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My family, like many families out there, is having to get a little creative as we celebrate this Christmas season. Though our holiday expenditures have never been exorbitant, we are making every effort to cut back. In fact, cutting back has sort of been the theme of this year. I became a stay-at-home mom in January, and my husband lost his job recently. As the economy has worsened over the past few months, many folks now find themselves a little strapped for cash. It can be a real struggle to adjust to living with less if you've always enjoyed the luxury of being able to spend without thinking. As I mentioned in a July 2008 blog posting, life as a recovering therapeutic shopper can be uncomfortable, but it can also be liberating.
How many of you have given or received a perfectly useless item just because gift-giving seemed necessary? Perhaps you had to purchase a gift for a Dirty Santa game at an office Christmas party. You didn't want to add a cheap or lame gift, unless it was so cheap or lame that it's humorous. Maybe you suspected that your co-worker was going to give you a gift, so you had to make a pre-emptive strike and cut her off at the gift-giving pass. You searched high and low for something simple and classy...something that says, "Oh, here's a nice little trinket that I thought you might enjoy, but I promise I didn't put much time into finding it, because that would make things awkward, especially if I'm wrong and you didn't get me anything." Then you had to get just the right thing for the boss, who was just impossible. After a desperate gift search, you hysterically whipped up a batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies the day before the office closed for Christmas. And he loved them! He raved about them for weeks! His wife begged you for the recipe! But you still felt guilty that you didn't blow a wad of cash on that electronic gizmo that does...something (but you're not quite sure what). But for a fleeting moment, you saw what Christmas should be about...giving someone something simple, something they like, and something you gave from your heart and your talents.
I've heard people bemoan the commercialism of Christmas time and time again. I've heard people complain up one side and down the other about having to shop for people who are hard-to-buy-for and will only return your gift for store credit. I have seen people go into debt with the excuse of "Christmas comes but once a year!" I've seen so many people just give up on trying to find an actual, physical gift and get a shopping card. They almost always get a shopping card in return...what is the point of that? For whatever reason, we Americans are compelled to buy. Our eyes scan the store for something, anything that might work. Our hearts race as we wonder if our gift will be acceptable to our recipient.
The only thing that could put a stop to the commercialism of Christmas is a global economic downturn. Ta-da! Wish granted. Now people simply can't afford to pour the kind of money into gift-giving that they used to. They have to think about keeping a roof over their heads and food on the table. People are scaling way back on their holiday spending, which forces them to get creative. Whereas folks used to blow money on whatever popped into their heads, they now have to sit down and say, "Okay, I have this amount I can spend on my husband/child/friend. How can I stretch this money, get as much as I can for it, and give them something they will enjoy?"
My answer to this is perhaps a bit unusual and extreme: I'm making most of my Christmas gifts. I don't have an income, but what I do have is time and talent. That is what I'm giving this Christmas. I'm spending a small amount on supplies, making the most of the supplies I have already, and enjoying the process. It really has made gift-giving more personal and meaningful. I do miss shopping for gifts, but I don't miss stalking down a gift or recklessly swiping at the first semi-suitable gift I see.
I have been enjoying the "Little House" series, and I am always amazed at how resourceful the Ingalls family was. Their Christmases, though meager by our standards, were celebrations of their love and thoughtfulness. I was touched by the account of Mr. Edwards selflessly traversing the treacherous cold to deliver Santa's gifts to the children on the lonely prairie. I shared the excitement of the surprise gifts the church gave the family in Plum Creek. I was impressed with the family's ability to create and hide away gifts for each other in their home on Silver Lake, and especially how clever they were to provide gifts for their surprise Christmas guests. It was a time when children still looked forward to the mysteries of Christmas with wonder. This was before Christmas got out of control. When I think about "out of control" Christmases, I'm always reminded of the scene in "Babe" where the bratty granddaughter opens the beautifully handcrafted doll house her grandfather has lovingly created for her. She takes one look at it and bursts into tears. "It's the wrong one! I wanted the one I saw on TV!" she shrieks.
Maybe this economic "crisis" will encourage folks to slow down as they celebrate Christmas and the coming new year. Maybe folks will pile the family in the car and drive around to admire their neighbors' Christmas lights. Maybe they will take up Christmas caroling. Maybe they will whip up hot chocolate and homemade goodies and watch Christmas movies. Maybe they will see how much they already have and enjoy it more. Maybe those Christmas mysteries will come alive once again.
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