The challenge of finding the perfect presents
I am in the throes of Christmas shopping and am starting to
panic.
Although it seems like I’ve done some things, I really haven’t
done very much, and somehow managed to spend a lot of money not
doing anything.
Christmas is getting trickier. As children grow older, they get
pickier about what you give them, and their tastes grow
increasingly expensive.
Case in point: My son Ross, who is at college and needs a new
bicycle to replace an old, worn-out, cheapo one that we got him
some years ago.
The challenge of finding the perfect presents
I am in the throes of Christmas shopping and am starting to panic.
Although it seems like I’ve done some things, I really haven’t done very much, and somehow managed to spend a lot of money not doing anything.
Christmas is getting trickier. As children grow older, they get pickier about what you give them, and their tastes grow increasingly expensive.
Case in point: My son Ross, who is at college and needs a new bicycle to replace an old, worn-out, cheapo one that we got him some years ago.
New mountain bikes – the nice spiffy ones – are quite an investment. You can pay thousands of dollars for one.
We had talked about a new bike as a Christmas present until I realized how much it was going to cost. Now I’m negotiating to split the cost with him and to hold off on the purchase until spring, when he will actually be riding it. (I supposed there’s a ghost of a chance he’ll ride it in the winter, but I think spring is a safer bet.)
And then there’s Hunter, who still doesn’t know what he wants for Christmas. He says he doesn’t want anything – “maybe a new T-shirt,” he said reluctantly.
So there you have it, the two extremes of Christmas desires, right in the same gene pool. It never ceases to amaze me.
Aside from my own little nuclear family, there is the problem of the extended McKenzie clan. In addition to buying Christmas presents this time of year, I have two young nieces who need birthday presents. Annika was born Dec. 16 and Fiona was a Christmas Eve baby.
I feel especially compelled to get something for Fiona, who is a first-grader and cute as a button, but aside from that, I don’t want her to feel short-changed on the birthday aspect just because she was born right next to the holiday.
So then I have to go through this little mental dance through what to get them, and trying to keep it all straight. I go around muttering things like, “This is the Christmas present. No, it’s the birthday present. Wait, maybe it would be better as a Christmas present. I should go back to the store and buy something else for the birthday present.”
And then there are all the people who have done nice things for me over the year. I know I should get them a little something, but what? Cookies always used to be the old reliable solution, but you don’t want to offend anyone these days who might be on a diet, or vegan, or what have you.
The same thing goes for alcohol. I would hate to give a nice bottle of vino to someone and later find out he or she doesn’t drink anymore. What’s a gift-giver to do? Maybe I should just give them a nice wreath. Unless they’re allergic to wreaths.
Yes, the holidays are fraught with complications, and sometimes I feel as though I’m stepping gingerly through a tinsel-covered minefield.
The only one who’s easy is the boyfriend, who seems to like everything I’ve ever given him, and who never says no to cookies. At least I have his non-pickiness to give me the holiday warm-and-fuzzies.
And as for me? What do I want for Christmas? Well, to be honest, I haven’t had time to think about it yet. Ask me in a few days, when I get the shopping for everyone else done.
