The Christmas Gift Buying Frenzy

-
Bracing for the cold,
That blew in yesterday.
Feeling crisp and bold.
As I bundle along my way

December is here.
The season of cheer.
Christmas time once more.
Make sure you don't miss it
Rushing from store to store.


Thanksgviing, for me, launches the beginning of the Christmas season (even though several local radio stations try to force it on us in early November).  Families gather for Thanksgiving to share their bounty and show thanks for the blessings bestowed on them.  What better way to segue into the season that recognizes the greatest gift of all, our savior's birth?

This year, I want to slow down and not get caught up in the bustle.  I want to spend time with friends and family, instead of rushing around looking for that perfect gift to check off a lengthy list of recipients.

This non-sensical gift-grabbing is one of the reasons our family agreed to change a holiday tradition this year. We drew names among the adults for gift-giving.  Instead of umpteen gifts, I'm buying one.  Correction, I've bought one because I got mine on cyber Monday when the price dropped. Now I only need to buy gifts for my three grandchildren.  Just thinking about what I'll give them, fills my spirit with joy.

It feels weird, but with our family growing bigger and bigger, we lost focus of the important parts of Christmas:  sharing in the birth of Christ and the joy of the season.  I'm hoping that this year will be different.  Have we begun a new tradition that will give us time to spend together rather than standing in long lines at the mobbed stores?  I hope so.

So, this year, I won't stress over what to buy someone who already has everything or whether I spend the same amount of money on each of our children.  I can give more to those in need and see the holiday through the eyes of my grandchildren, not my bank balance.  Isn't that what the season means? Spreading joy to others?

I might even have time to make nutty fingers, an old family recipe that takes hours to do, but produces the most incredible melt-in-your-mouth cookies.

What about your family?   Any new traditions or old ones that you love?

Comments

Anonymous said…
Well said Barb! Can you inbox me the nutty finger recipe? :)
Tks
Carolyn Volpe
November 30, 2011 at 8:05 AM
Barbara V. Evers said…
Absolutely. I'll try to get it to you later today. Email me back if I don't send it to you.
November 30, 2011 at 8:08 AM
Valerie Keiser Norris said…
I'm amazed at how many gifts a lot of people buy for Christmas! We cut down the list long ago. We grew up drawing names, there were so many siblings, so continuing that tradition has helped us keep the gift-buying down to a reasonable number. And, as you said, gives us more to share with those truly in need.

Merry Christmas!
November 30, 2011 at 9:07 AM
Carole St-Laurent said…
I'm in that in-between state, no grand-children yet, but grown children who are visiting everyone everywhere. So this year, we rented a beach house in FL so we could enjoy being together.
November 30, 2011 at 12:31 PM
Barbara V. Evers said…
@Valerie, I'm not surprised that your family drew names. There were so many of you!

@Carole, that sounds wonderful! One year when my kids were scheduled to spend Christmas with their Dad, I went on a cruise and had a great time.
November 30, 2011 at 1:34 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Skin Tone: Describing Your Characters

-
Image
When you write about character's of different races, how do you describe their skin tone? If you've never thought about this, then consider this question: How do the authors you read described persons of color? A few months ago, I attended a webinar about writing diverse characters. The guest was Eliana West of Writers for Diversity . The information she shared felt fresh and valuable, especially related to describing a character's skin tone. I get really tired of seeing African-descended characters described in terms of the goods that drove, and still drive the slave trade--coffee, chocolate, brown sugar. There's some weird psychosocial baggage attached to that.    -- N. K. Jemisin As this quote from author, N. K . Jemisin , indicates, historically, writers have described people of color using food-related descriptors. Many people of color find this offensive. This surprised me, at first, but she has a point, especially when you view it through the quote above. My fir...
Read more

Character Development: Using the Johari Window

-
Image
In my last post, Character Development: the Johari Window , I introduced the Johari Window as a tool for developing your characters. It's important that your character not know everything about their situation. These unknowns can lead to an intriguing story and create possibilities for conflict within the story. How do you use the Johari Window? In this post, I thought I'd provide a simple example of the Johari Window with a character most people know:  Harry Potter. Below, I have filled out the Johari Window as it might appear within the first few pages of book 1, Harry Potter and The Sorceror's Stone . The Johari Window based on Harry Potter and The Sorceror's Stone Three of the quadrants in this window reveal what Harry doesn't know about who he truly is and what happened to his parents. I could add a lot to the quadrants representing what he doesn't know, but I hope this gives you an idea on how a Johari Window might be used. What do you d...
Read more

He Said, She Said, Who Said? Punctuating Dialogue

-
Image
Courtesy of Morguefile.com I've been focusing my posts on workshops and panels I taught or participated on at the Imaginarium Convention. Although this serves as a poor substitute for the real thing, I can share some highlights. This week, we're going to explore dialogue punctuation. The first thing writers need to learn is how to properly punctuate dialogue. I've discovered, over the years, that many don't know how. Notice in the first example below, the dialogue starts at the beginning of the sentence, and the speaking tag (he said, she said, Paul said, etc.) follows it.  A few points to notice: The first letter of the quotation is capitalized. What the person says is a sentence, so it must be capitalized. A comma comes directly after the quote and INSIDE the quotation marks. You can, also, have a question mark or exclamation point here. There is a space AFTER the closing quotation mark followed by the speaking tag and a period at the end of the sentence. In the next ...
Read more