Christmas gift giving customs, Christmas present gift exchanges

[keith]

OK, we're all different, but more the same than different...

huh?

What I want to know is, how do you go about exchanging gifts? Do you draw names for adults?

How do you do the timing, Christmas Eve, Christmas Morning, Christmas Day, Christmas Night?

Maybe we'll all pick up some tips!

We all have the gripes about the ads starting before Halloween. How about some pro-active talk to get ready for the big holiday?

Regards,
Keith

[Blue Baboon]

On my side of the family we all exchange since it's only my husband and I, my brother and his wife, and parents. My nephew, too. Only 7 of us in the immediate family.

On my husband's side there are so many of us with his siblings, nieces and nephews (who are all adults now), spouses, boyfriends, girlfriends, you name it. We even have to rent a small town hall for eveyone to fit. We used to exchange names. That got to be a hassle with some not showing up at Thanksgiving to get their names in and that meant extra phone calls. Very much a pain. Now we made it easier by each of us just buying a gift and setting them all on a table. We each grab one from the table. No names are needed. The trick is trying to find something for both men and women, but not spend too much either. The amount is small, it's around $15.

My family on Xmas eve and his on Xmas day as far as get togethers go.

We don't have any out of the ordinary customs. The usual gifts, cookies, eating, drinking, talking.

[CarolsCritterCare]

I work Christmas Eve, Christmas Day....New Years Eve, New Years Day

So nothing is done at my house. Boring huh?!

[dgridley]

Now that I'm older and living alone, Christmas isn't as big a deal with me as all my relatives live in other states. The year before last I didn't even bother putting up a tree, then last year, I had an epiphany: Christmas isn't just about "me" - so I put up a tree, decorated, and felt a little better about myself. This year I'm already scouring the flea markets and thrift stores for vintage decorations. Gonna put up a full sized silver tree and drink lots of egg nog.

When my ex-GF and I were still together, we'd spend our Christmases in Omaha with her daughter and son. We'd get a suite at the Sheraton downtown and would usually get the same one. It was a really nice suite (Clay Aiken and Madonna had stayed in the same suite) with kitchen, living room. dining area, loft bedroom, french doors. Jen, her daughter, would have it decorated by the time we got there and we'd exchange gifts Christmas morning.

We always exchanged gifts on Christmas morning, even as a kid, in my family.

[keith]

I miss Christmas morning with little ones. Well, real little ones. The youngest is 14 now, and we do the family / Santa thing on Christmas morning.

I miss the up-half-the-night putting stuff together days. We did mornings when I was a kid, too.

Christmas Eve has been my extended family, my Dad's family, at one of our homes. The kids get gifts. The adults each bring one. Everyone gets a card, deuce through Ace. First card opens a gift. Next card can take that gift or open another. Sometimes on the last card, they'll take another gift, that person will take another from someone, until the last person just opens the final gift.

My sister's made a tradition of reading a book for Christmas, usually a children's Christmas book. We all take a turn reading a page. She makes ornaments for each family that match the theme of the book to commemorate that Christmas. The young kids search for a pickle hung inside the branches of the tree; the finder gets a prize.

Christmas night the wife's extended family is here. Great food and drink, presents for the little ones and a few family gifts, family to family.

By Christmas afternoon we start on one of the presents. A jigsaw puzzle to complete over the holidays is another of our traditions. Great for a spare table where one can sit down and talk and work on the puzzle for ten minutes or (in my case) ten hours. I have a few of those up at the office; they've been wiped with glue that dries transparent and gives a nice matte finish to the picture.

I'm sure there are others, just hear supper calling...

Regards,
Keith

[dgridley]

Christmas isn't what I remember as a kid.. too commercial now.

I miss being a kid.. making snow angels and sledding down a hill in the winter.

One of my buddies from NY used to spend $5000 easy on his 3 kids every Christmas.. did the kids appreciate it? Not really. I spent several Christmases with them after my mom died and really felt for the guy. He worked as a construction supervisor out of town and was maybe home one week out of every month.

[keith]

Yeah, there were times when the kids were real small that they had more fun playing with the bows, paper and boxes than anything! Even used some big boxes for sledding. Easier to carry up the hill to slide down a neighbor's backyard than sleds and a toboggan.

Regards,
Keith

[Santa]

Ho Ho Ho Hello All, I think Christmas is what you make of it. I just have to say we don't live in our parents era, but we can still keep their traditions. In my business my elves understand that I'm not home much of Christmas Eve or Day. We still enjoy making snowmen, sledding, tobogganing, making snow angels, and making and decorating cookies when we can. With the Mrs.family, when we get together(its usually the week end before Christmas or the weekend after) we always make a decoration, something that says Christmas. Last year we bought Mason jars with the lid rings, potpourri, some fine netting, and Christmas lights. We filled the Mason jars with the potpourri and the lights at the same time(intertwining them), leaving the plug hanging out, put the netting on top as a lid, and then screwed the ring on. Lit-up it not only makes a nice looking decoration, it smells great too. These gifts usually last year after year.

Happy Holidays,
Santa Shane

[keith]

We're honored that you all share your traditions with us!

The more, the merrier...

Regards,
Keith

[Blue Baboon]

One of the best things I remember and still do, is to have a plate of christmas cookies and hot chocolate for breakfast.

Every year our family tries different recipes for cookies, but one cookie that is a must-have is the hickory nut cookies. It's a thumbprint type of cookie filled with chocolate frosting. They are sooooo good! Now we substitute pecans for the hickory nuts because no one wants pick nuts anymore. Hickory nuts are not an easy nut to crack and pick clean.

[keith]

When the kids were young we were always sure to leave a plate of cookies and a glass of milk for Santa. Funny how I'd always end up nibbling on one or two of those myself

The kids got on a health kick for a bit and we had to leave Santa carrots and celery and juice.

Regards,
Keith

[Blue Baboon]

So, Santa went on a diet, too? LOL

[keith]

Originally Posted by Blue Baboon

One of the best things I remember and still do, is to have a plate of christmas cookies and hot chocolate for breakfast.

Every year our family tries different recipes for cookies, but one cookie that is a must-have is the hickory nut cookies. It's a thumbprint type of cookie filled with chocolate frosting. They are sooooo good! Now we substitute pecans for the hickory nuts because no one wants pick nuts anymore. Hickory nuts are not an easy nut to crack and pick clean.

Christmas Cookies!

That's a whole weekend in December. The only thing I don't like about it is having to wait till Christmas to eat a lot of them.

Quite an assortment comes out at Christmas, including stuff I didn't even know we had! Good stuff, except the the extra 10 or 12 pounds of 'winter weight'!

Regards,
Keith

[Blue Baboon]

I bake mine only a couple days before Christmas. I want them to be fresh for everyone. If you've ever been to someone's house and they serve the cookies that you know are a month old...yuck!

After Christmas I tried freezing the cookies I have left over. They freeze rather well, but the problem is I keep going in the freezer than putting them in the microwave to thaw them out. They just don't last.

My problem is the winter weight stays around all year hahaha. Not that I'm really fat, just need to get rid of the little extra padding.

[keith]

Yeah, it is closer to Christmas here, too. Cookie tins galore, must be between 30 and 50 of 'em! They travel well, too, and more come here with guests.

Good thing New Years / Resolutions come so soon after...

Regards,
Keith

[tamed]

When I was a kid, we left a plate of sugar out for the reindeer, and cookies and nickels for Santa. Why nickels, you ask? That was my dad's warped sense of humor and vast amount of patience waiting for his kids to get the joke. We left nickels with the cookies because Santa is also known as St. Nickel-less. I think I was in 6th grade before I got it.

My dad never said a thing, but he must have been chuckling to himself every year. Now I have my grandkids leave nickels out for Santa....

[Latina]

Originally Posted by Blue Baboon

On my husband's side there are so many of us with his siblings, nieces and nephews (who are all adults now), spouses, boyfriends, girlfriends, you name it. We even have to rent a small town hall for eveyone to fit. We used to exchange names. That got to be a hassle with some not showing up at Thanksgiving to get their names in and that meant extra phone calls. Very much a pain. Now we made it easier by each of us just buying a gift and setting them all on a table. We each grab one from the table. No names are needed. The trick is trying to find something for both men and women, but not spend too much either. The amount is small, it's around $15.

I like that. My sister & i discussed picking names this year, but i am going to run your idea by her & see what she thinks!


Thanks!

[Latina]

Originally Posted by CarolsCritterCare

I work Christmas Eve, Christmas Day....New Years Eve, New Years Day

So nothing is done at my house. Boring huh?!

I can relate... This will be my first year since 2001 that i wont be working the holidays, so glad i made this career change in March!

[Blue Baboon]

Originally Posted by tamed

We left nickels with the cookies because Santa is also known as St. Nickel-less. I think I was in 6th grade before I got it.

My dad never said a thing, but he must have been chuckling to himself every year. Now I have my grandkids leave nickels out for Santa....

I didn't get it either until you said the answer. Your Dad had a good sense of humor.

[Blue Baboon]

Originally Posted by keith

Yeah, it is closer to Christmas here, too. Cookie tins galore, must be between 30 and 50 of 'em!

That's a lot of cookies! I would be as big as a house if I ate all those. I used to make about 5 or 6 different kinds each year. Now I'm down to about 2 or 3 kinds. My mom and sister in law make just as many kinds, if not more. That's why I ended up cutting back on the amount I make.

We still end up moaning and groaning from eating too much on X-mas eve. Add in all the other food and mix drinks. I don't want to know how many calories that adds up to.

I'm glad because I will actually have time to bake and decorate this year. I'm not all stressed out with school and finals this year. Last couple of years I didn't even bother putting up a tree, just not enough time and I was a basketcase anyway.

[dgridley]

This year we won't have the kids open their presents until Christmas night, then they'll be here all weekend. They'll be with their dad Christmas Eve and Christmas morning..

When I was a kid, we'd always open one gift on Christmas Eve and the rest Christmas morning..

[Blue Baboon]

I reread this topic and realized I never mentioned one family tradition. On my side we give joke presents. Here's how it got started. One year my mom asked my brother and I what we wanted. This was years ago, back when we were still in school and at home. I must have asked for tapes, meaning cassette tapes for whatever band. My brother jokingly said he wanted chicken gizzards. I got a bunch of rolls of masking tape and my brother got his frozen gizzards on Christmas eve.

After that we kept including joke presents. You just never knew what was going to be in a box. It was always good for a laugh or two.

One gift that has been passed around since the '80s is something that my mom found one year laying around in the building she rented for her store at the time. Whoever gets it one year, gets to pass it on the next year to someone. The secret is to incorporate that item into something else. I'd tell you what it is, but you wouldn't get it. You'd have to live in Watertown to understand the joke. It's a Watertown thing for sure. This item has been on different articles of clothing, a poster, game board, wall hanging, mini slot machine, hat and a cookbook to name some that I can remember. I wish we would have kept track of all of those. We never planned on it to last this long, but it has.

[dgridley]

Sounds like fun!

Originally Posted by Blue Baboon

I reread this topic and realized I never mentioned one family tradition. On my side we give joke presents. Here's how it got started. One year my mom asked my brother and I what we wanted. This was years ago, back when we were still in school and at home. I must have asked for tapes, meaning cassette tapes for whatever band. My brother jokingly said he wanted chicken gizzards. I got a bunch of rolls of masking tape and my brother got his frozen gizzards on Christmas eve.

After that we kept including joke presents. You just never knew what was going to be in a box. It was always good for a laugh or two.

One gift that has been passed around since the '80s is something that my mom found one year laying around in the building she rented for her store at the time. Whoever gets it one year, gets to pass it on the next year to someone. The secret is to incorporate that item into something else. I'd tell you what it is, but you wouldn't get it. You'd have to live in Watertown to understand the joke. It's a Watertown thing for sure. This item has been on different articles of clothing, a poster, game board, wall hanging, mini slot machine, hat and a cookbook to name some that I can remember. I wish we would have kept track of all of those. We never planned on it to last this long, but it has.

[pk]

Now that I'm older and living alone, Christmas isn't as big a deal with me as all my relatives live in other states. The year before last I didn't even bother putting up a tree, then last year, I had an epiphany: Christmas isn't just about "me" - so I put up a tree, decorated, and felt a little better about myself. This year I'm already scouring the flea markets and thrift stores for vintage decorations. Gonna put up a full sized silver tree and drink lots of egg nog.

Wow Dave, isn't it funny how different a year can make in one's life. Now you not only have a g/f to spend the season with but kids as well.

[pk]

When I was growing up we always had family night on Christmas Eve and we exchanged presents with each other and then Santa of course came Christmas Morning. When we grew up our families always came together on Christmas Night at my Mom's to be together, exchange gifts and eat Christmas cookies my Mom would make and have out for us. We all use to bring a plate of our own home baked goodies too. One of my favorite moments each year would be at the end of the evening my Mom would sit and read an Inspirational Story to us that she found during the year and wanted to share. They usually left a few of us with a tear but made us grateful that we were all able to be together for yet another year.

Those Christmas Nights would hold such great memories each year and we would all so look forward to meeting at Mom's (grandma's) each year. She passed away 6 years ago and I so miss our Christmas nights we use to always spend at her house. So many great memories.