As everyone else has turned in for the night, it occurs to me, looking under the tree, that there isn't all that much there. Diana and I are not big gift givers, and when people ask, we suggest donations to charity on our behalf. (Give Kids The World is of course one of our first choices.) I suppose there are a lot of reasons for this, but I haven't spent much time deliberately thinking about it.
This year, our biggest gifts are frankly parked in the garage, and docking in Port Canaveral every few days. We bought a car this year that is obnoxiously expensive, but a technological marvel that our inner computer nerds and tree huggers absolutely love. We also cruised a lot again this year, three times. With that kind of leisure spending, I think we get a pass on gifts.
We're also lucky that Simon isn't much of a "gotta have everything I see" kid. This was not a deliberate choice on our part, he just doesn't want stuff (yet). He tends to get very fixated on one thing, maybe two things, and he's good. Beyond that, he wants to spend his time working on his online learning for school, build platforms around any kind of track with his blocks and watch roller coaster video. That said, he's starting to understand that things he sees in the store can be purchased, and sometimes he asks about it.
I do think that keeping the gift giving to a minimum just makes Christmas more pleasant. For one thing, I suck at thinking of awesome things, and I don't want to keep score. We tend to get what we want throughout the year, as our hobbies and interests require (Diana's is very consumption based, while mine are more capital intensive). We're disciplined about spending.
Christmas, for me, is a time of year where I reflect with wonder at the quality of life I have, and as corny as it sounds, that's a huge gift and a blessing. It would be difficult to improve on that with gifts.
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