Christmas giving

I was thinking I should take a little break over the holidays, starting again on Monday after Christmas, but then I thought I should put up something Christmas-themed.

Every now and then around this time of year, I question our decision not to get gifts for each other, because everyone else seems to be doing it. Sure, it feels like it works for us, but maybe that is just because we are jerks.

We do give to other people though. We will think of people who need a boost, or who need to know that someone remembers them, and something with that provided some insight for me. My sisters sent some Oregon ornaments to friends who have moved out of state, and the messages they got back were so grateful. They made those friends’ days. And I told them, “Nothing we could get each other would have that same effect.”

We had just gotten to the point where Christmas shopping for each other felt burdensome. This is where we might be jerks, and certainly there is plenty of other evidence for that. Maybe it is because our birthdays do come in so close, so that if we all had summer birthdays it would feel completely different.

I know if we had small children in the family we would totally be buying for them, and for all my observations about how giving too much doesn’t really make kids happier, and it is better to limit, I would probably have a really hard time doing so. As it is, this seems to work for us.

My sisters have another friend whose guideline for the children is a want, a need, something to wear, and something to read, and that sounds awesome, and I like to think I would do something like that, with the addition of a family gift, like a puzzle or a game or maybe even a movie, but something that would then be a family activity for the day. I think that sounds good, but then I imagine not being able to stick to one want each. I am very weak in some ways.

Anyway, thinking of that, I decided the dogs are really the closest thing we have to kids, and although they do not know it is Christmas time at all, I decided to go for these things that Target has, where it is kind of like a covered dinner plate, but all toys. We got the lobster dinner with baked potato, corn, lemon, and I guess some kind of a vegetable is what the green rope is supposed to be. Maybe asparagus? No; probably broccoli. I think we will all have fun with that on Christmas.

It makes me feel bad that we don’t have something for the cat, but she doesn’t really like toys and I’m not comfortable with her reaction to catnip. However, she loves turkey, and we will give her some of that. Also, one of the things I am requesting for my birthday is a laser pointer, and that is really for her.