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‘Happy Holiday’ malls and stores should be avoided. Spend a little time in a Christian Church this upcoming CHRISTMAS!

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The last 5 years or so, I’ve abandoned “commercial” Christmas. Buying presents was an expensive chore & when you find yourself buying gift cards because you don’t know what people “like/want”, then the present doesn’t have much value other than monetary any more, IMO.

After hearing stories of Christmas in the Depression years from my folks (piece of hard candy & an orange - my dad, as the youngest once got a pair of socks), I decided that any gift I gave would have to be hand made or something that absolutely was ‘perfect’ for the person receiving it & a nominal price (example: a new book found for $1 about “What is my cat thinking” for a relative who recently rescued an abandoned cat). The first year I made presents, I was actually excited again to see my family members open their gifts. This process has evolved ... some folks (the younger ones) do not appreciate hours of hand work so this year I am canning produce out of my garden and they will all get things to ‘eat’ (salsa, jellies, chutney, hot pepper butter, etc.). There is still time/effort involved (growing garden, harvesting, canning), but it’s not the hours spent the entire 3 months before Christmas working on detailed, handmade items. I have not been to a mall in years, Christmas shopping or otherwise, BTW.

Anyway, I’d like to see the whole family go to making all their gifts or better yet, we go to no gifts at all and have a big family dinner (with all making some contribution) & spend time together - the most meaningful gift we could give to ourselves. We do get together for a big Christmas meal, but if that was considered the “present”, I think it would mean even more. The family does all go to church so that is an important part of the Christmas season for us.