Can we find other ways to give this Christmas? Consider the mind-numbing malls, the desperate searching, the dubious expenditures, the time, the driving, the stress. Consider the waste: the packaging, the bag you bring it home in, the wrapping paper (the wrapping the wrapping paper comes in) and, finally, there’s the gift itself – resource rich, polluting in its production, and destined to become garbage. Paying for needless stuff so corporations can get rich. So here are a few ideas for a saner, less wasteful Christmas from a couple of your Bowen neighbours.
Jacquie Massey says, “For years my extended family traded homemade gifts. It was fun and there were some pretty cool items but it became too stressful, so we settled on making an ornament for the tree of whomever’s house we would be visiting at Christmas. A new family tradition is enjoying “experiences” together, usually arty and Christmas themed - movies, the symphony, the ballet, live theatre.
A couple of years ago I participated in a FaceBook “chain” where you create five mystery gifts for five people and they in turn will offer to create five gifts, etc.
But mostly it’s spending time together that’s our big gift - especially now that everyone’s so busy.”
Jan Parker says, “I found the hubbub of shopping for something just to have a present made no sense at all. So, a few years ago, my husband and I started giving each other certificates for experiences instead. These presents are simple, meaningful gifts and were actually what we really wanted all along. For example, I received a handful of certificates for ten-minute foot rubs from my husband. I gave him a certificate and promise to go camping with him. One year I gave us both the gift of not complaining when a light was left on in a room. I just turned it off. Best present ever! Gift giving is easy now, and great for our relationship.”
Alternatives to traditional gift-giving:
- Collectively choose a house gift, something that everyone can get use out of but that generally couldn’t be justified in the normal budget.
- Family trivia game - for cash hungry youngsters make them earn the money with a family trivia game that gets them talking to other family members.
- Memory jar. “With the help of friends and family, I collected memories and old pictures of my grandfather. I put one on each of 365 business cards, put them in a nice jar, and every morning for the next year, my grandfather would pluck a memory from the jar.”
- In lieu of a gift give time to a non-profit organization. Document what you did and give your day of donation as a present.
- Food: Layer cookie ingredients in a pretty jar, all ready for mixing and cooking.
- Home made treats such as home-brewed beer, homemade granola, homemade truffles – unbeatable when packed in a cute box from the KKN. Food is a great gift since it is destined for someone’s tummy, not the landfill.
- Love coupons: it is so great to be able to come home at the end of the day and redeem a coupon for a dinner out, or for a back rub, or for an evening watching a favorite movie.
- Create a menu of various culinary delights (e.g., Tantalizing Thai, Mexican Fiesta, etc.) and have the gift recipient choose one of the options.
- Sing a song, write a poem, tell a story.
- Offer to teach someone a skill you have.
- Provide a goat or chickens for someone in the developing world. Get kids to choose the gift that they want to give rather than doing it on their behalf – it feels great to go through the catalogue and imagine the needy family receiving their life-changing gift.
- Here’s a weird one... swapping roles for 1 week. Over the holiday let the children run the house as the ‘parents’ and the parents become the ‘children’. The ‘parents’ must delegate work to the ‘kids’ and take on the lion’s share of duties around the house. They can stay up as late as they want and put the ‘kids’ to bed as they see fit. Get an appreciation for how the other half lives!
Or make it really simple and as one family put it, “Somehow we started giving each other the gift of not expecting any gifts.”
