The Case Against Buying Christmas Presents

I may be setting myself up here, because I realize that the majority of people either are, or are starting to be, against the whole buying-too-much-stuff philosophy. I way overdo it at Christmas, for my kids, family, and everyone. I love it! I love the shopping and wrapping and opening...I love the decorating and baking, the excitment and all aspects of the season. I love giving to charities, as well, so part of me does feel guilty for the disparity of the haves and the have nots. I also have a touch of the guilties for the waste from all the over-doing. But, I still do it and I know me...I'm not going to change. Does that make it wrong?

I think you guys have the right idea when it comes to giving

Since I live overseas, away from family, the celebration has changed for me. If I'm back in the US, we buy each other presents and hand them out on Christmas Eve (we used to wait until the next morning, when presents were wrapped and placed under the tree). And in the morning, we have brunch on Christmas Day. This has become our tradition; we're very lax about the actual celebration and just enjoy our time together. I think as I've gotten older, I realize it isn't about presents at all - it's about spending time with the family. So when I have the time and money, I go home to see my family - presents are an afterthought; we don't go crazy with the spending or influx of gifts. And when I'm home, I'm just so happy to be with my family - they could give me a hug for Christmas and I'd be happy (and I used to get at least 20 presents - big and small - each year; I was the kid that had everything!). And if I'm away, I make sure I see my "Beijing family" - the friends I've made here.

I love Christmas, well, actually we started celebrating cuz of my husband, we dont really celebrate Christmas in my country but New Year is a HUGE thing...but was never much of wrapping and packaging you know...in our country its all about food, and not restaurant one, we cook a lot, we have friends over,we go visit friends, we dance and sing., and we used to have great TV shows those days, some old nice movies...and every Christmas, I go to DVD shops specifically to find nice Christmas movie but they dont seem to make nice once lately...(any recommendations?)

I remember i was happy to any present. you know we saw a lot in our days; Civil war, hunger, guns...so, i think in this case till now I never changed my habits on wasting extra paper...guess depends how and where you grew up with what traditions...if its only holiday and it seems so you really go overboard with then why not really...that still leaves memories, no? even our presents were simple but i still remember our even simple but beautifully shiny bags of presents and when it all comes with family traditions like WAITAITAI's its even more memorable...

uh, thanks, will check it out...

Charlie Brown Christmas. Great film! I always think of that film when I see a small, small Christmas tree.

my favorite xmas movies (actually, mostly television specials ... )
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A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966) original animated version, not the horrible feature length film
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All from the same Rankin/Bass creative team:
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)
Frosty the Snowman (1969)
The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974) (famous for "Heat Miser" and "Snow Miser"
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Films, probably only suitable for older kids:
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Scrooge (1970)
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And for teens adults, these are not exactly Christmas films but have a nice dose of the holidays:
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
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I've given this topic about green giving a lot of thought and I've decided that this year it is okay for all of you to simply give me cash instead of presents. It's a sacrifice I'm willing to live with.