Secrets to Christmas shopping...

First of all, start out with very limited funds. This is very important. It also helps quite a lot if your children are somewhat grown...say in their twenties. And that they have refined their interests to things for which it would be difficult to shop with your "very limited funds." Now, enter into this activity with an attitude of "what would really be useful to them in their everyday life, might fit in their stocking, and might bring a little chuckle as they open it?"

Next, keeping in mind the others in your life for whom you would like to find a small remembrance - again, with your very limited funds, consider what they don't have, but might enjoy having, would possibly fit in a drawer so as not to be cumbersome, but would not be relegated to the "re-gifting drawer. After all, they may also be at the point where they are ready to downsize thier lives.

And speaking of downsizing, perhaps you could go shopping in your own garage, or attic, or any other place which accumulates gently worn items. One would need to be extremely careful in attempting this maneuver, as it might backfire royally. But then, if you have been the one storing treasured items from another loved one's life, as I have been now for some time, it might be the the very moment to get serious about passing those along.

And ultimately, there is the option to simply write a letter to your "giftees", letting them know how much they mean to you, what you have learned from them, thanking them for being themselves or for listening when you needed them to listen. This requires no shopping at all, unless you correspond primarily electronically - in which case, get thee to a stationery store post-haste.

But for heaven's sake, whatever you do, do not drive into a Target parking lot any time after 9:00 a.m. on a Saturday between Thanksgiving and Christmas. You may be risking life and limb, and every kernel of peaceful holiday that you might have.

"This is my box...This is my box..." - Amahl and the Night Visitors

It's a sad and somewhat telling tale that one can go into a store of most any kind before Halloween, and see Christmas merchandise being added to the displays. We exclaim that every year, this seems to happen earlier and earlier, and for parents of young children, it all becomes a form of nightmare because the hype begins and our children are drawn in no matter how hard we might try to forestall the inevitable.

There is an important thing to remember in all of this. Remember that one of the most treasured of gifts is simply...the box. Have you ever watched a child in the presence of a such a glorious thing as a box with a lid, or just flaps that go up and down and fold in on each other? And the imagination spurred by a box large enough to hide in? And if there happens to be wrappping paper around to stuff in said box, all the better. When the child is so overstimulated as to not be able to contain his behavior any longer, what a remarkable gift it is to be able to tuck himself away inside a box with his own creative senses transforming that container into a plane or train or race car or princess room or who knows what. Maybe just a quiet, cozy spot for a nap.

If only we could all just re-discover the wonder of a box, right?
(To understand the title of the post, visit the link below.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAZlS9ZogQE&feature=related