the Holidays
Alright, so I'm panicking a little bit. It's December 8th and I'm not doing so hot on my shopping/creating for gifting. Then there's the question of what's financially appropriate and who do you send cards to and when do you buy the tree and did your husband rsvp to his company Christmas party for the two of you which is this weekend? Let the season begin.
I'd love to know how you do this month. Give me a little perspective, would ya? We are ambushed with multiple birthdays (ahem, mine included) along with the other Days of Mention, so it's a crazy money/time/fruitcake time. It is the time of fruitcake. There's an awful lot to cram into a single month, and emotions run very high. Plaster that smile on and head on out into Winter. It's time to get your Holiday Face on.
The Boy and I have decided not to exchange gifts between the two of us this year for Christmas. Ry will be bombarded with love and happiness from all directions, so she's covered. Do you buy gifts for your friends? How do you decide? The same thing for everyone? Do you write a letter every year? Do you send it to your 5th cousin's roommate who came to your wedding? I love me some letters and pictures, but I'm already so late this year. Hmmmmm. We'll get our tree this weekend, have an extended-family Christmas on Christmas Eve and then our own TexasNorth Christmas on Christmas Day.
If you are shopping this year, may I remind you that handmade and/or local is the way to go? [101 Reasons to buy Handmade] I'd also like to say that love can be very simple... like a fresh loaf of homemade bread in a handmade towel? Don't freak out, Folks. All you do is take a scrap of really fun fabric, cut it out to kitchen towel size using one of your own as a guide, and then zigzag the edges. If that's scary to you but you like the idea, I know people who can help you. Get to it! Everyone will be so impressed, and it will cost you less than $2 per gift. LOVE. Whatever you do, make it mean something.
And Ry would like to remind all of you to bundle up.
Baby, it's cold outside!
23 people had somethin' to say:
Oooh! I'm first today!
We're in the process of figuring that out this year...add to that the fact that we're moving on the 20th, I'm starting a new job, we're planning a budget overhaul, and every time Josh brings up wanting an iPhone, I remain silent, hoping he'll reach my conclusion on his own, which starts with "nuh" and ends with "oh." All that being said...ask me again next year!
I've been waiting every minute for the last 30 for your post....
They make my Mondays good. :)
Your snowman is AWESOME!!!
AND I can not believe that it's December 8 already. I think I am going insane. I have never been so far behind.
Over the years we have eliminated buying for friends. We all decided it was time to stop and just enjoy each other's company over the holiday season. Its been great, no stress as to what to get. Our shopping list is each other and our kids. I do buy for my one aunt as I've been buying for her since I was a little girl.
"what can i say except it is Christmas and we are all in misery"~ thank you Christmas Vacation!
You are doing good. We are downsizing this year for sure. We said no presents on our friends Christmas dinner. we aren't doing presents for adults on worth's sister's family, and pretty sure we are headed that way on my side. worth and i are b/c i am just not that selfless and want Christmas presents! You better believe that i will be making that bread but probably not the towel. i am also just not that talented. you rock! and you will get it all done. i just know it in my little Christmas heart.
My head's a-spinning too. We have a second birthday to celebrate on the 13th, so these last two years I've gotten lost in that and once it's passed, I'm like "Oh, crap - just two weeks until Christmas!"
I've found that when I try to buy lots of gifts for lots of people, I end up buying just crap because I'm not a good shopper and I HATE buying crap. So with my hubby's bigger family, only grandkids get gifts and we have a family traditions album we're supposed to contribute to each year. With my smaller family, we still haven't quite gotten away from everyone getting gifts. I'd be OK with not doing gifts, but we've got a couple of chronic givers in the family who get real joy out of it.
Hubby and I either do simple cheap or small, but expensive (jewelry), depending on the year. Our son will get a big gift for his birthday, but just small things for Christmas (I don't want it to be so much about getting.
I've been futzing over our Christmas card for two weeks now and finally finished and ordered yesterday (two photos, very brief synopsis of the year, one-sided card). I always say "Happy Holidays", though, so I feel free to take up to New Year's to get them out!
For years we have "drawn" names for a handmade gift for all in the extended family. We also gift a charity that the giver feels is appropriate to the gifted. Our extended is only 12 so not so big as you all are discussing. Denise and I exchange but it gets harder as we tend to buy what we want when we decide we want it. We also make homemade for each other. Rose of course gets bunches. Her December BD is also celebrated with a party in July called her half birthday. Friends are in a different mix and get cards, local Michigan stuff or homemade.
OK.. I am done with sewing projects so I will not be making a homemade bread thing... maybe some cookies and a turkey though.
I am a Christmas letter writer.. wait by your mailbox. That in combination with being a random gift giver, I don't really do Christmas presents.. except for my mom and dad and sisters.
Well, now that our suitcases are pretty much unpacked, I"ll join the conversation.
We have no idea what christmas will look like for us this year, besides warm. Billy is trying to figure out how to still have a roaring fire in the middle of summer and not pass out from the heat. We might be doing christmas in our swimsuits. We got one present the the kids will... uhm... all share - and asked extended family to buy... accessories to compliment the one gift.
Cousins all got the first book in a series we've loved reading this last year (DragonSpell) and a canvas painted with a dragon, each done by one of the dicocco kids.
For friends, we started back a few months ago soaking some vanilla beans in a bottle of vodka to make some great vanilla essence. We'll pour it into some pretty jars and hopefully inspire some sweet treats to be baked in our new South African friends' homes.
Bundle up, we did. This weekend we all wore socks for the first time since...umm...March? Personally, I love me some frozen noses and toeses, so this desert living is a bit bland.
As for Christmas? Ugh! I love Thanksgiving for its pure and simple qualities: thankfulness, food, family. I dislike Christmas for all the reasons seeming to oppose everything pure and simple. The stress. The angry shoppers. The excesses. The throngs of people who seem to have forgotten the true meaning.
So, right now I'm having a minor panic attack: How to get it all done? How to get it all done in a recession? How to get it all done and still maintain some semblance of simplicity. It's a grand task. I salute you taking a stand for simplicity and always being a great inspiration!
L.
Hey Katie! That bread! Isn't it wrapped in Kikoy?! yeah! so cute!
WE dont do letters since we have the blog but I usually do photo cards...which I LOVE!!! This year however it doesnt look like that is going to happen. We have told our family they can expect only love sent their way, thankfully they are wonderful and loving and totally understand. In the past my paycheck was for the extra stuff. Since we dont have that this year things are a little different.And since the Suby decided it needed not only a new aleternator but also a new clutch......we havent even started to shop yet. Typically I am finished by now.
i am actually a little envious of your busy december schedule! We never have much going on this month. not a whole lot of parties whatsoever and this year we are down one, as Aaron's work is forgoing a Christmas party due to budget. boo hoo.
So we have our family parties which are always fabulous but are generally all on top of eachother. all on christmas eve and christmas day. SO we have nothing earlier in the month. oh well.
perhaps this means I need to organize some party of my own hmmmm.
gifts are tough. I am so ready to jsut buy for our girls and no one else...but our family is just not ready for that yet. I feel we live to abundantly every day of the year, we don't need gifts too. Aaron and I agreed to just 2 small things for one another.
Oh, i hesitate to say, but i am all done shopping. I was worried with the two kids about being behind, so i did it all in November....but i did most online from little Waldorf shops and the rest of people mostly from the local crafter's stores. We do presents for our immediate families, no friend presents. Tommy is an only child, so theres not much to do shopping-wise. I am trying to enjoy the season this year and bake and go to Christmas parades etc. I am a dork about the hlidays and really enjoy savoring the carols and the tree and the excitement of my three year old. He is LOVING Santa Claus this year :)
and what i hate is WRAPPING presents. I really hate it. I have a big pile of gifts sitting in my closet waiting to be all covered up. I can't bring myself to even think about doing it!
Ooooh, I actually like the wrapping part. Boxes, crisp corners... I love that. I'll wrap yours Amy if you'll go to my three family Christmas parties for me!
And at the risk of completely ostracizing myself from the entire world from now on, I'll tell you that we don't *do* Christmas (at least in our immediate family)--no tree, no gifts, no stress. It's obligatory to participate in the gift-giving with the extended family so I always make photo calendars for everyone and usually a basket of homemade goodies. (Though this year just the calendars--and that a little late, since we won't be back in the States until after the new year). Everyone gets pretty much the same thing, though not without thought and care. We would prefer to eliminate all the gift giving and just focus on spending quality time with the family, but until that happens I will continue down the path of least stress.
i love some simplifiying and taking the time to think of something for the people you love that shows that you thought! So for me I am an online shopper all the way, nothing stresses me more than holiday traffic, and with a baby... GROSS!
Just make your list before you go, and remember that it's gonna be alright, you rock!
this year it's a busy christmas week... three family christmases in three days... it'll be tiring, but i'm looking forward to it. my work christmas party was this past saturday, so that kind of officially kicked off the season!
our gift purchasing extends only to our immediate families and closest of friends...and usually just one thing, and we try really hard to make it something we know they'll like or use. it's the quality not the quantity ;) and we don't make lists anymore for each other... it requires a lot more thinking, but it feels more meaningful on both sides. though it kind of snuck up on us this year.
oohh i love to wrap too! if you know how to do it with a toddler who always wants to steal my supplies then let me know!
we always send our "holiday" card very late. usually it becomes an everything card sent in the spring. it takes the pressure off when you dont expect it to go out anytime around the new year.
as for presents...we have a truce this year that there are no gifts for adults. that makes things pretty easy. no gifts for friends. a few yankee swap parties and that's about it. it's relatively mellow.
Does it mean I'm selfish if I give a gift cuz I feel like it and don't give one if I don't? I LOVE Christmas! LOVE IT! I love the hustle, and the bustle, and the lights, and the music, and the snow, and, and, and. And, every year the list of people I give gifts to changes...including those in my family. I give meaningful gifts to those who are impacting my life at the time. Cuz we used to draw names with distant cousins and aunts and uncles and it was always just a little akward when I would get that fruit cake wrapped in green suran wrap, baked in October for the obligitory person, or that person you forgot about until the last minute. I just figured I would rather not get anything from them, but know they love me anyway since I'm family. And since I am the end-all-be-all when it comes to opinions, I figured if this is how I would like it, then OF COURSE that's how everyone else would like it too. Of course.
Katie,
I love reading your blog from time to time. I inherited Kevin's old computer, and he had it saved as a bookmark. You truly have a gift for writing with honesty and humor.
Here's my take on gifts for friends (and I don't even have the added complication of buying for children yet!):
1) Most of us are ridiculously over-blessed with possessions anyway, so there is no need.
2) I think it's safe to say that the people we are friends with are not materialistic and would enjoy our company and friendship over a small gift.
3) A true friend would much rather alleviate your stress by saying, "Who needs a gift?" than know that they are adding to your holiday stress level.
4) A true gift does not come with expectations, so even if you receive a gift from someone else, you should not feel guilty for not having one for them.
5) The best gifts are when you see something and think, "That would be perfect for _____!" or "I can't wait to see _____'s expression when they open this!" Therefore, I enjoy giving and receiving gifts that are whimsical and not obligatory because it's a certain time of year.
The above arguments are merely my humble thoughts and opinions. :-)
I'm a counseling student in the midst of finals, and I'm all about figuring out ways to reduce stress and pressure.
Give your family hugs and kisses from Kevin and I!
love always,
sarah eastway
Sarah Eastway, I do not know you, but I think I should! Amen to #4 and #5 in particular. And as a former counseling student...good for you! (And if you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel yet...it will soon come!)
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