Surving Christmas Gift Giving, Emotionally, and Financially

AMAZING TO CONSIDER the number of different ways of contending with the whole concept of Christmas gift giving. A complete rejection of the custon, one has to admit, has certain advantages immediately, namely, simplifying life. In my family there is nothing but adults, and they all have everything they want or need. Even the children in our family are adults. And Christmas is ninety nine percent for kids, right? So, several years ago we all just agreed to forego gift giving, all of us figuring that by now we have all had a chance to get and to give everything that we possibly could; we have experienced the tradition to its fullest, and can move on. Its really worked out well. I have a lifetime of great Christmas memories, and now the hustle, bustle, and stress are all in the past. I have a friend from a big family, many siblings, nephews, and nieces, and they draw names out of a hat, to keep Christmas to a dull roar. On the internet somebody proposed the three gift per person limit for raking it it, which sounds good on paper, but could lead to controversy and confusion. One can limits one's giving to one's famlly, and omit one's friends, usually without acrimony. Here's another idea. Buy a Christmas present or two, or however many you want - for yourself. Why not? You know what you need and want more than anyone else, and if everybody simply treated himself or herself to a Christmas present once a year, and we all understood the logic of doing so, how much happier we would all be, without all this regifting, neglected gifts, or feigned gratitude for unwanted gifts. Another solultion, one which works well with married couples, is to simply tell each other in advance what to get, then, when its time to actually give the gifts, everybody can still act surprised, or maybe even actually be surprised, since you never know if your wish has been acted on until the very moment of unwrapping. Whatever style suits you, good luck with it, good luck surviving emotionally and financially, and Happy Holidays!