merry christmas to me.
i am certain that when my family decided to draw names for christmas gifts this year, mine was the dreaded name. there is this belief that i am really difficult to buy for. and it's a belief you all should hold. if you know anything of dr. chapman's love languages, you'll know what i mean when i say that gifts is not even on the radar for me. i don't need gifts. especially bad gifts. it's the rare person who can go out on their own and come up with a gift that really means something to me. i'm so particular about things that unless you know me really well, it's virtually impossible to guess what i would like.but i know this. i know i'm hard to shop for. and that's why i provide the list. i spend quite a bit of time working on the list. i include items of various types and prices, so as to give lots of options. if it's a book, i include the isbn so the right book is purchased. and after all items, i include at least two options for ways to purchase. so i put a store or two it can be found at and a website. i make it very easy to find something to give me.
and every year, i might get one thing off the list. i'll get books, but not the ones from the list. so someone was at the bookstore, and decided that instead of the books i said i'd like, i would like this other one better.
i'd rather not even get any gifts. i'd rather someone said, hey, let's just go get some coffee or take in a movie. i'd rather they looked at the list.
this year, my mom did really well. she hadn't drawn my name, but my parents got all the kids something anyway. so i got a few things off the list. it was great. it felt like i had been noticed, as sad as that seems. my family always means well and i take that into account, but the gift part of christmas is never something i look forward to. (although, on the other hand, the enjoyment i get from giving gifts far outweighs the receiving of them.) it's not that i'm ungrateful. really. it's that i've been trying for years to get people to realize how little physical gifts means to me. and how much more i would rather get gifts of time with people.
and so last night, i decided to gift myself. i had some time to kill and i had a little extra cash, so i bought myself some things i maybe wanted but didn't need. i got a new hat, a neck gaiter (much like a scarf), a water bottle, a book and a movie. all things i'm excited about. i know myself so well.
i didn't even need a list.
posted by julie @ 11:35 AM
2 Comments:
Hi Julie,
Could you email me at 2boys(at)2boys.net?
I'd like to send you to my non-photo blog and I keep them seperated.
Arghhh. I don't know if I like the gift exchange part of Christmas anymore either. Unless I want to give something genuinely special that took no guessing games and expresses something true that I want to say to the person. But I don't want to try and get gifts for people that I don't know well enough and am afraid if I get the wrong thing that I will be found out. I'd rather know the person better. Is there a way to wrap that?
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