Christmas Gifts.....

Yup.... Christmas is not far away.... I'm panicking..... as usual!

So last year after Christmas was over I said to myself, I'm never doing this again. (I said it the year before and the year before that and probably the year before that.) Every year I go through the same thing. As Christmas draws closer I begin to panic because I have nothing done. Money doesn't go far if you don't start buying Christmas gifts in January right after the previous Christmas. But if you leave it till 5 paychecks before Christmas, things can get quite freaky. You know I'm starting to panic when I start to thumb the millions of catalogues that inundate the mail box each day. (Did you know that Americans spell catalogue,  by leaving off the ue at the end?.... I just discovered this.) Ususally I'm frantically trying to get ideas for cool gifts for the Daughters that will surprise and astound.  Most everyone else I've got covered by now or at least have a good idea of what I'm getting them......

Pops and Mother get a box of everything that they happen to talk about..... they say, "I wish I had (insert here whatever they say for the last three months before Christmas. I even gave my mother a frozen entre one year...  yeah well, she wanted it!!!), and I get it, wrap it, and put it in their box.

Gift cards go back east to family members there.... this year I will be adding in a little something with it because gift cards are about as inspirational as snot!

Friends around town here get gift baskets of homemade bread and yummy stuff like herb oils for dipping bread.... sausage,... and cheese....

Spinning and knitting friends get a little something hand made or yarn or knitting needle accessories....

My best friend gets a little something special like racetracks with grannies in wheelchairs as the racers.... (joke stuff that she can share with her grandchildren... and sometimes I get her sensible stuff)...

Gift exchange people get something homemade like a bottle of home made wine or a dozen beer (we make home made beer and wine).

But it is Teapot and the Daughters that I agonize over.

A few years ago, Teapot and I decided that we wouldn't buy anything for each other except we would fill a stocking each and we would just go buy something big like a new TV or a couch or a new mattress and that would be our gift to each other.

The Daughters however, are really hard to buy for.  They are not really into technology other than iPods which they both have. They don't do games so that's out.... mostly they want books, movies and clothes.

This year they have asked for boots and Daughter #1 wants a leather jacket.... Daughter #2 wants jeans because hers are all getting to be like flood pants.

And books..... they want books... problem is that they have read everything on the planet. I'm really having a hard time with that. They have also asked for movies. We kind of really enjoy movies. The Matrix series, the Bourne Identity series are right at the top of the list..... there's other movies too.... so I'm starting to think that it is time to get serious about Christmas. Teapot is asking for a lens for his camera this year and I have asked for a simple camera to use for my blogging interests.... no big gifts this year I think...

With this great long list you would think that I'd be alright.... but it is not that simple.

Teapot and I don't believe in getting the Daughters everything they want. That's because we just think that is not teaching them anything other than that Mom and Dad have bottomless pockets, which is absolutely not true. Daughter #1 is really looking at wanting to be cool with her friends, so that's the reason for the leather jacket... (hey, I've wanted a leather jacket forever too.....).  But they also need to know that working for things is really important. I really don't want them to start thinking that Christmas is all about materialism... that's just too easy. What I want for my Daughters to understand about Christmas is this:
        -that it is important to think about something other than yourself... that life is all about those around you who give a damn whether or not you're breathing....
       -that most importantly when you give a gift that's it's not because this is the day that we do that sort of thing but that you are getting a gift from me because it is important that you know I'm doing it out of the joy of my heart and because I want you to understand that this gift is just a small representation of my joy in the relationship that we share.
      -that gifts don't equal love..... that gifts are just because I want to see you have something that you really like because you are a really cool person.

If they get all of that then maybe just maybe they will begin to understand that it doesn't matter if shopping at Wal-Mart is the best option because it is the cheapest....... that red and green decorations really don't matter at all... that silver sparkly stuff hanging from the ceiling is a "who cares thing"... that receiving a card from someone with a signature and nothing else is pointless....

Most important I want them to understand that even if we had no gifts at all that Christmas is all about looking around you and saying "you're awesome and I like being around you," and you don't need to have the 25th of December to say that. And I also really want them to remember that a little baby was born 2000 years ago who came to teach us how to care about the people around us. Really the best gifts fulfill our deepest needs, and our needs are met by a touch, a smile, a little sharing of food, and warmth  and caring. Christmas is really all about safety and and love.....

It's a lot of pressure to try to get that across in the form of a leather jacket..... yeah.... I don't know if I can handle the pressure!!!! Don't I do all that stuff every day of the year?!..... No wonder I'm panicking.... I think I'll go lie down....couldn't we just skip Christmas..... it'll all be over soon.... right?!

Just 10 more weeks.... argh!