On Gifts

I'm so excited about all the stuff I want to make this week! This is the honeymoon phase. I'll report back in four days and let you know how it's going.

I just deleted a super long post about gift-giving on the holidays. It started to sound preachy and began to bore me so I figured it didn't have a shot at a good reception from an outside audience. You would have rolled your eyes at me.

Basically, I have a conscience about gift giving and I feel guilty - both for succumbing to the Great American Gift Cycle and for resisting it. The angel on one shoulder is telling me not to give in to the momentum of the gift bonanza and the angel on my other shoulder is telling me to splurge on my kids and on everyone else. I think I know the sort of deal I'm going to broker between these angels, but that's a very personal decision that I alone have the pleasure of feeling guilty about. My one consolation for any readership is that if anyone else is caught between the horses of piety and spendthriftiness (Google apparently does not care for this word), you have my company.

Meanwhile, I think I'll compile each angel's top five arguments, complete with the opposing angel's commentary:

Top five reasons to give like it's 1999:

1. The retailers need us to stay afloat. (They've done fine without me so far)
   
2. The sales are good this year. (So that more people can work for nothing)
   
3. Kids love it, and kids should be indulged on occasion. (But our kids have WAY more than they need and forget all but one or two of the gifts in short order)
   
4. You can show your love with gifts. (I suggest ordinary words, preferrably neatly written for rereadability.)
5. You know you like to get gifts. (Is Christmas really the time? I mean, shouldn't we just save for the things we need throughout the year instead of splurging without a glance at the budget once a year and calling it "Christmas"?)

Top five reasons to tone it down a lot:

1. The environment likes it. (You can buy green for a little more money.)
2. You can stick to your pearbudget more easily. (Aww, who needs a budget? Christmas is about generosity, not pinching pennies.)
3. Handmade gifts are more meaningful. (Handmade is a lot of work for a questionable product. Why not let someone else do the labor and save your time for something else?)
4. Instead of buying like it's 1999, you could get together with some other folks and agree to support a charity. (But that's not as much fun.)
5. Jesus's birth is about mercy, redemption, profound sacrifice, generous love. These have little to do with stuff. (Buying angel is silent on this point.)

Anyone feeling guilty yet? I know I am. So I'll be quiet. Believe it or not, the previous post was even worse.