Holiday Gifting for the Jamisons
It’s the holiday season and our household is in full bloom getting ready for everything that comes with the month of December. It seems like everyone is busy moving and checking off items from their task list, but I’m just chilling. The pandemic slowed our family down and we settled in on some things that have just become “the standard” for us.
Us Jamisons were all over the place with holiday gifting in the past. Honestly last year, I was a bit overzealous in my gifting and I’ll share the why shortly. But let’s be honest, a lot of us were going in debt, purchasing gifts for family and friends, just to show up with something in hand to let them know we thought of them. With the addition of kids and increase in cost of living… Baby we had to CUT IT! So what exactly do we have planned for this year?
The first thing we standardized was how we package gifts to our kids. We had to make these changes due to a question posed to my entire family from our oldest a few years back. After opening every gift under the tree, he turned to our family, all seated and watching him, then said, “I see everything Santa gave me, but where the gifts from y’all?” After the shock resonated through the room, I answered him, because it was a very valid question. Then we quickly had a family meeting and rolled out this new world order…
There will only be ONE gift given from Santa (maximum value $50). We did this for two reasons. One, of course was the situation I just highlighted above. Because baby, Santa ain’t bought SHIT. We worked hard for these dollars and was giving all the credit to a phantom story book character. But the second, was that I didn’t want my kid to be the one going back to school saying Santa got me this and this and this and other kids (whose parents weren’t able) thought that Santa didn’t care for them as much as him. Did I feel responsible for other kids? NO! But I felt responsible that my kid didn’t turn out to be a little PRICK. You heard me? <In my Curtis Payne voice>
The second thing we got a grip on was MY feeling of guilt. I felt like we had two kids and family members with no young kids were buying them gifts and not getting anything in return. Our list was growing exponentially, because I had the mind set that I needed to get gifts for others “from the boys” since they were gifting them these elaborate Christmas wish list items. I had a little talk with my sister, who casually stated, who was gifting to me when I was buying for their young kids. And in the words of the greatest, begging singer ever, Keith Sweat, NOBOODDDYYY BABY! So no more guilt about that.
The third and biggest hurdle we had to overcome was frivolously spending money on each other. Yearly I would tell Demea, all I want for Christmas is you… <holding the key like Mariah Carey> SIKE! All I actually wanted was items for the house. I didn’t need to get a gift on Christmas day just because other family members were buying gifts for their significant other/spouse. And so we drew a hard line in the sand… we don’t buy big ticket items for one another. If the spirit moves you, and it BETTER, grab me a small token of appreciation to unwrap but BRUH don’t break the bank.
I think we’ve covered all the things that changed but here is one thing that we took on as an addition. Last year we decided to celebrate Kwanzaa with my in-laws. I had a blast learning all the different symbols and principles. And so, we have decided that’s Kwanzaa is our holiday celebration with his family. And that’s all I gotta say about that… <hopefully you said it in your Forrest Gump voice>
So to list out our new standards, simply stated we…
ONE (1) gift from Santa, valued at $50 or less
Don’t buy gifts for every person gifting our kids
Buy affordable gifts for one another, to have something to open on Christmas day
Don’t go BROKE!
Get our Kwanzaa on
Remember the reason for the season
That last one is something we pause not only during the holiday break for. Be we do level set our kids, that though we do the “traditional” celebration with Santa… Jesus is the real reason for the season. I’ve been thankful every year for health, wellness and family. And my family resolution for 2023 is a year of bible study together. It’s going to be something interesting folks, because my family is pure COMEDY!
Jump in on this conversation and let me know, what are you holiday gifting rules/guidelines and are there any traditions your family partake in?
