[billethkid]

I have become disenchanted by the evolution of the over abundance of gifting at Christmas time. While it all is 100% well intended, it just has to be a time consuming and for some a finacial burden.

There has been talk for years about drawing names out of a hat or one gift for each couple (excluding the kids) etc. For us with 5 children, 11 grandchildren and 4 great grand children, as an example, it has become a real challenge.

It seems Chritmas has become way to commercialized. Proof this year with retailers rolling out Christmas "stuff" the first week in October. Black Fridays now morhing into black Friday WEEK!!!

Maybe I am getting old but the marathon of aquiring and then going through the pile of gifts has taken the shine off the season.

What have others done to bring some sanity and normalcy back to the spirit of the celebration of Christmas?

[jnieman]

My husband and my family haven't exchanged gifts for years. Not even for the kids. We do have a white elephant gift exchange valued at $20.00. It's fun to take the gifts back and forth and see what you end up with. There is no burden to buy gifts in our family. So glad of this as I don't think we could afford to do it now.

[quirky3]

When I asked what to get for my grand-nephew, his parents suggested no toys or clothes - maybe a home made photo album with pics and labels of the people on my side of the family that they could read to him like a book. (Shutterfly does that kind of thing too).

[DonH57]

Originally Posted by jnieman

My husband and my family haven't exchanged gifts for years. Not even for the kids. We do have a white elephant gift exchange valued at $20.00. It's fun to take the gifts back and forth and see what you end up with. There is no burden to buy gifts in our family. So glad of this as I don't think we could afford to do it now.

My wife and I and family haven't either. We take vacations. When I worked most places had the " Yankee Gift Swap" as it was called between workers and it seemed the larger the company Christmas parties were a thing of the past. Besides the commercialization of Christmas came the almost out of control of calling the Christmas season something else which really became absurd. I still long to go to the mall and sit with a box of popcorn and observe the show. I would rather avoid the traffic.

[DianeM]

My framily and I still exchange gifts and it's wonderful. We do go shopping on Black Friday at four in the morning. It's fun to pick out things for other people. And Christmas Eve it's nice to be a kid again and open a present that you don't know what's in it. Price of gifts is limited to $20 per person and there are 16 of us including six kids 13 and under. All this talk about the stress of Christmas shopping etc. is just a bad case of Bah Humbug. If you allow yourself to get into it, you can experience the joy of giving and yes, receiving.

[OBXNana]

Neither of us came from large families and we are almost the oldest generation. His 85 year old mother does not need another trinket and we send fruit, flowers, and edible items staggered throughout the month, 12 months per year. She is constantly getting packages.

Our children and children in laws get a check. But, during the year we will pick things up we know they need/want and give it to them "just because". The gifts they receive from their inlaws are always returned, the inlaws are hurt, and it is a vicious cycle. Not our cup of tea. Check may be impersonal, but they sure do appreciate them.

Our grandchildren are young and we give them an inexpensive gift to unwrap. In July we take them for a week long trip. August is family week at the beach with their parents, cousins, aunts, and uncles. Thanksgiving is Busch Gardens for their Christmas theme and we do a long weekend in Williamsburg.

For us, it is less about things and more about experiences we share as a family. This works for us.

[NotGolfer]

We haven't exchanged with each other or the kids for years. We do give $$$ to the grandkids though. Instead we use the money we'd otherwise spend on gifts and give to the needy. There are so many people in the world with very little and are struggling so this is our way of giving back. Yes, the traditions are nice and all but really do we "need" any of the items??!! We still decorate the house and so forth but have to say that the commercialization thing is not missed!

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by billethkid

I have become disenchanted by the evolution of the over abundance of gifting at Christmas time. While it all is 100% well intended, it just has to be a time consuming and for some a finacial burden.

There has been talk for years about drawing names out of a hat or one gift for each couple (excluding the kids) etc. For us with 5 children, 11 grandchildren and 4 great grand children, as an example, it has become a real challenge.

It seems Chritmas has become way to commercialized. Proof this year with retailers rolling out Christmas "stuff" the first week in October. Black Fridays now morhing into black Friday WEEK!!!

Maybe I am getting old but the marathon of aquiring and then going through the pile of gifts has taken the shine off the season.

What have others done to bring some sanity and normalcy back to the spirit of the celebration of Christmas?

Yepper

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

My family stopped buying for adults a long time ago. Now that most of the "kids" are adults we agreed to stop buying for them as well except for one niece who is 10 years old this year and my grandson who is three.

The rest of the family has a Yankee swap, which I personally don't like, but I go along when I visit at Christmas.

Sometimes when I go up there, I bring a small present for everyone because I enjoy giving them something. Some of them get a bit angry because they didn't get anything for me and we agreed not to exchange gifts. I tell them we are not exchanging gifts. I just wanted to get them a small token of my love for them and don't expect or want anything in return.

Some kind of draw a name out of a hat format is a god idea because it is nice to that everyone gets a gift at Christmas.

My previous wife's family exchanged gifts with everyone and it did become a financial burden. I'm glad we didn't have two families doing that. It would have been ridiculous. And half the stuff that you got, you didn't want. use or keep.

[Sable99]

We don't exchange gifts anymore either. We also take vacations instead. I love Christmas and decorate our entire home.

[Villages PL]

Originally Posted by billethkid

I have become disenchanted by the evolution of the over abundance of gifting at Christmas time. While it all is 100% well intended, it just has to be a time consuming and for some a finacial burden.

There has been talk for years about drawing names out of a hat or one gift for each couple (excluding the kids) etc. For us with 5 children, 11 grandchildren and 4 great grand children, as an example, it has become a real challenge.

It seems Chritmas has become way to commercialized. Proof this year with retailers rolling out Christmas "stuff" the first week in October. Black Fridays now morhing into black Friday WEEK!!!

Maybe I am getting old but the marathon of aquiring and then going through the pile of gifts has taken the shine off the season.

What have others done to bring some sanity and normalcy back to the spirit of the celebration of Christmas?

On one hand, I agree that "Christmas has become way too commercialized." On the other hand, I like to see a vibrant and thriving economy. So I have mixed feelings about it.

I only exchange a gift with one person and we try to keep it within reason, like under $10 dollars.

[tomwed]

We all stand in a big circle around the Christmas tree like in Charlie Brown. Then we each take out a fifty dollar bill and pass it to the left. It used to be a twenty when we couldn't afford as much.

[Barefoot]

Originally Posted by NotGolfer

We haven't exchanged with each other or the kids for years. We do give $$$ to the grandkids though. Instead we use the money we'd otherwise spend on gifts and give to the needy.

Originally Posted by Sable99

We don't exchange gifts anymore either. We also take vacations instead.

Same with us. I love taking the commercial aspect out of Christmas.
We also donate to charities and plan a vacation for the two of us.
We enjoy a Christmas Eve church service and a stress-free Christmas day.

[Bonny]

We have a small family so it's not a big issue for us. We give our 2 daughters and their hubbys a check. We buy for our grandson.
No exchange of gifts any more for siblings, nieces or nephews. They are all older.
Hubby and I haven't exchanged gifts for years. We travel a lot and that's our gifts.
Our girls love to buy for us. They know if we can't eat it or drink it, don't get us anything. So they get us restaurant gift cards. Works well.
We have a group of us getting together for a Christmas get together. We are doing a re-gift gift exchange for fun. It can be something we got and don't want or something around the house that we are tired of looking at. This will be a fun time.

[graciegirl]

I don't think exchanging gifts, in my case giving gifts to people I love is commercial. Five years ago when we were all together we made present opening last for a long time. The gifts ranged from clever not very expensive ones from the college kids, to some nice stuff given by those who had a few extra bucks. We know each other well enough to know what would please the other or whether money would be more welcome this year, but even with money there would be presents to open even if it was a pair of inexpensive earrings wrapped in increasingly bigger boxes and some funny zingers and some beautiful made for you stuff.

Each person has traditions that make the day special and full of warmth. We can't tell anyone what is the right way to celebrate Christmas.