Please don’t get me wrong. Giving is awesome. The act of sharing something with someone you care and respect and to see their faces light up is priceless, but when is it too much? Why do people think they have to buy everything for the holidays? Why not change course and either make things yourself or contribute to a good cause? Believe me, the stress levels those two options create are almost nonexistent.
I don’t know what your teenage exploits were like when the holidays came around, but mine were spent working at a shopping mall for a couple of years. I was able to experience the Christmas rush first-hand and, let me tell you, I was left traumatized. The season starts innocently enough, with people trying to adhere to their shopping lists while taking advantage of all the sales and holiday offers. Then, SHAZAM! As if by magic, craziness ensues.
The list of gifts grows longer because if you forget that one person then they will refuse to talk to you for the rest of the year. Coworkers, your butcher, your kids’ homeroom teacher – they all manage to snag a priority spot on your list. I personally witnessed people screaming at the top of their lungs or grown men crying because they did not manage to snag the video game or flat screen TV they coveted in time.
Now, my sister-in-law sent me a card for my birthday last month, but it wasn’t just any Hallmark card — it was a card telling me that a tree had been planted in my honor. I thought that was a splendid idea and I’ve decided to adopt that practice.
If you get a kick out of the excitement someone feels when you give them a gift, how about giving something that will truly save a less fortunate person’s life? Oxfam America Unwrapped gives you the opportunity to buy a goat for poor rural farmers or help tribeswomen start a small business. The great thing about this is that you still have a card to give to your loved one for Christmas and I’m sure that what is inside that card will make them feel great.
My mom and I also have a tradition of having a mad baking day where we make batches and batches of cookies, cakes, pastries and finger food. We wrap these up in bags from the dollar store or anything with pretty bows and give them out to family and friends. Gooey pastries with a nice mug of hot cocoa (or a margarita, who cares?) really do make the season a jolly one.
One additional bug I want to plant in your brains. I have previously mentioned making body treatments ourselves. Why not take old jars you have lying around the house and make your loved ones some nice infused oils, scrubs and spritzes with a Christmas theme? Cinnamon, cloves, vanilla, berries, pine needles – these are all scents we identify with the holidays. They’re easy to make and you will be adored for it.
I bet the holidays are sounding pretty good right now…
Coral Del Mar
Globetrotter extraordinaire. Obsessed with cooking and books. Mother hen of her group of friends. Caribbean Islander by birth, but the World is her stage. Anything and everything is interesting and must be pondered. After a decade or so of traveling all over the world, she has settled down with the unlikeliest of dudes in the unlikeliest of places — the U.S. Midwest. Her column helps her navigate the uncharted waters of domesticity.
