Speaking of Christmas
 

I hear a lot of people getting depressed at Christmas,,,its hard to afford gifts in this economy. My family has not done gift giving for years as far as "spending" money.
Aside from the real reason for Christmas ,,its way overated,stresses people out and is a financial burden..
At our house we have a meal,sing together( I play the piano,,,my son and grandsons play the guitar),we trade home made goodies and just hang out.
One thing my sister and I always did(she is deceased now) is through out the year we would see something at one anothers house that we liked and comment on it and at Christmas we would surprise each other with one of the items.That was our personal little tradition,and I miss it now that she is gone,but my daughter and I sometimes do that.
Another thing my kids did(years ago when they were small) was on Christmas eve they would snuggle up beside the Christmas tree,and sleep there.That started out of our house being cold and them sleeping near the woodstove,but it turned into a tradition,and I slept there too(I was a single mom,so we did things differently than most anyway).My kids still talk about "tree night" and tell their kids about it.
When people ask me if I have my shopping done yet,I just smile. For those who can afford it,God bless them,but for those of us who cant,,,make your own traditions and just be thankful .No fighting crowds,no standing in return lines,no stressing over what to get for who,,,so on and so on!!! Wheee!!!!

You have some precious memories there! We have scaled back our Christmas too, with a few gifts going to the grandbabies and underware and socks to the parents! I like to make as many gifts as possiable, this year is a no make year :( due to health issues on my part. Remember the real reason for Christmas and save yourself a lot of stress.

We should all remember the real reason for Christmas. I am shocked and saddened at the number of people who say that Christmas is not a religious holiday; that it is not a Christian holiday, just a nice holiday for anyone. To me that is like saying we should all observe Ramadan or Passover.

For untold reasons this is also a problem at my house. We will have a nice family dinner, buy what we can afford, and have a great day. As far as I am concerned it is a day for the children. Remember those who can will do and those who can't will still have a good time.

We scaled back last year. Not only bc of money, but my children are adults and buy what they want. I was always stressing over the perfect gift. Does it exist? Now I do stockings for all. Olivia, the only little grandchild, gets gifts too.
Due to health issues with DH, I'm slow to start decorating this year, much less worry about gifts. Glad we chose to scaled back last year.

Bless you!

What if you don't have family nearby? All my family live very far away. So I can understand when people say it's a sad time for them.
I feel the same way. I don't even want to decorate for Xmas. I just think of all the stuff I would have to take down. LOL We are going to have a very very small tree this year. Nothing special. Bah Humbug!

Thank-you for that post! As a single Mom and trying to make ends meet from check to check there just isn't any real surpluss for all the crazy Christmas shopping blitzes that I refuse to participate in anyway...Christmas is about God's gift to the world and I stress that we are so blessed all year through that we need to compare down to those who are not just in need of a gift, but time and love and encouragement this Christmas season. When all the wrapping is thrown away I remind the girls that every year 6 mo. after Christmas there is really only the one gift they ask for that they remember getting. We too have had a tree night by our fireplace and roast marshmallows and watch a Christmas movie and every Christmas morning before opening gifts we read the Christmas story from the Bible. Thank-you again, and God BLess you all:)

Christmas celebrations can be whatever you want them to be. We have scaled down over the years as the kids and grandkids have gotten older. Gift cards work best noe. Two little Great Granddaughters are easy to buy for. I pretty much spend what I can afford and that works well.

You warmed my heart today...thank you.