Hi all, How did it become almost December already? Who signed off on that? I had a pretty busy November, and for that reason it still feels like maybe November 12, but my calendar disagrees with me. For me, December is the month of Christmas, which means Christmas gifts. I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with Christmas gifts. Every once in a while you gift a good one, and the other person’s eyes light up… and then there are the other years. The flops.
Love this! Long ago, I gave up trying to buy my father a "worthy" Christmas or birthday gift. I started to have fun with it and as a result, he has received over the years: a Slurpee, shoe polish, a bouncy rubber egg, a bendy animated toy that is supposed to be a piece of tofu, dog poop bags (he doesn't have a dog) and countless other goofy gifts. Sometimes he even wraps them up and gives them back to me the following Christmas. It always makes me laugh. Thank you for this lovely post so I could remember this... :)
O-M-G, hilarious. Christmas gifts. When my husband and I first got together I had my 30th birthday and he came home (we lived together) and slapped a one-month membership to the rec centre into my palm. I was shocked. What's this? I asked. "Happy Birthday", he said, "You're always talking about wanting to get in shape". Haha... amazing. I tried to school him on gift-giving and he was so traumatized that it's still an issue 30 years later. I've given him plenty of duds over the years, both birthdays and Xmas, but forever he will claim he's "no good at getting gifts for me". Even though he's given me lots of great gifts. Merry Christmas! Trauma all around!
Kelsey, this post brightened my day and made me look forward to Christmas, not a big flashy Christmas, but a Christmas with all its imperfections. I have a stack of books for the grandkids, whether they like it or not. Because I like it. Hohoho.
I think the biggest two “hits” I made gift/giving were one of those calendars that are a stack of square pages... one for each day of the year that you peel off. The pages were decorated with photos of kittens and my grandmother adored it, so it was a gift that gave every day. Some of the pages she kept to look at again. So simple but it made her happy.
The other one was for my mom for Mother’s Day; a copy of Why I Wake Early by Mary Oliver.
I definitely identify with your struggle to know the right thing. I always love your posts.
What are you doing wandering around in my head Kelsey?! This was just so familiar to me, I almost feel like your dad and my dad were cut from the exact same cloth. Reading your words is like wrapping a big cosy blanket around all the past Christmas ‘fails’. Thank you ❤️ Plus I laughed. Her-read and laughed again.
Love this! Long ago, I gave up trying to buy my father a "worthy" Christmas or birthday gift. I started to have fun with it and as a result, he has received over the years: a Slurpee, shoe polish, a bouncy rubber egg, a bendy animated toy that is supposed to be a piece of tofu, dog poop bags (he doesn't have a dog) and countless other goofy gifts. Sometimes he even wraps them up and gives them back to me the following Christmas. It always makes me laugh. Thank you for this lovely post so I could remember this... :)
O-M-G, hilarious. Christmas gifts. When my husband and I first got together I had my 30th birthday and he came home (we lived together) and slapped a one-month membership to the rec centre into my palm. I was shocked. What's this? I asked. "Happy Birthday", he said, "You're always talking about wanting to get in shape". Haha... amazing. I tried to school him on gift-giving and he was so traumatized that it's still an issue 30 years later. I've given him plenty of duds over the years, both birthdays and Xmas, but forever he will claim he's "no good at getting gifts for me". Even though he's given me lots of great gifts. Merry Christmas! Trauma all around!
Kelsey, this post brightened my day and made me look forward to Christmas, not a big flashy Christmas, but a Christmas with all its imperfections. I have a stack of books for the grandkids, whether they like it or not. Because I like it. Hohoho.
I think the biggest two “hits” I made gift/giving were one of those calendars that are a stack of square pages... one for each day of the year that you peel off. The pages were decorated with photos of kittens and my grandmother adored it, so it was a gift that gave every day. Some of the pages she kept to look at again. So simple but it made her happy.
The other one was for my mom for Mother’s Day; a copy of Why I Wake Early by Mary Oliver.
I definitely identify with your struggle to know the right thing. I always love your posts.
What are you doing wandering around in my head Kelsey?! This was just so familiar to me, I almost feel like your dad and my dad were cut from the exact same cloth. Reading your words is like wrapping a big cosy blanket around all the past Christmas ‘fails’. Thank you ❤️ Plus I laughed. Her-read and laughed again.