Don't get me wrong....i like the tradition of Christmas...the music, the candles, the feasts, family gatherings and the perfect gift. It's everything leading up to it that makes me grumpy...long lines, crowded malls, the pressure of giving my family their christmas memories, gaining 10 lbs, long lists adding up to 1,000's of dollars from greedy ungrateful kids, trying to figure out what to get my parents and husband and an empty bank account. You get the idea. lol
I wish we could go back to way it was...the way it was intended...before malls and all the pressure, before it became so commercialized that I want to scream at the top of my lungs in the middle of the friggin mall!!!. I wish we could exchange handmade gifts and go caroling from door to door. I wish our kids would be esctatic over a piece of stick candy and a pair of knitted mittens.
I thought I would share with you my 18 year old sons christmas list that he handed to me the other day....hold onto your seats it's a doozie! :
a new electric guitar with a stage amp ($1,500)
an XBox ($300)
a new truck ($3,000)
subs for the new truck ($300)
cash
Wonder how he would react if he got a stick of peppermint, a handmade scarf and an orange?? LOL My family will be SHOCKED when I announce on christmas eve that we will be starting a new family tradition....only homemade handmade gifts from here on out! LOL
12 comments:
We only do stocking stuffers now - $10.00 gift max. We buy one or two for each other (so total family of six costs less than $200.) We've been doing this with my parents since my brother and I moved away from home.
Tell your kids that Santa is on strike!
I'm with you, Handmade gifts for everybody.. All the ladies are getting aprons.. not sure about the guys yet.. LOL ..
Have a great (warm) day..
Visiting from sits..
Stop by our blog/shoppe and enter to win a pretty pink apron..
http://apronstringsbypaisleycat.blogspot.com/
We make cookies to give out to family and friends each year. And also homemade jams and jellies. Last year my mom (who lives with me now) made aprons and bar-b-que "bibs" for the adults. Now I will say that we did make over 60 dozen cookies and over 100 jars of jams and jellies!
Save yourself now my dear before your offspring spawn. Before my grandkids were born I told my daughter, the designer label whore, that I was not going to be the kind of grandparent who was forced into buying one of everything and that I would give them the same amount of presents for Christmas that Jesus got. 3, yes you read correctly. One would be clothing which has turned out to be handmade PJ's , one would be a toy and one would be a book. My 9 year old granddaughter calls it the butt-fun-brain present. Too smartee huh. But she looks forward to it and even wanted to help make her brothers PJ's this year. I bought one of those round knitting loomie thingies and she is making hats for all of us. The 5 yr old has taken the wood scraps from the work shed and construction paper and made "God only knows" for each of us and has wrapped and rewrapped them twice already. I may not have approached it correctly with their mercenary Mom but from and with us the kids know it is from our hands and heart. PS The Mom is even making things for the kids this year.....watch this old broad do the happy dance. Linda in New Mexico (the last of the big El Cheapos)
They may be shocked but what an AWESOME idea. The only draw back for me is making something homemade. I can make an origamy frog...
My 13 year old wants the same things on his list as your 18 year old, except he wants a lap top instead of a truck.
I am sooooo with you Tamara!
Homemade gifts are the absolute best and should be appreciated (even if by force!)
Now if I only knew how to make a decent gift, I'd be in business (-:
xoxoxoMelyssa
I love the idea! We've done this for a couple of years -- the first year, we took the "extra" we would have spent on each other and donated it to Habitat for Humanity. Of course, some years there is more "extra" money than others!
Thanks for following my blog -- I'm glad I found yours, too!
Liz @ twenty-firstcenturyhousewife.blogspot.com
A simpler Christmas would be nice....good luck with that!
Wow - that is quite the list!!
Hi Tamara...Thanks for stopping by...
I am with you on the homemade Christmas...we always do the stocking stuffers on my DH side and we drew names this year...on my side we have decided just to have a nice dinner and gathering...one thing my family has always done was a candy sack and when my dad passed my brother too over doing it...well my mom just told me he wasn't even doing that this year
has to save his money to go to FL.
anyway DH and I decided that we are doing sacks this year and almost all
of it is homemade candy and such...
I love the homemade....
Hope you have a Blessed Christmas...
Sweet Blessings...
Tonja
Hello! And thank you for commenting that you are glad you found my blog!
Because of this, I have now found you and your blog. :-)
Oh my yes, I fully understand your feelings about the nuttinesssss of the Christmas Season! Ahemmm, my family knows me as *Mrs. Scrooge*! -heh,heh,heh-
Well, not that bad. But I hate all the Pressure of the Season. And a few years ago, I began to rebelllllllllll. Really!
I'd read books like "Simplify Your Christmas" & "Unplug The Christmas Machine" and wanted to do it, my way. Eventually, I've accomplished some of these things. You just have to figure out what you really want to keep, and work on it. Or that should read, Brow-beat your family to agree. -giggles-
Gently. Gently. Of course. But it's not impossible. :-)
Plus, the downturn in the Economy was a kind of a blessing for this sort of thing. How in the world can people act like it's "Christmas as Usual" with everyone hurting for money?!?
Gentle hugs,
Aunt Amelia
OMG lol. That looks my childrens list of last year when we had to break it to them the economy sucks so your presents are going to suck this year too...LOL the horror on their faces....
This year they know that it will not be like it has in the past.
Amazing the stuff they pick out huh! :D
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