Enjoying the present

A couple of years ago--I do believe it was 2008, the year that had most of us short on money, short on work and short on desire to celebrate much--my family (sisters, parents, kids, et al) sat down on Thanksgiving night and agreed on a few things:

1. No one in the family NEEDED one more thing.
2. No one in the family could AFFORD to go out and buy gifts for every single person. (Without getting further into debt!)
3. ALL of our homes were FULL of toys, games, clothes, knick knacks--we all had WAY too much stuff!

And we agreed to not purchase Christmas gifts that year.
Of course, being DiLallos, we would still give gifts to one another, but we decided they had to be:

1. Recycled (something from your home/garage/storage unit)
2. Hand made or home made (a drawing/letter/craft/baked item)
3. A donation to a charity

I'm not exaggerating at all when I tell you it was, by far, the best Christmas we ever had.

Everyone had to get creative and they really got into it. And, as a bonus, everyone received truly personal, individual, special-to-them gifts. It was amazing, really.
My mother went through her MANY quilts and hand selected one for each of us. These quilts had been hand made by HER Grandmothers and were OH so appreciated! Not only were they an heirloom, they are actually functional--I have one on my bed right now! They were far more appreciated than anything she could have picked up for us at Target, AND...it cleared out a little space in her home as well.
Zachary made each of us a CD, personalized for our individual tastes. The one for my mother was songs from the 50s. For my dad, songs by Ray Charles and Dr. John. For me--a remastered version of a 1980s Police Concert. EACH and every CD was hand made for its recipient...which was so much more meaningful than anything Zac could have purchased for any of us. And it was SO great to see how well Zac KNEW each of us!
Debra made little cross stitched pillows for everyone--mine was of the Eiffel Tower. It hangs on my bedroom door to this day.
My dad went through their storage and found something that had belonged to EACH of us from when we were growing up. I was STOKED to receive my old Mammoth ski hat--with all the pins still attached--all wrapped up special for me. He did the same thing for all the sisters! Again, it helped get a few things out of their storage as well.
My nephew Logan gave each of us a framed photo of himself in funny poses.
My niece Sunny, a budding artist whose room is FULL of pens and paints and sketch books, drew pictures for all of us. Mine was a beautiful drawing of a giraffe. I had it on my refrigerator until I moved earlier this year!
Gina made aprons and tee shirts for each one of us!
And me? I just walked around my house and thought of anytime someone had mentioned they liked something...and wrapped it up for them. Books, movies, souvenirs from my trips--even items from my kitchen. It was so fun to hear people say, "OH, I always loved THIS!"
Most of us made a donation to charity for Allison's gift--which, of course, is exactly what she wanted.
Yep, it was a very special Christmas.

2009 we went back to choosing names and buying a $50 gift, which, in my opinion, is a bit dull, routine and quite obligatory. Sure, you get a $50 gift. But that's it. It's usually a gift card, which is usually impersonal and always anti climactic. (We like long, drawn out, emotionally-driven gift giving and receiving at DiLalloland!) The $50 gift is also quite an added expense for most of the family.

2010 we were to each bring a $25 exchange gift...
which doesn't really work when you have a such an age spread like we do. And, though personally, I never mind taking home the Hickory Farms gift basket, some people don't care for cheese loaves and salami sticks...

So, at Thanksgiving dinner this year, we sat down and, once again, agreed on several things:
No one needs ANYTHING...we all have too much.
No one needs to spend any money.
Let's go back to the way we did Christmas in 2008!

As I explained to my 11 year old niece, the best part about this is that it absolutely puts the JOY back in the giving. You get to be creative! Clever! Resourceful! And everything is SO much more special for the receiver!
You absolutely don't have to spend a dime...and you can get a head start on your New Year's Resolution to clear out your home.

I shared this with a friend the other day and he told me that, for years, he's asked his family to not buy him anything but, to instead, write him a letter. He went on to say that year after year they continued to buy him gifts--until last year, when his oldest son actually wrote him a letter. My friend said that tears ran down his face as he read his son's words...it was a priceless treasure! And more than he could have ever wanted for Christmas.

I've made it very clear that I've given away most of my possessions this year. There really isn't anything that I need or really even want at this point in my life. And, OH how I've enjoyed walking around and grabbing things off the shelves in my home again and wrapping things up for my family.
I know it's going to be a very special Christmas once again.

If you're wondering what you could give me for Christmas, please know that, honestly, all I want for Christmas is you. Come over and join me on my sweet comfy couch or out on my peaceful little balcony. I'll make a pot of coffee and we can share a donut or two.
Or I can open a bottle of wine and we can tear open that Hickory Farms gift basket...
I promise, I'll thoroughly be enjoying the present.