Christmas $$$$$$$

[Warpony]

Several years ago I decided that I would only buy for my child. I explained to everyone that I would no longer be buying gifts for everyone under the sun. I couldn't afford it and it just added stress to an already difficult time of year for me. It upset some people, but... so what. The holiday are not about "stuff" they are about "people". If they are going to get upset about a lack of "stuff" that is their problem.

The holidays are a lot more pleasant for me now that I am not buying for 50 people.

 

[backwoodsnanny]

Well we do it a bit differently We have 2 balsam fir Christmas trees yup two. The first is a tree in the den it is put into the house the 1st weekend in December with 2 strings of white lights on it. One of my 6 grandchildren decorate the tree with all homemade ornaments including the tree topper. For this tree the name of the one responsible for decorating the tree is drawn on Christmas Eve so they have a year to decide how they will decorate it. Then 12 family members and 2 friends who dont have family draw names and they have to do something homemade for whomever they draw. This year they also have to fill a stocking for that person I made the 14 stockings last year. The other tree is in our livingroom and I decorate that one and the gifts under it are boughten gifts or you can make homemade gifts and put them all under the homemade tree. The number of homemade gifts is increasing every year so it is obvious that the kids love this. So I shop for 13 for this tree then we do LB Secret Santa and we do whomever we feel we want to this year we have a family we will be doing that we have never done before there are 4 of them and we try to do things for an underpriviledged family every year through my hubbys work. last year we took a single mom with 2 young children. I havent seen a list yet for this year. So we usually do around 20 or so by the time we are done.

I have a very funny story about this really 3 years ago one of my grand kids asked for money for Christmas so we gave him $50 and the other kids said WOW I d like 50.00 so the next year thats what each of them got $50 period. No small gifts no candy gifts just a gift of $ 50.00. The grand kids at the time ranged from 10- 18. Last year one by one they came and said Nana I dont want money this year Id rather have a gift. They missed having gifts to open. And this year most have said whatever you pick for me will be great. So guess we are doing something right.

You wouldnt believe the talent that has come from particularly the kids and my son who said he didnt know how to make a gift. One of the grandsons did gift certificates for shoveling and odd jobs another did wood burned name plaques for my barn for me. Really this homemade gift thing has gotten so much fun that they really do like it better than the purchased gifts. My son last year made his sisters family and me a homemade picnic table for each of us. My husband made him a 6ft tool bench for his garage. one of my grandaughters made the fleece tied blankets. My daughter is a wonderful cook so she treated her brother to her special creation of brownie muffins which around here are just the best gift anyone could get. It is so neat to watch everyone the month before Christmas come up with their ideas and create the finished product. Im way ahead this year as I knitted my son a pair of hunting socks out of wool and made an afghan for his truck. I also have had gifts of stall cleanings or chore days for the barn allowing me to sleep in. Oh and each horse has a tiny stocking with mini carrots and a cookie. The dogs get a new toy and a synthetic bone. I love Christmas and with money or without it is the best time of the year.

Oh and for the record this is the 3rd year for the homemade tree and so far I have had one decorated by my then 13 yr old gearhead grandson who made ornaments from spark plugs and nuts and bolts and a rearview mirror from a car the garland was red speaker wire from a car and the tree topper was a carbeurator from a 4 wheeler. Last year his brother did the tree with ornaments made from their racing pictures and a checkered flag as a tree topper his garland was a paper chain made with their team racing colors and this year its my youngest grandaughters turn so am dying to see what she comes up with she is 12.

 

[ChrystalPaths]

Ok Nita, you win. Your holiday sounds so wonderfully old fashioned and exactly what the spirit intends!

 

[PaintedPromiseRanch]

I'll be making donations this year (to animal shelters) in the name of my family and friends. I'll also send out cards.

go Nicole! i got an e-mail 12/22/05, too late to do anything that year, but saved it and my plan is that every year about now i will send it out and see if it touches anyone to do the same thing. i did it last year for my husband and girls and plan to again this year. as for the rest of the family, they are all crazy and we have learned not to buy into it... going into massive credit card debt is stupid and insane and we just refuse, we told them all several years ago that we would no longer be exchanging gifts and asked them not to get us anything. if they do it anyway, that's up to them and i refuse to feel guilty. we now try to RELAX on the holiday, i won't even go into town to the big family dinner any more, too much chaos and screaming brats that no one will control. just call me scrooge if you want. our fun thing last year was taking two of our mini donks to appear in a Christmas Eve pageant at a church in town, we aren't members and had never been there but they heard about us through our visits to retirement homse and called to ask so we said sure. it was really meaningful and gave us the good Christmas spirit feeling... we are going back this year :aktion033:

anyway here's the e-mail i got, it's kinda long but well worth reading - oh yeah and TISSUE WARNING:

[SIZE=10pt]The Small White Envelope[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]It's just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Christmas tree. No name, no identification, no inscription. It has[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]peeked through the branches of our tree for the past ten years or so.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas--oh, not the true[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it--overspending...[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]the frantic running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Harry and the dusting powder for Grandma---the gifts given in[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]desperation because you couldn't think of anything else.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual shirts,[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]sweaters, ties and so forth. I reached for something special just for[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Mike.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]The inspiration came in an unusual way.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, was wrestling at the junior level[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]at the school he attended; and shortly before Christmas, there was a[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]non-league match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church. These[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]youngsters, dressed in sneakers so ragged that shoestrings seemed to be[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]the only thing holding them together, presented a sharp contrast to our[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]boys in their spiffy blue and gold uniforms and sparkling new wrestling[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]shoes. As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]wrestling without headgear, a kind of light helmet designed to protect a[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]wrestler's ears.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]It was a luxury the ragtag team obviously could not afford. Well, we[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]ended up walloping them. We took every weight class. And as each of[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]their boys got up from the mat, he swaggered around in his tatters with[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]false bravado, a kind of street pride that couldn't acknowledge defeat.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Mike, seated beside me, shook his head sadly, "I wish just one of them[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]could have won," he said. "They have a lot of potential, but losing like[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]this could take the heart right out of them."[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Mike loved kids - all kids - and he knew them, having coached little[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]league football, baseball and lacrosse. That's when the idea for his[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]present came. That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes and sent them[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]anonymously to the inner-city church. On Christmas Eve, I placed the[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done and[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]that this was his gift from me. His smile was the brightest thing about[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Christmas that year and in succeeding years. For each Christmas, I[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]followed the tradition--one year sending a group of mentally handicapped[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]youngsters to a hockey game, another year a check to a pair of elderly[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]brothers whose home had burned to the ground the week before Christmas,[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]and on and on.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas. It was always the[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]last thing opened on Christmas morning and our children, ignoring their[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]new toys, would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]the envelope from the tree to reveal its contents.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]As the children grew, the toys gave way to more practical presents, but[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]the envelope never lost its allure. The story doesn't end there[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]You see, we lost Mike last year due to dreaded cancer. When Christmas[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]rolled around, I was still so wrapped in grief that I barely got the[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]tree up. But Christmas Eve found me placing an envelope on the tree, and[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]in the morning, it was joined by three more.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Each of our children, unbeknownst to the others, had placed an envelope[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]on the tree for their dad. The tradition has grown and someday will[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]expand even further with our grandchildren standing to take down the[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]envelope.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Mike's spirit, like the Christmas spirit will always be with us. May we[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]all remember Christ, who is the reason for the season, and the true[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Christmas spirit this year and always.[/SIZE]

 

[backwoodsnanny]

Susan

That is the most beautiful story ever. Exactly what we are trying to convey to our grandchildren with the homemade gifts. I love the story and the meaning behind it. Sorry for that kind of great loss but the legacy is proof that spirit lives on. God Bless You for sharing that.