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6 comments:
In the past for Christmas, we've set the same amount of money for each person's gift. (That included stocking stuffers.)
However, I'm tired of "stuff," and I think that's really all we were getting for each other. In a previous post about how to handle gifts from extended family, some people suggested asking for zoo memberships or tickets to special events. I think we may try to do something like that this year to make a greater memory out of it. Although, I've already done some bargain shopping at garage sales and such, so we still get to watch the kids' excitement at opening some gifts. :)
My husband has always been good about acknowledging our dating/engagement anniversary, which is different from our wedding anniversary. One year, he took us to a production of The Phantom of the Opera. That was the coolest thing!
We haven't really reached any milestone birthdays or anniversaries. We'll both hit 30-years old next year, so maybe that'll be something big. Originally we'd talked about doing a major trip (like to New Zealand) for our 5-year wedding anniversary. But that was when we thought we'd wait 'til after then to start a family. For our 5-year anniversary, we had a 3 yr old, a 1 1/2 yr old, and 1 on the way! I think we just went out to dinner and home to a movie or something.
We don't usually get each other gifts for our wedding anniversary, though I wonder if we should. What do you do to acknowledge your anniversary?
Mark and I call our anniv. our honeymoon. So we ha honeymoon #7 this summer. We started out trying to travel somewhere together for an overnighter, and I think we'd like to do that the more plausible it becomes. We don't really get gifts for each other, but instead try to DO something fun together...making memories, you know.
For birthday and Christmas gifts, I always like the motto of one nice gift, instead of many cheap ones. But, it's always a tough issue. We have begun drawing names for our extended family gifts. I barely have to buy my kids any gifts b/c of their grandparents and great-grandparents! I would love to have a Theiss 5 alone time at Christmas, but I can't figure how to do it without hurting someone's feelings. Oh well. And I like the idea of doing something together as the emphasis, rather than the presents. Like, sledding, or taking food to a shelter, or something! It's hard with cousins who live far away, because they do the whole Santa thing full-on, and we don't want to! So we're in the same house together for a week, battling this whole ideology, trying to get the focus back on Jesus and quality time, rather than candy and Santa! AH! I don't really know how to fix that one. Does anyone have any good ideas?
--Meghan
Luckily for us neither my husband or I are really too into gifts. We don't usually buy anything for each other for special occasions unless it's something little like a bar of dark chocolate (yum!) or a cream soda (my husband loves this). We don't want to get something for the other just for the sake of buying something. It's nicer anyways to receive something out of the blue and knowing he was thinking about me.
For now (while the kids are still young) they are delighted with any type of gift- big or small, used or not- so for the sake of our budget I find deals during the year at a clearance sale, rummage or thrift store and stash them away until they are needed. Maybe we're cheap, but last Christmas in our family we probably spent a total of $15 on gifts within our 5 person family and everyone was delighted. We don't want the "stuff" to be more important than the memories our family share together and the time we spend together on these special days- so we try to DO something special together (and this doesn't usually cost anything either).
Going the cheap route works for now...this may change when they get a little older! :)
Meghan -- I like your idea that, within your immediate family, you do one nice gift. For the past few years, my husband's family and I have gone in together to get him a 4-pass to go snowboarding. It's one big gift that I couldn't do on my own, and he used it throughout the season. I wonder if we could do the same for the kids -- ask for family to pitch in toward a pass to the zoo or a special event coming into town or something.
As for dealing with cousins who believe in Santa, we're in the same boat. Luckily, last year we celebrated Christmas with my husband's family over the New Year's weekend. While the 2 other kids in the family believe in Santa, we didn't have to deal with it because "Santa only comes on Christmas Eve." Santa was never brought up at our get-together. I wonder if that might work for your crew. I know it's side-stepping the issue more than bringing the focus back to Jesus, but when so many other families are involved, it can be tough to change things.
Amy -- I love that you don't go all out on gifts! I think we might be heading that direction. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm a HUGE fan of gifts. :) They just tend to mean more when they're given at random times, rather than focused on a holiday. And I like the DOING of holidays, more than the getting.
Gifts are such a difficult issue. I love to give them and get them, but of course have a very limited budget. I've been able to get around the issue somewhat by crafting/sewing and shopping at the Guild or at yard sales. One of my favorite craft ideas was to stencil rugs. I bought carpet samples and then steciled cute sayings on the rug (Grandma's House, Grandpa's workshop, Roskam House, etc.) I had a house stencil and tool stencils to add to it. Anything with your kids handprints is great, too. I saw an adorable felt tree skirt where the family added their handprints each year. Family Fun Magazine has terrific ideas for crafts to give as gifts, as well as tremendous ideas for birthday parties.
We tried to really celebrate the girls 13th birthday. We took Bekah (by herself) to the Broker for an all you can eat shrimp Bowl. Brooke and Katie both wanted a sleep over at a hotel with a few friends. We went to the Embassy Suites and got two rooms - one for the birthday girl and 4 or 5 friends and another room for Mark and I and whichever siblings were still around. I took snacks (rooms have a frig and microwave) and movies. The girls played in the pool until closing time. Embassy Suites gives you a cooked to order breakfast in the morning-omlettes, pancakes, bacon, etc. and that is included in the room price. Shop around with travelocity for the best price!!!
Breakfast in bed is still one of our favorite ways to celebrate a birthday or anniversary.
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