The Burden Of Gift Giving

Lest you think I am a Scrooge who hates making others happy through gift-giving, let me explain.

It is not the giving itself but the whole process of not knowing that is so stressful - having to blindly guess a recipient's tastes and preferences (particularly when the recipient is a child), having to tread that delicate balance between overspending and being considered a cheapskate, not knowing if it's appropriate to recycle a gift, worrying about buying something wholly inappropriate or useless...

Last Christmas, I wisely spent the months before planning my list of what to buy, and completely avoided the last-minute desperate rush for gifts.

This year has been a lean year as our family has been living on one income for the past 3 months, and I wanted to spend as little as possible. Still, it was impossible to get away with being minimalist. As far as our small group is concerned, the kids will always get their presents, even if the adults don't. So we bought the obligatory gift exchange present for one other couple, and agonized over what to get for the already-saturated-with-more-toys-than-necessary little ones.

In the end, I still had to make that desperate last-minute stop at a stationery store to put something decent together for the little girl in our group whom I hadn't planned to buy anything for because her whole family had been stationed overseas and were back for the hols for one week.

The whole thing fell apart when I found myself wrapping, taping and scribbling in the back seat on our way to the Christmas lunch for the small group. I grumbled no end and was frightfully snappy with my husband and daughter. That of course took away the joy of the season, but I was feeling as low as I possibly could, and having to keep up a chirpy front before the others was too much.

The good thing is: at least my extended family allowed me to get away with giving homemade choc chip cookies this year. And Mum got a calendar that I created off MS Publisher with a few choice photos of her granddaughter. Cost: $1.90 (for lamination, which was done at the neighbourhood stationery store).

'Tis the season to start planning next year's Christmas gift list. Maybe everyone will get gifts of homemade goodies. Time to take down those dusty recipe books from the shelf.