That Shopping Thing...

It always surprises me when I read those stories in January about people who are in massive amount of debt after Christmas.

I think part of it is that much too old saw that one has to give a lot of expensive presents, especially to children, for them to have a happy Christmas. I've seen my own cousins open box after box after box of gifts until they are cranky and unhappy. They don't seem happy or thankful for any of the things they've received.

I'm sure some people will say, "Well, they're just little kids." Maybe. But it's easy to see when a child just doesn't care because he's being drowned in toy after toy after toy. None of them is special. And, indeed, is that really what Christmas--or any of the midwinter holidays, for that matter--is all about? It used to be about having fun with family and friends, playing games, having parties, doing things together whether it's an annual hunt or an annual skating party or, in the case of the folks in the Southern Hemisphere, an annual cookout or beach party. If you got a special gift or two, all the nicer.

Anyway...the shopping thing...never understood the enormous debt in January because I buy things all year round. I've been known to buy a next year's Christmas gift for someone on the day after Christmas. This is tucked in a photocopy paper box, several which sit in the spare room closet, to wait for birthdays and the holidays. By the time Thanksgiving comes, most of the gifts are waiting, except for a few that will be bought in the next few weeks: maybe a new bestseller that has just come up, for instance.

I still have Christmas gift fantasies: I know what all my friends like and I sometimes long to buy a sweater or book way over my budget because I know so-and-so will just love it--and I can't. I hope I make do most of the time and give them something they like. Like anything else it's sometimes by guess and by golly; an interest last year will have faded.

But at least I don't face January with dread...

(Later...sigh...I'm lecturing again, aren't I? I guess it's because I can't bear to see what is supposed to be a fun, happy time of year become an anxiety-ridden buyfest.

Check out these ladies: they say it much better than I could:

Unplug the Christmas Machine, Jo Robinson and Jean C. Staeheli

The Christmas Survival Book, Alice Slaikeu Lawhead

Simplify Your Christmas, Elaine St. James)