Welcome to the Holidays

...as they put it in the Advertisements.

I feel sorry for retailers this year, in a way; they seem to be very desperate to assure themselves a good Christmas sales season.  I say I only feel sorry for them in a way--I feel sorry for the temporary workers who might not get hired or for the clerks that will lose their jobs when stores have to close--but I don't feel sorry about what looks like the partial demise of the Christmas shopping industry.

See, as we've talked about before, the main point of Christmas for Christians is a religious festival that is of little interest to the rest of the world.  Of this festival, gifts make up only a small part.

No, I am not against giving Christmas gifts.  Even Lexuses (Lexi?) with big red bows on them, if you can afford them.  I am against giving more than you can afford.  And this year, with our economy in something very similar to shambles, it seems like a lot of people aren't going to be able to afford as much as in past years.

By "afford" I mean you don't take advantage of K-mart's layaway program, accept the offer of a new Target credit card, or ignore a payment on a debt you already have in order to pay for presents.  I also mean that the presents you select have a few characteristics--they fit into your budget (money you've already set aside), they are something that the reciever will use (vs. a random knicknack that you bought just because you weren't sure what to get them and you had to get something) and they fit your values (I'm not going to tell you what your values are--if you don't know, you have bigger problems than your shopping list).

Here are a few ideas for presents that hopefully won't involve K-mart's Layway Plan, to get you thinking:

Homemade presents

These don't have to be dumb, and you shouldn't have to open an account with Stampin' Up (or whomever is selling stamps for greeting cards and scrapbooks these days).  Try:

a) Knitted or sewn gifts made with materials from your stash--if you are a crafter, you probably have supplies.  Don't go out and buy the yarn for a scarf, make a Joseph's Coat shawl instead where you use up all your bits, and present it to a person as a Reading-In-Bed shawl, if you're afraid they won't like the looks.  Rice bags to be warmed in the microwave and then placed under cold feet in bed or over sore shoulders are nice, too, and inexpensive.

b) Edible gifts - Cocoa mixes, flavored vodkas, herbed vinegars, baked bean seasoning mixes (packaged with a jar of beans), fancy cake mixes, a jar of home-canned jelly or pie filling, some freezer meals, etc. etc. etc.

c) Homemade cosmetics - a bit more expensive than the others, because you'll have to get the supplies from somewhere (like the health food store): white clay, some herbs, etc.  But because most of these things are sold by the pound, and because it takes a lot of herbs to make a pound, you can make a lot of say, Rosemary Gladstar's cleansing facial scrub for the cost of one batch of herbs, and then package it for several female relatives.  Stick it in a basket with a homemade washcloth and a candle and you've got a nice spa gift.

d) If you are an artist, you can write a story, draw/paint a picture (maybe a portrait of a loved one who is in heaven? you can use an old photo), take photos, scuplt a vase, etc. etc.

Also don't underestimate the power of simple rituals. 

If money is tight, consider gifting mainly to the children, with adults concentrating on enjoying (and making enjoyable) things that can become a recurring part of each Christmas season.  For instance:

a) Advent wreaths and readings.

b) Christmas music, both recorded and sung by the family--surely there's someone who can play an instrument or carry a tune.

c) Caroling the neighbors.

d) Stringing popcorn and cranberries to make a tree garland, perhaps on Christmas Eve while someone reads the Christmas story.

e) Setting up the Nativity Scene-- either all at once, or in the traditional way of adding a new piece every so often until you add the Christ Child on Christmas Day.

f) Making a creche

g) Using an Advent calendar

h) Cooking a special dish for Christmas breakfast (or Christmas Eve dinner, or whatever)

i) Attending church services

j) Putting on a family Christmas program with improvised costumes, performed for uncles and aunts or visiting grandparents

k) Making cards for faraway relatives

l) Watching a movie you watch every year (yeah, we have a few...)

m) Reading aloud every night from Thanksgiving to December, both religious and classical Christmas stories--i.e., legends, some Dickens, A Visit from St. Nicholas, ending with the real Christmas story from the Gospels.

n) Decorating the house and yard - with lights and stuff if you've got them, but if you must be frugal you can be traditional, too.  For $5 around here, you can get a permit from the Forest Service to go into the woods and cut a Christmas tree; if you do that, you will certainly have lots of branches for greenery.  Holly and mistletoe have to be purchased from a florist here (because they're English plants, I think), but each can be made from construction paper and are good crafts for kids that have been shaking packages.  Popcorn and cranberries make lovely garlands, and paper snowflakes are another good kid-distraction craft.  You can use Crayola window crayons to decorate the windows, too.

o) Coming up with creative wrapping for packages-- maybe you don't want to spend money on paper that will be thrown away.  If you are clever and save paper you are set, but you can also do things like make the wrapping (a bag with the owner's intials embroidered on it) part of the gift, or part of the tradition--maybe everyonehas the same bag(s) year after year.

p) Making, decorating, or hanging Christmas stockings--reading about the tradition of the stocking.

q) If you don't know anyone needy you could go serve dinner one night at a rescue mission or something, but before you go manufacturing charity, think about your neighbors.  Isn't there an old person in your neighborhood who might need their walk shoveled--for free--for the winter?  Or someone who'd benefit from a basket of easy-to-fix food left on their porch?  Or a lonely college student at church who needs a family to celebrate with for Christmas or Thanksgiving?  Remember "He sets the lonely in families".

r) Reminiscing - if you can get the older members of the family talking, and someone inconspicuous acting as a scribe/recorder (if you have a dictaphone), you can pass on family history.  Get the grandparents or the aunts and uncles talking about the time Uncle Simon fell off the roof on Thanksgiving, wedding stories, wartime stories, stories of other Christmases, etc.  Such memories are valuable and easy to lose.  Old photo albums are a good way to start this.

s) Build snowmen, igloos, or have snowball fights, depending on the aggression level of the cousins.

That's all the letters I can think of at the moment.  :)  Doesn't that sound funner than a Tickle-Me-Elmo?  Now that you're not worried that not getting your kid whatever toy they've decided is the "must" this year will damage them forever, I'll cease talking about Christmas until after Thanksgiving, which is how we will spend November.

Cheers,

Breanna