On Christmas
First of all, let me apologize to any and all of you who have been checking this daily and been disappointed by my abject silence. The lovely weather has driven me outside and by the time I get home, I’m scrambling to get Elijah bathed and ready for bed, Isaiah fed and asleep – and as a result, I’m mostly brain dead. However, Ashlee guilted me a bit today – and here I am, trying to appease my demanding audience…and grateful that I have an audience at all.
I was talking to my friend, Mary, at the park today about what Santa was bringing Elijah for Christmas. And as I proceeded through my list, well, her eyes sort of glazed over and I couldn’t decide if the thoughts running behind her head were – good grief who really cares or Oh My God! What child needs so much stuff? Which leads to the Christmas / birthday present question. Would you rather have one big present or a bunch of little presents?
I have long been a supporter of the bunch of little presents. As my family is rather strapped for cash, any big present wouldn’t have been too big in the first place. Though there were a couple years there when my mom really went to town – and joy was replaced with general guilt wondering if she could afford such an extravagance. Anyway… when the present price is in the $50 range, well, there’s not a lot of BIG stuff you can get – As a result, I’d almost rather have a couple of $20 things instead – at least then I can feel like I got a lot. So, I tend to shop the same way for my kids and for my friends. If anyone is expecting one nice gift from me- well they’d just better forget it. Because what I’m going to give is a series of small – yet thoughtful gifts --- unless you are a teenager and then you’re getting a gift certificate somewhere – because I’m not even going to try to figure out what’s going on in your head.
So Santa, at my house, will always leave several small presents – rather than the one big one – in part because I like the small – and in part because like my parents I can’t afford the really big gifts.
