Comments on: When Christmas Isn’t So Merry

By: hillbillymomma

hillbillymomma — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:53:58 +0000

Our income is right around $600 a month – needless to say things are kind of tight. I have discovered a Goodwill outlet store here in Indianapolis. They weight your purchase and you pay by the pound. This can be very expensive if your stuff is heavy. Then they have paperback books for 25 cents each and hard back books for 50 cents each. I was able to find books for everyone on my list. Then splurged, I found a bolt of purple filmy sheer fabric for about $2. My grand daughters will think they are in heaven when they drape that stuff around a few tables and chairs to make some tents. They will have to learn to cooperate, to share and to be creative. I found them a cool encyclopedia sized book of animals and another about birds – both huge with cool pictures and only 50 cents. Will they think I went cheap. NOPE – they are used to it.

By: Dionne Obeso

Dionne Obeso — Thu, 21 May 2009 20:31:15 +0000

I get frustrated almost to the point of feeling ill when I go to the in-laws’ for Christmas. My husband and I each get a pile of cheap crap that we will either throw away or donate (his mother and step-father let each of their small children pick their own gifts for us, which end up being things like stinky bath sets for me and tools that we don’t need for him). We also get a PILE of presents for our toddler son, many of which we will also donate because I feel like he doesn’t need the noise and flashing lights and insanity to be a happy child (and we don’t want it, either). A mere mention of scaling back makes my MIL cry, but I hate to see such waste.

By: hillbilly momma

hillbilly momma — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 12:50:06 +0000

The year my daughter was engaged we had very little money to spend on a Christmas tree but I wanted to make one last special Christmas for her before she moved out. I sent the kids all out on a search for a soon to be bulldozed cedar tree from one of the many empty lots in the subdivision where we were living. While they were out I made cookies and hot chocolate. The kids brought home a fine specimen and we went through the ornaments we had made over the years and loaded them on the cedar tree with a set of 25 year old lights. No expensive tree ever looked better.
During that night I smelled something awful in the house… Just couldn’t sleep – whew… So I got up and followed my nose. The stench seemed to be coming from the tree. I hurriedly pulled the ornaments and the lights off the tree and threw the tree out the house door. I put on all the vent fans and got out some Cinnamon sticks, etc and boiled it make the house smell good again. Whew it was powerful. Then I climbed back in bed and since I could breathe, I went to sleep. A couple hours later, my son and husband got up and they got real excited – there were does all over our yard. Must have been a dozen. When I got up they were still looking out the window at the does and trying to figure out what was going on… How did a tree get in our yard? Didn’t we have a Christmas tree in here last night? WHAT? It was the tree attracting the does – seems some buck had a special tree and our soaking it in water kind of activated the scent ‘Eau de doe’? We had does all over our yard as long as that tree was in it. Powerful stuff. When the future SIL came back over he noticed the tree was missing but we had replaced it with boxes draped with an old green fabric tablecloth (looked weird) and then decorated with the ornaments – he probably wondered what kind of nut case family he was getting into – first a cedar tree then odd shaped boxes?
On Christmas, after we opened all the gifts future SIL thought we neglected to get him a gift. He looked so forgotten… Then we told him he could just keep the “tree” and he could “mark” that one himself. Since our future SIL was remodeling his house we had all chipped together for his Christmas gift (Someone we knew was selling a toilet for a really good price.) and that is what was in the weird shaped boxes we draped to replace the cedar tree.
I found out later that sometimes you can get a good price on a tree if you wait until the rest on the lot are mostly sold out – just not much selection – not all cedar trees smell like that one – if you ask, some times a farmer friend will let you take a cedar tree – they aren’t all that desirable to have on the property so they bush hog them anyway.

By: Jon in France

Jon in France — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 09:03:01 +0000

The run up to Christmas isn’t normally so bad on the commercials front in France: it is the custom that things don’t start really until early December. It’s noticably earlier this year: shops are desperate to sell stuff!

We’re not expecting any family for Christmas this year – they are in England: they can’t afford the time and we can’t afford the boat fare LOL.

So we can have our simple Christmas instead: midnight mass, a modest selection of gifts, some friends around for a four-hour marathon lunch with a little fine wine and then a nice family evening. Much more my sort of thing than the consummer fest.

By: Corrinne

Corrinne — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 01:25:45 +0000

Christmas with our relatives was always stressful and almost always ended badly. A few years ago we decided to have just a simple and meaningful celebration at home and that has continued. Now we really enjoy the holidays. My advise, do what is right for you and your family.

By: Judy

Judy — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 19:30:14 +0000

Here’s my two cents worth. Decide what you and your spouse want to do and then just do it. Tell both of your families what it is and let the chips fall where they may. They will get over it or they won’t. You have to live in your skin, they don’t.
Which for us means, we only spend a limited amount on Christmas for our children and we have an ‘open house’ Christmas Day. I fix a Mexican Buffet complete with a hand-made pinata. We laugh, visit and have a good time. Sometimes one of us will feel crafty and make something for everyone. One year I made a flour sack tea towel and pot holder for the women; for the men a remote control holder for their recliners. Everyone is please because no one is expecting anything.
The first couple of years may be rough with hurt feelings but I would bet money you are not the only one who is tired of ‘Whoville’ Christmas scene.
Judy

By: orneryswife

orneryswife — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 22:48:41 +0000

For several years I have made calendars for family members. My husband takes beautiful photos, and sometimes I use pictures of the family, others just scenics, and one year I made a cookie calendar with a dozen different photos and recipes, one for each month. The calendar has every family member’s birthdays and anniversaries listed on the appropriate dates, and serves as a reminder should anyone be so inclined to send a card or greeting. The cost is not very much when you consider the value, especially if you have your own color printer, but I often found sales on color copies, and companies would give me a discount on large quantities.

I have also always made certain people gifts, mostly because they have everything they need, but also because it is less expensive, and comes from my heart. I do love giving, and give a great deal of thought before spending my time or money on a gift. Recently, however, I have noted a lack of appreciation on anyone’s part, so this year, we are cutting way back and only giving to those in the family we see often.
tm

By: hillbilly momma

hillbilly momma — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 20:10:39 +0000

It is the gathering together – the sharing in joy – Last year around Christmas, mom who is 82 gave the girls in the family a gift they will never forget – a memory! She asked all of us to dress up in old formals – mom dressed up too of course – we even dressed the 1 year old in a “formal” – I found a waist length slip and put elastic across the back cut the straps and tied it around her neck – very cute (Fifty cent day at the thrift store helped out with the formals.) We polished the nails, put lip gloss on the little girls and all of us put on all kinds of old gaudy jewelry. Then she had a few parlor games for us to play. We decorated the dining room table so beautiful it would make you cry – we even had real flowers left over from a wedding. Mom got out her good dishes and we filled them with finger goodies some good for you and some not… She had her good china cups and poured tea for everyone. We had some kid sized china for the little girls. The eyes still shine when they talk about that little tea party.

By: Jena

Jena — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 18:49:58 +0000

I’ve thought about making donations to charities in my family’s names, but quite frankly, I love gift-giving: the wrapping, the boxes, the ribbons… and both sides of the family (Dad’s side on Christmas Eve, Mom’s on a TBA date) do a white elephant gift exchange, which we love, because there’s a price restriction ($20-$25 for us) and you can implement other restrictions or themes (camping, entertainment, road trips, whatever). One year I found a beautiful, brand new shawl at a garage sale–and I submitted that for the white elephant. (My uncle ended up with it, which was really funny.)

This year, I moved to Canada with my husband and I can’t attend the family holidays, much as I want to. (If I go back to Ohio, there’s no guarantee I’d be able to come back to Canada because I don’t yet have residency, not to mention it’d cost more than $5000 and immigration costs are not cheap.)

I know white elephant exchanges are called lots of other things, but the general rules are here if you’re unfamiliar with the idea: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_elephant_gift_exchange

By: Ruth

Ruth — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 14:18:08 +0000

We’ve decided on one big gift for the entire family this year, something that everyone will get some use out of. I bought us a Wii! I got one used, so it fits with my frugal and ecological rules, and while it is expensive, I know we’ll all be playing with it six months down the road. And it makes it easy for us to figure out what to get each other; controllers or a new game.

I haven’t travelled over the holiday in eight years, and that makes it my favorite time of the year. I do the tree and all the trimmings, but all the time I have makes it truly special. I can bake, make my own ornaments and cards, and create new traditions for my family. I think this economic downturn may be just what we need to get us back to normal!!