There are different ways. I’m from a family of 11, and every single year, I went into debt! I didn’t get out of debt each year, till May, my birthday, when my parents would say my debt was forgiven as part of my birthday present each year!
Now, one of my brothers married a lady, also from a family of eleven, and she said they would put names in a hat, draw a name each…get ONE present, each. She insisted it cut down on all the hassle and stress of it.
We have a priest here who, every year, preaches some homilies on the real meaning of Christmas, and he say**s Christmas should NOT be a contest to see who can get into the biggest credit card debt! **He says a lot of people mistakenly think they have to have these terribly expensive dinners with wine, etc., but if a family can’t afford all this, he said they might be much happier with simple food that’s less stressful, all around, focusing on the company.
One year, my sister said admitted to me presents were getting too stressful…the family…her own little family…her in-laws, and she had a child with a disability. So, we just didn’t exchange. A lot of people are RELIEVED when you take some of the responsibility off them.
Clearly, we have gotten away from the meaning of Christmas. Before Halloween, we often see Christmas trees up, and it’s sell,sell, sell, and people go into stores, and you can cut the stress with a knife! I’ve known people who’d go and watch the craziness, from a distance for the fun of it!
People came out overnight for sales in preparation, fight each other. Parking lots are filled, and it’s insanity.
Many of these people don’t even believe in God, Jesus! They just do it …for something to do. In fact, we’re often not even allowed to say, “Merry Christmas!”, “God”, or “Jesus” in places (unless it’s in the form of swearing!).
So, we’ve definitely gone wrong somewhere.
For myself, I’ve had family send me presents, but what I like best would be if they’d simply talk to me on Skype from time to time! That means more to me than a gift, actually. It tells me I’m loved, remembered in a way a gift doesn’t.
I was from a large family, as I said, and we didn’t have a lot of money for presents. We made a lot of our presents. Well, we made all kinds of things…potholders. I made a rug, once, with a french horn picture I designed, myself. I made another with a western scene, both which I had designed, myself.
I’ve made handmade rosaries, also given those away. My mother still had one on display last time I visited.
In 5th grade, we were lined up to give my teacher presents. He was wonderful, and we all loved him. He’d play dodgeball with us, invented an eraser tag game. He was our hero. Anyway, kids were giving him cologne, etc. I was at the end of the line with a couple of handmade potholders. I felt so embarrassed! I handed them to him, about to run out the door. Nobody else was around at that point, and he said that handmade presents were the most special of all. He said anyone could buy a present, that it took more to make one.
I remember feeling better at hearing that.
My mother was into simple gifts.
Also, she actually had to put limits on us. She’d tell us, “Nothing for the walls. No nicknacks, and no clothes”. Well, imagine if she didn’t. She tells us she already has everything, to call, instead, send a card.
It’s my experience a lot of families are in this same predicament and are looking for ways to simplify their existence. If one family member were to admit this, I think many times, there’d be agreement all around, and some kind of solution might be able to be reached as to how not to lose focus on what’s most important.
It’s like with “The Grinch”. The meaning of Christmas isn’t the presents. It’s Christ’s birth.
When we think of everything, simplify! **Simplify your life! ** Less is more, and more is less! Most people can get by this year with less, and everyone will be happier! Lastly, put Christ’s birth at the heart, and go from there.
My husband can do the same with his siblings and parents.
