and there are tons of fun things to do there. He has plenty of clothes and buying him THINGS seems less desirable than buying him experiences. I have a friend who doesn't do a normal Christmas [she has more than 20 adopted kids] but every year they go to the beach for Christmas, which I think is an excellent idea. Experiences will be remembered long after things are put away or given away.
Mom is harder to buy for, but she has lost a ton of weight so clothes would likely be a good choice.
BTW, neither my brother or my son read my blog, so no worries about spoiling the surprise... LOL
What I do not want to do is get stressed out about gifts. Some years I stress more about little gifts for neighbors than anything else. I am so glad I work from home now so I don't have to worry about gifts for work colleagues or bosses.
I hate shopping in stores but I have been able to shop totally online, in recent years, which makes the whole experience easier. I am sorry a lot of brick and mortar stores are closing but I think online shopping will continue to be popular. I miss great stores like Borders but online IS the wave of the future.
below, our card from a few years ago...
