Presents.
It’s all about the children, right?
Ahem (*mutters under breath* ahem No, what about me? Why has no-one noticed we’re Princesses?)
In fact to make sure that of that, I (Claire) do buy myself several pretty things.
Why not?
Tanya is a semi-closet nerd (hello – *waves*)
She has, to date, produced 3 actual full-blown nerd offspring, 2 of whom
(child #2 aged 20, and child #3 aged 10)
are having a ‘nerd-off’ competing on insane level on a 90s PS2 game, as this part is typed.
This game was started when child #1 (24) was the age of the 10 year old.
Between the 4 of us… we have not completed the game.
That’s what I call a game.
Not like now when you can finish them in a weekend.
Proper digress.
Anyway.
Tanya’s Child #3 has, under the tree, a Christmas Present as follows:
http://beckyandjoes.com/dont-hug-me-im-scared/
Don’t say I haven’t warned you!
Anyway
It’s a long (and ill-advised) story…
However she will be incandescent with screams and excitement –
but unlike all the expensive presents you can find on 10 year olds’ Christmas list…
there won’t be one better received than this!
It is the perfect present for her.
It’s a nerd thing.
(What is very cool is her name is Betsy… put that in autocorrect… see – cool, huh?)
The point is:
The most fun is finding gifts for other people and seeing their faces when they unwrap.
Especially when you know you’ve scored a blinder.
This is true for the children too – little ones (badly) hiding the stuff from the school present sale and nearly exploding trying not to tell you what you’ve got.
Or writing clues: my first is in Poo but not in Wee
My second in Ugly but not in Twee.
(It’s perfume. Just leave it now…)
And then wanting you to open the one from THEM first.
Whether BIG presents, or trinkets from the pound shop; same thing.
Home-made things, unique finds from somewhere obscure – just what someone’s always wanted…
…lingering long after the wrapping paper went in the recycling and the last of the glitter was hoovered from the cracks in the floorboard.
Simple is often perfect.
Perfecter.
Scaling it back, not just because of the austerity measures and feeling the pinch.
But because it is the giving (and receiving) that is the fun bit, the rest you can be creative with
Like ‘fridge gravel’ dinners that turn out better than if you’d bought everything in specially,
the attention, care and resourcefulness can turn up something better than you could have planned
Also:
- Using the pound shops for stocking fillers
- Getting a board game as a family gift
- The children making homemade vouchers for jobs
- Setting a limit on the adults prices and going for silly/funny gifts
- Or family Secret Santa – one well thought-out present each
- Getting ready to take advantage of the sales and put things aside for next year
- Keeping your eye open in charity shops and car boot sales, great hunting ground for younger children
(Claire once unearthed an entire bounty of Baby Anabelle gear for less than the price of the doll, 5 year old Nirvana in a local charity haunt)
“We all have so much stuff already”
Could be time to brainstorm kindness.
This isn’t the kind of gift you get the buzz of watching the happy face with – the vicarious happiness that you get from making someone smile with your brilliant choices – it’s heady.
This kind of giving doesn’t come with a thank you, but makes you feel 100 times better than that.
Ideas:
The Shoe Box Appeal
operates in the run up to Christmas; collecting small items to be sent to some of the poorest parts of the world. Social media show the beautiful, excited, grateful faces of beaming children as they receive (makes us cry every time)
Beautiful reminders that ‘price’ does not correlate with ‘joy’.
Food Banks
are needed throughout the country; Christmas putting struggling families under even greater pressure. One of the easiest ways to spread some altruistic love; most supermarkets have collection points – as simple as popping a couple of extra bits in the trolley as you go round.
Charity gifts
Buying from from Amnesty International, The National Trust catalogue, or Oxfam’s Range raises money where tangible things are sent to developing countries.
One year we held a collection and raised enough to buy a toilet for an African village.
An actual toilet.
More useful than a Furbey.
Shelter
And for those closer to home, Shelter and local providers are running schemes to volunteer your time or to sponsor a Christmas meal and a bed for the night.
There is still time.
If you have people on you doorstep that you know are alone, simply extending your wishes and checking that they are OK can make the world of difference.
Carols at the door, with mince pies to share can make a life-changing difference to someone.
Talk to your health visitor to see if there is someone nearby who is alone.
Smiles and memories don’t have price tags.
Have a great day