I was in the local big shopping centre today. I haven't been for a few weeks, but needed to go to the Medicare office, and then walked through to the supermarket end. This Christmas decorations are out, the Christmas carols are playing, Santa's big chair is set up ready for photos, and there even appears to be a shop dedicated to Christmas lights (and maybe other Christmassy things - I didn't go in). In the supermarket, the hams are on display, and the gift boxes of chocolates are clustered in prominent positions at the ends of aisles.
And I'm not in the least bit interested. In previous years, I would be at least starting to think about gifts, but this year I've started priming the kids so they know we're not going overboard. Miss Tizz said she'll be happy with a book and a contribution to the Europe travel fund. The X-man would like "something Ben 10 that I don't already have", and neither of them were up in arms at my suggestion that we each choose a game that we already have, wrap it up, and we spend time playing each other's games over the holiday period. I've mentioned to my sister that I'll probably give her children money or gift cards, and I already do that for my brother's three teenage boys. I am going to leave the husband's family gift shopping up to him, and we don't buy presents for our siblings and their partners any more (although I may choose to spend my not-shopping time making a food gift). Apart from that, there are parents and aunts, and something small for the children to give their teachers.
I'm hoping, with the overhyped gift giving set aside to a large extent, that we can make this Christmas about time with people who matter.
No comments:
Post a Comment