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2008 Christmas Gift Report
Dec 25, 2008 Categorized: Life with Kids •
Our emphasis at Christmas time is not on gifts. Most of our “Christmasy” discussion all month long is centered around the manger and the fact that we celebrate the birth of Christ, and not the coming of Santa and his reindeer. We partake in plenty of seemingly secular Christmas traditions, like decorating the house, making ornaments, baking goodies, and giving gifts, but we use those traditions to signify the important event that we are celebrating, just as we have traditions that celebrate our own birthdays. I suspect that most of my readers feel exactly the same way about Christmas. The point of it all is to celebrate the birth of Christ. But we still have lots to do and talk about that seems a bit less spiritual. I don’t want to downplay the importance of Christ on this Christmas evening. However, I think that most of us have had our time of reflection and praise for this Christmas season, and we will continue to do that at least weekly, if not daily, throughout the year. So at the risk of sounding sac-religious, I’m going to use my Christmas blog post to give an annual gift report rather than prolong the manger scene sentiments.
Although our family gave and received a lot of nice gifts this year, overall we bought a bit less than in past years, as I’m sure many people have. I can’t blame our cut-backs on unemployment or too much credit card debt, though. We’ve spent much of the year supporting our local hospital’s radiology and surgery departments. We’ve even branched out to supporting regional physicians across Southwest and Central Oklahoma. What can I say? We just love those painful, expensive medical tests and treatments. While I’d like to think that next year’s Christmas savings line item won’t be fully donated to financing modern medicine, I’ve got to be more realistic and reckon with the fact that we’re going to ramp up our giving to the Platinum sponsorship of our local pharmacy. But enough of that. Let’s talk presents.
Gifts of the Year
I’m compiling a list of the year’s most notable gifts, because I think it’s fun to put it all in perspective. I’ll start with my favorite quote by Will about one of his (nonedible) gifts: I like to lick this. It’s tastable.
- Most Played With Gift
- Wonder Golf Set--a small indoor putting green with five holes, five different-colored balls, and coordinating flags. One putter.
- Favorite Gift for Will
- Harmonica, by First Act Discovery. Wow! He loves it, he’s good at it, and I think he’s found a niche. And it was cheap. Hunter likes to put hers in her Tea Set Box.
- Favorite Gift for Hunter
- The Tea Set Box. That cute, adorable, hot pink and green tin tea set with service for four? Dumped out on the floor so we can load up the box with our other favorite stocking stuffers. It IS a cute box. Sort of hat-boxish with a little metal closure and a handle to tote it around.
- Most Expensive Gift
- Wonder Golf Set. Still affordable, though.
- Cheapest Gift
- One-dollar stocking stuffers at Target. Really cute pens, pencils, Hello Kitty stuff, etc. Can’t beat it.
- Most Fought Over Gift
- Wonder Golf Set. Two turns each. It’s an AABB pattern for Will--brilliant! It’s only 2 out of 5 of the colors for Hunter. Disaster.
- Noisiest Gift
- Electronic score-keeping Basketball Toss for the bathtub. It cheers, loudly. At least the harmonica makes music.
- Brokenest Gift
- --and you know what I mean, parents. First Act Discovery Electronic Drumsticks. Great instrument. Will loves it. Only one works right. Two-and-a-half-hour drive to exchange it. We’ll have to mix that in with a pilgrimage to the medical mecca of Oklahoma.
- Most Tripped Over Gift
- Wonder Golf Set. Did we really have room for this? I mean, we still just have a three-bedroom house, and one of them is the studio!
- Most Thoughtful Gift
- A book from Will’s teacher and a poem to go with it that I think she wrote. So sweet--we’ll cherish it forever.
- Most Educational Gift
- Leapster2’s and Games for each child. They double as the most peace-keeping gifts too. Nice.
- Craftiest Gift
- Markers and Drawing Pads for each. Although the Spiral Draw runs a close second.
- Most Useful Gift
- Battery-operated Pencil Sharpener. We’ve even got the sharpest crayons in town!
- Most Fashionable Gift
- A fluffy pink, brown, and off-white loopy scarf for Hunter, with matching hat and gloves. Very cute. She wants to wear it when it snows. I told her twenty degrees was cold enough, snow or not.
- Sweetest Gift
- Dubble Bubble Gumball Machine Bank. Made of die-cast metal and painted red, it’s a classic. It’s sure to benefit our dear old dentist.
- Most Precious Gift
- Baby Jesus--The sent-from-God, born-of-a-virgin, spotless Lamb who bore the sins of the world so that we may have life and have it more abundantly. That’s really the point of all this.
Thank you God, for sending your Son to die so that we may live. May all of our silliness about gifts and Christmas traditions be used to bring You glory and to draw all men unto Yourself.