I heard this morning on the news that retailers are worried, because they don’t expect a significant turnout this upcoming holiday season. They are reducing prices significantly to attract buyers, but they are not very optimistic.
And then I thought: that is exactly what Christmas has turned out to be–all about shopping. I always remember being stressed out the few weeks before Christmas, because “I had” to get all my shopping done. These past couple of years I haven’t done that. Michael and I only do one trip to the mall and that’s it–and even with just one trip we suffer through it! I get one or a couple of very small gifts to my family and because I earn a pretty good salary right now, I know that my family is thinking that I’m cheap. And that is what stresses me out now: what my family is going to think of me when I give them very small gifts this Christmas… it seems that no matter whether you choose not to give in to the Christmas consumerism or to dive completely into it, you will be stressed out either way!
What do you think? What has been your experience? Any simple gift ideas for Christmas? What do you do with your family with regards to Christmas gifts?
I found this really good article from National Catholic Reporter of someone who decided not to buy Christmas gifts after spending 20 years immersed in the materialism of the season.
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