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I'm looking for ideas on Christmas gift giving. My wife has a large family
and growing. She now gives gifts to fifteen (15) family members and that
list is growing yearly
Mom Dad, Brother sister, brother's kids, sisters kids account for the
immediate family then they're other aunts/uncles grand kids that I've not
included.
I have multiple problems with the present gift giving system where everyone
buys everyone else a Christmas gift. On Christmas morning everyone has to
open presents in sequence or there wouldn't be enough time in the day...
thus things become very rushed. And... what we end up with is a living room
full of odd, mostly imported, K-Mart sorta stuff that no one needs nor wants *but* everyone has managed to buy everyone else a gift. I also have
a problem with the cost... and I also have a problem with the amount of time
it takes to shop for gifts.
Note, that I don't exchange with my gifts with my side of the family, for
cost considerations. My older brother and sisters simply put a stop to
exchanging gifts and we exchange cards and photographs. I think I had one
sister that used to keep exchanging to some degree but it was at her option.
It's now to a point where I have to take Christmas budget from my children (three boys all in college) as I simply don't want to have to go into credit
card debt buying Christmas gifts... and... I'm trying to control the
Christmas gift budget as best I can. Really what it amounts to is my
children gettin' less and less of the budget each year.
Gift Giving SUGGESTION:
The Adult families (4) draw names for a gift exchange between the adults.
And a second drawing for a gift to be given to the children of one of the
adult families. If *anyone* wanted to buy *others* gifts beyond that it
would be 1. Baked, 2. Handmade 3. Christmas decoration. (Under a $10 cost).
Grand kids stand by themselves and can be spoiled ...at will.
There is another family member that actually worked out the above suggestion
but we're the only two that favor "downsizing" the gift giving... the plan
was vetoed by my wife's sister who wants to give to everyone no matter what
it takes.
Does anyone else have a gift exchange plan that works? (Sorry for being so
long winded and I hope I explained the situation well). (21 more shopping days 'till Christmas) |
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-Does your wife agree with the "Gift Giving SUGGESTION"
described above? If so, continues as usual with the
excessive gift giving this year, but inform everyone that
this is the LAST year you'll be doing it.
Does the SUGGESTION have a budgeted amount for the adults
and children? If so, tell everyone that you'll gladly
participate in the aforementioned plan next Christmas if
they all agree. If they don't, ask them to remove you from
their gift giving list. Then, donate the amount that would
have been spent on the SUGGESTION, to a charity of your
choice that will provide a merry Christmas to some who are
less fortunate than yourself. After all, this is Christmas,
and the true meaning has nothing to do with fattening the
coffers of K-Mart, Wal-Mart et al.
Now, if your wife doesn't agree with the SUGGESTION...
well, Merry Christmas. -My wife took the time to review the posted articles and she even printed out
a couple for reference. The information was very helpful up to the
point of masturbation with Santa Claus? Seems there are a few website
subscribers that share feelings of sexual deviance... an odd Santa fantasy. |
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