Gifts

Jackie Mason | December 1, 2004
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Lori Lancaster | December 1, 2004
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Scott Hardie | December 2, 2004
Myself, I'm becoming much more of a birthday giver. Since landing gainful employment, I've been able to double what I spend on birthday gifts, so I feel satisfied with my gift-giving in general and don't bother at the end of the year. Christmas will remain a mandatory family tradition for me at least as long as my mother is around to celebrate it, but I have stopped giving x-mas gifts outside of the family. That's partly for anti-religious reasons, but mostly just to avoid the awkwardness of should I get them a gift? but what if they didn't get me one? but what if they did?. Christmas cards are baffling enough as a social tradition; I don't need to invest real money in it too. :-\

I think I said it here at some other time, but while I don't plan to raise my children in a religious home, I do hope to let them participate in Christmas as a fun secular level, and I intend to do it the one-gift-per-person way. Maybe that undermines the fun, and maybe it's too idealistic to be feasible, but it's what I have on my mind.

Anna Gregoline | December 2, 2004
Believe me, Scott - if my eagerness to buy every cute toy and whimsy I see for my niece is any indication, it will be well nigh impossible not to get my children tons of gifts.

This is a little awkward, but we're talking about it - I can't install Sims 2, unfortunately, the game Scott bought me for my birthday. Turns out my only 3 year old computer IS too old, and there's some sort of issue with the graphics card/Direct X 9. (Sheepish shrug) So I will be denied until January, when I should have the funds/time to buy a new graphics card.

Although....you've now sparked "New Computer Fever" in Anna, a deadly condition. The only way to solve it is to....spend thousands of dollars. =)

But I'm very happy about the gift, I want to play Sims2 really bad, and as soon as I'm able, I will. You'll be in my first household. =)

Anna Gregoline | December 2, 2004
Oh, and I've managed to get all my shopping done EARLY this year, although I'm still waiting on a shipment from Amazon that the postal service has only tried to deliver once, because they are assholes. Hopefully it's still at the post office and will be retrievable tomorrow.

Magna Doodle for my niece (they don't call it Magna Doodle anymore though, it's the "Doodle Pro," which to me sounds like a new Office Suite product from Microsoft), some kitchen/entertaining stuff for my parents, ditto for my sister and bro-in-law, and some assorted fun for Jesse.

I don't want to give away too much, what if they read this! I know, I know, it's remote.

I'm with Scott - I don't get my friends Xmas gifts, generally. I like to give some acknowledgement for birthdays, and at least one "just for the hell of it" mail sometime during the year. I think it's more thoughtful to get a gift spontaneously, not because of the season.

Jackie Mason | December 2, 2004
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Nadine Russell | December 2, 2004
A few years ago I made gifts out of necessity. Very little money meant that I had to get creative. The next year I bought gifts since I was now employed full time. They didn't seem to be appreciated as much as the hand made gifts, so I went back to handmade. Everyone has been asking what I'm making this year and they seem very excited. Saves me money, gives me something to do and they love it. I've gotten into rubber stamping this year, so gifts include recipe books and dominos made into necklaces and pins. My dad is getting a planer though and my godson gets a Transformer thing. Those are the only gifts I bought though.

Jackie Mason | December 2, 2004
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Scott Horowitz | December 3, 2004
I only do holiday gifts with my family. Last year I exchanged with my bestfriend and his girlfriend, but this year I told them it is too much. His birthday is 12/13, hers is 1/4 to get 4 gifts in a month is a little bit much. So there was much rejoicing.

Scott Hardie | December 4, 2004
Well, I had reservations about buying you a 3-D game, Anna, but you insisted your computer was state of the art... ;-) I hope you get to play it soon.

I definitely understand the reasoning behind giving gifts spontaneously throughtout the year instead of the compulsory gift-giving every December, but for me, I like the excuse of Christmas. You can mostly avoid that awkwardness of having to explain why you bought them a gift for no reason and that they don't have to reciprocate; Christmas is a convenient justification for gift-giving all by itself. I mean, it's not like I give to people I don't like; these are friends and family to whom I want to give anyway. But, it's a moot point; my shopping list is thankfully very short this year. It's one of the benefits of a very small family.

Jackie, your cards are welcome any time. You pick good ones.

Handmade gifts can be good if they're well-made, and it sounds like yours are, Nadine, if your family is excited to get them. In my own life experience, they're generally given out by cheapskates. I mean, if you're broke, you're broke, but there are ways to make it happen. I'm living paycheck-to-paycheck these days, but I skip spending on myself for a few weeks so that I can afford gifts (not to mention prizes on the site), and it's worth it to me to be able to give out great gifts like that. Then again, I'd probably make absolute crap if I had to manufacture my own gifts. ;-)

Anna Gregoline | December 4, 2004
I thought it would be fine because SimCity 4 works alright on here, with good graphics, and it's a huge program. The Sims is just a stupid issue that they screwed up on - the specs say my card should work, but it's not compatible with Directx9, so I'm out of luck. Oh well. I'll get it to work soon with a new card/new computer, and your gift is no less thoughtful or appreciated. =)

There's a huge crafty movement right now, Scott, and many of the peeps I know are making their own gifts. I'm such a consumer and so bad about finding time to craft that I just buy stuff, but I'd like to get to the making stuff level.

Lori Lancaster | December 4, 2004
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Nadine Russell | December 4, 2004
No pictures as of yet, mostly because I'm nowhere near to being done. I do plan on taking some once I have a few ready to go though and I'll keep you in mind. Today is going to have to be a crafty day from start to finish if I want to have everything done in time. Being a procrastinator just doesn't cut it when you're making gifts.

Scott Hardie | December 4, 2004
That's true, Lori, and I agree. I'm talking more about the crappy homemade gifts you spend ten lousy minutes making, or the ones you had to make as a class assignment anyway so you may as well give to your parents to save a few bucks. I occasionally committed that sin, but I saw a few friends do it often enough for it to bother me. For the gifts you describe, "homemade" is a positive trait conferring the love of the creator, but for the kind I describe it's a cautionary warning.