Have you ever received a gift you didn’t like? I remember one Christmas when I was about 13 years old, my sis got a beautiful silver ring with one dark pearl and one light pearl on it. It was GORGEOUS!! Then I opened my present and it was a basic Buxton black leather, snap shut jewellery case. It was nothing like I wanted. But, of course, I hid my disappointment and pretended that it was. Mom and Dad meant well, after all. But, oh, how I coveted that ring.
That’s the part of Christmas gift giving that I don’t like. The part about choosing just the right gift. Oh, when I know I’ve done well, I get giddy and can’t wait till the recipient opens it. But when I’m unsure, I feel dread. I don’t want to see the awkwardness of a disappointed look. And again, my family is GREAT and would never NOT be thankful. But, come on Moms, you know when the gift wasn’t truly ‘the one’. Maybe because we’ve had Christmases with children for over a quarter century, it gets a little harder to choose just the right item for some of them.
So, we encourage each other to give ideas. It seems so lame, but it definitely makes the chances of satisfying the recipient a lot greater! Wouldn’t it be great not to have to do that?
I came across this quote today:
“When you get what you need without even asking,
when you don’t even realize that it’s exactly what you need:
that’s grace”.
It reminds me that Christmas gift giving really should not be such a big deal. It’s the thought that counts. It really is. And the gifts are just things. Representations of the love in our hearts for our family and friends. And that love -- well, that’s really what our loved ones NEED.
That is an AWESOME quote. I love it.
ReplyDeleteOn my 16th birthday I was expecting something ... I am not even sure what - memorable? but I got a guitar that I wasn't even interested in and had never asked for. I never played it once I don't think. I have never asked my mom about it and I tried to hide my disappointment too but I can only imagine they probably knew.
I remember there was this one time I got this lame gift from my mom for my....wait...whose blog is this again? Oh...
ReplyDeleteAWKWARD.
Haha just kidding ma, just kidding! You are like the best gift-giver in our family! You always find something cool...I'm glad you don't leave the Christmas shopping up to Dad ;)
Bwahahaha! Jill, your comment cracked me up.
ReplyDeleteWe have one relative who is SO terrible at giving appropriate gifts that we actually had to stop exchanging gifts between the adults because it was just too painful. Sad, but true.
I actually like giving gifts better than receiving them. I love to see someone's face light up when they get that one thing they really wanted.
I'm having a hard time with this this year. We always have gotten our kids the same or similar items. This year, we ordered Grace a digital camera, because Matt got a 'reward' at work and he got to choose an item from a list. We thought Grace would love it, and it was free... and Adora already has way more electronic stuff... so we knew it would be a great gift for her.
ReplyDeleteBut now we're having trouble finding something for Dora that is equally as cool. She got an iPod touch in November with her birthday money and money she had been saving on her own. So I don't want to get her another gadget... the conundrum!