Holiday shopping - what works for my family -

[hedgehog]

When the kids were little, they left a letter out for St. Nicholas on December 5, and got treats in their shoes Dec. 6.

Now that they're big, we've started a tradition of round robin e-mails to let each other know things we might like or need, sizes, etc.

It takes a lot of stress out when you know the kind of thing someone likes and don't have to guess. It helps a lot when shopping for the students to get them something they really need.

The other important part of this is that we keep the price of the gifts very, very reasonable - the price of a book or CD. This also takes away a lot of stress!

[trof]

1. My solution:

Miz t. does the shopping.
I pay the bills.
It works.

[hedgehog]

2. I should add - when the kids were little, television

watching was very limited - mostly PBS shows sans toy commercials! We also inoculated them by watching the occasional toy commercial with them and analyzing it with them. We tended not to do much shopping with them, so they were pretty much isolated from commercial pressures.

The one toy I remember - one young son asked for a Ninja Turtle miniature golf game. He never played with it as designed - there were some components with pictures of Ninja turtles that tickled his fancy.

[Arugula Latte]

3. A good strategy: Presents for kids only.

It's just too frickin' much in every sense of the word to run around and buy stuff for adults.

Gifts to charity are also a good way to go.

[femmocrat]

7. We are finally doing this this year.

What a huge relief. It's way more fun to shop for kids than for adults.

[Arugula Latte]

9. Definitely.

It's even harder to shop for adults now that books and CDs are sort of passe now that a lot of people have digital everything. (I still like paper books, but I've got so many piled up I'd rather just get them from the library and return them when I'm done.)

[LWolf]

4. My very small family

gets a gift for my grandson, the one child, and we draw names so that each of us buys one gift for one adult, with a $ limit. We email wish lists.

[csziggy]

5. Both my family and my husband's family simplified gifts

2000 my family stopped giving gifts. All my parents' grand kids were old enough and none of the adults needed more stuff. We didn't tell our parents but all of us were offended by W's suggestion to go shopping after 9/11.

My husband's family draws names so we only have to buy one present and only get one present. Now that there are grandkids in that family, the kids do get presents. My rule for kids' presents - no toys. I give books - I try to pick books ahead of the children's chronological ages. Last year the 18 month old twins got books aimed for 2-3 year olds.

I wish his family WOULD send out wish lists. I seldom see them and have no clue what they would like. It would help a lot. And I wouldn't get really stupid presents that I hate and have nothing to do with my lifestyle. Who needs a cookie jar shaped like a shark that plays the "Jaws" theme every time it's opened? A goose statuette with different outfits for different holidays and seasons?

[hedgehog]

6. I've been married for 35 years, and I've learned it is far, far

better to tell my husband what I like than to expect him to read my mind!

[csziggy]

8. We don't do gifts at a particular time

If we see something the other wants or needs, we just get it for them.

We've also been married for 35 years!

This year my husband 'gave' me help when I got my knees replaced. He also had the house cleaner when I got home from the hospital that it was when I left! He also works to get the health insurance that paid for those knees.

I gave him a new laptop and his yearly trip to DragonCon. He considers that my new knees will give him many more pleasant trips together - it'd gotten so I couldn't walk with him or enjoy traveling.

It's the in-laws I seldom see and don't really know well (even after 35 years) that are the problem. And my mother in law who doesn't need stuff but that we'd like to give something to. Maybe I'll just give a donation in her name to a cause she supports.

[hedgehog]

10. One year we bought my mother a mess of chickens:

https://secure1.heifer.org/gift-catalog/chicks.html

[csziggy]

11. That's exactly what I was thinking about doing!

Something that would pass on the gift and expand it. She likes birds - a flock of chicks would be perfect.