Your Christmas Wish List
- Thread starter Gryffindorian
- Start date
That's true, though many people still realize the importance of giving and sharing. The Salvation Army and countless other charities are especially active during the holidays in asking for donations to give to the poor and needy.
We have this annual "Adopt a Family" program at work every year, co-sponsored by the SA. Every floor/department gets to sponsor a low-income a family by buying them holiday gifts. Family members get to have a "wish list" of items they want, and we the employees give cash or gift donations to the floor representative. I admit I was a bit soured by it one year when one of the family members asked for a Dolce & Gabbana cologne.
I thought, "Maybe if you weren't that shallow, you would've been better off in life." Really? Asking for a luxury item rather than basic essentials like clothing or food? I can understand little kids asking for toys, even video games, but come on. I don't even have an iPad, and someone would be asking for an iPad?
We have this annual "Adopt a Family" program at work every year, co-sponsored by the SA. Every floor/department gets to sponsor a low-income a family by buying them holiday gifts. Family members get to have a "wish list" of items they want, and we the employees give cash or gift donations to the floor representative. I admit I was a bit soured by it one year when one of the family members asked for a Dolce & Gabbana cologne.
I thought, "Maybe if you weren't that shallow, you would've been better off in life." Really? Asking for a luxury item rather than basic essentials like clothing or food? I can understand little kids asking for toys, even video games, but come on. I don't even have an iPad, and someone would be asking for an iPad?
I admit it, I'm a sucker for gadgets (most are wayyyy out of my price range though so I'm really just dreaming!) Usually at the end of the year, I pool my money together and get one semi-expensive item that I need for my work or just life in general. (Like my art tablet that I bought a few years ago. I use the hell out of that thing, and it was money well spent!)
Regarding Christmas wishlists in general, I think it's kind of a fun question anyway. Personally, I'm not out to advocate for the consumerist demon elf that has become Christmas, but it's entertaining to think about anyway. I don't get offended by the notion of wishlists and think how dare you have a Christmas wishlist for anything other than world peace! Lol.
It's just a fun thing.
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I tend to agree, at least for grown-ups. I honestly don't care what I get, if I get anything, as long as I'm home with my family. I'm much more excited making Christmas shopping lists than lists of what I want. Kids' Christmas wish lists can be great, though! When I was six I wrote a full page describing in perfect detail the life-sized robot lion I wanted, that I could ride on, and that would really roar. I still remember the image I had in my head of myself riding it over to the neighbor kids' house to show it off...
Alas, I never got a life-size robot lion.
^Mom's can't get nearly as cool gifts as Santa, though -- he's sending it to the wrong place!
I am so excited about gifts this year, especially my mom's. In the past two and a half years she's beaten cancer, gone from a wheelchair to a walker to a cain to just a leg brace and a limp, started doing volunteer work, lost 25 lbs, and made a huge effort to get healthy again after a bad illness. She has an old, terribly faded tattoo on her shoulder that she hates, and having such an ugly thing there really depresses her. She's wanted a cover-up tatt for years, but since she's on disability she can't afford it. I don't have a lot of money, but this year I thought I could give her $100 to start saving for it. I told this to my best friend, who said she wanted to put in money too (having known my mom for years). Then, when I emailed a friend of my little sister's for advice on Seattle-area tattoo artists, she not only recommended an artist, but said she wanted to contribute too! So I figured, why not see if I could get enough people in to give my mom $250 -- enough to get the tattoo done. With the added contributions of my sister and her boyfriend, and from my dad, we have enough. I just scheduled the consultation with the artist today, and I am SO excited!
That would be so hard for me. Thinking of what to get people and then doing Christmas shopping is one of my favorite things to do!
I am so excited about gifts this year, especially my mom's. In the past two and a half years she's beaten cancer, gone from a wheelchair to a walker to a cain to just a leg brace and a limp, started doing volunteer work, lost 25 lbs, and made a huge effort to get healthy again after a bad illness. She has an old, terribly faded tattoo on her shoulder that she hates, and having such an ugly thing there really depresses her. She's wanted a cover-up tatt for years, but since she's on disability she can't afford it. I don't have a lot of money, but this year I thought I could give her $100 to start saving for it. I told this to my best friend, who said she wanted to put in money too (having known my mom for years). Then, when I emailed a friend of my little sister's for advice on Seattle-area tattoo artists, she not only recommended an artist, but said she wanted to contribute too! So I figured, why not see if I could get enough people in to give my mom $250 -- enough to get the tattoo done. With the added contributions of my sister and her boyfriend, and from my dad, we have enough. I just scheduled the consultation with the artist today, and I am SO excited!
I really enjoy thinking of presents for people, but it's easier to do on my own schedule and not all at once.
My roommate, who is 27, still writes out a list and sends it to his mom every year. It always bothers me.
I hope he buys her at least as much stuff as he expects to get.
When I started this thread, I also thought about asking what people had in mind in terms of ”giving” gifts, but I suppose it's not too late to do that.
As I mentioned, I usually get presents for various family members, friends, and colleagues. The majority of those come in the form of gift cards.
It's so much easier for me to shop; I just get a whole bunch of them, and i'm in and out of the store. For my friend Madge, I try to get something more interesting. It adds an element of surprise and enjoyment in wrapping a present.
As I mentioned, I usually get presents for various family members, friends, and colleagues. The majority of those come in the form of gift cards.
It's so much easier for me to shop; I just get a whole bunch of them, and i'm in and out of the store. For my friend Madge, I try to get something more interesting. It adds an element of surprise and enjoyment in wrapping a present.
I'm having a hard time coming up with a list this year. I only have two things:
Star Trek: TNG Season 2 on Blu-Ray
A 2012 Giants World Series sweatshirt
I'm sure something else will come up but not sure what.
And of course world peace is always good, and this year hopefully the world really won't come to an end on the 21st, for obvious reasons.
Star Trek: TNG Season 2 on Blu-Ray
A 2012 Giants World Series sweatshirt
I'm sure something else will come up but not sure what.
And of course world peace is always good, and this year hopefully the world really won't come to an end on the 21st, for obvious reasons.
I just want/need money. I'm have a very bad year financially and won't be able to send something to my relatives. I'm hoping they send me money as I am really, really broke this year.
I've always enjoyed sending them a little something (money) so they could use it on something they wanted.
I'm hoping they send me money as I am really, really broke this year.I've always enjoyed sending them a little something (money) so they could use it on something they wanted.
Same here, but people are insistent, which is why I have a list. It's all stuff I'd eventually get for myself anyway, and I end up getting those people gifts, too, so the end result isn't much of a difference.
But it's still nice to get something someone specifically got for you, and to see how someone appreciates what you got for them.
I'm not someone who spends a lot on Christmas stuff or asks for anything very expensive, though. If someone got me a $5 book I'd be just as happy.
^Yeah, hubby and I have Amazon lists mostly to remind ourselves of things we want to get, but only share those lists with people who ask. Since a lot of family and friends live out of state, they often want to know what to get us, so we say, "Well, we have lists on Amazon, but really anything is fine."
I love giving gifts. It makes me very happy. I put a lot of thought into what they might like and make sure that everyone gets something.
I love giving gifts. It makes me very happy. I put a lot of thought into what they might like and make sure that everyone gets something.
I used to be bothered by the concept of obligatory gift-giving. This type of thing only happened at work. I thought, "If I gave Co-Worker #2 a Christmas present, then I'd have to get something for Co-Workers #3, #4, and #5 as well, so they wouldn't get offended or left out." Then I realized how silly it was. Gift-giving was not a popularity contest; it should come from the heart. Now I give presents only to those people I really like and have enjoyed working with all year long.
This is why people just do gift exchanges. You want a gift, you sign up for the exchange and get one for someone else. You don't want a gift, you don't want the obligation, don't sign up. Easy.
When I started this thread, I also thought about asking what people had in mind in terms of ”giving” gifts, but I suppose it's not too late to do that.
As I mentioned, I usually get presents for various family members, friends, and colleagues. The majority of those come in the form of gift cards.
Well, in that case, and since I get so excited about Christmas presents:
-Already explained mom's tattoo
-For my dad, this great Trek shirt:
-For little sister: A pocket-watch necklace and ninjabread men cookie cutters (she bakes a lot):
-For older sister, this sounds lame, but a $50 Starbucks card. The reason I wanted to get this is because she is really struggling financially. She's in school, and she and her husband are supporting two kids. It seems like she's cut every single luxury out of her life, and she really deserves something that she can use to just be a treat for her. She loves getting fancy frilly lattes, so this will make her very happy.
-For best friend, the painting I made her last year but we never got to see each other:
-For nephews: toystoystoys and booksbooksbooks
-For brother-in-law...not sure yet, maybe the xkcd book
-For boss: fancy loose tea
-For other friends and coworkers I'll bring back chocolates and Applets&Cotlets from local Seattle companies
-For grandmother - she's the only difficult person. She's both snooty and miserly, so if the present isn't nice enough she'll complain about how cheap it is, but if it's really nice she'll bitch at you for wasting money.
We used to do that in the office, too. We'd set a maximum value of, say, $25 per gift. But after awhile, people got tired of getting scammed. My boss, in particular, was quite unhappy whenever he got undesirable presents (of less than $20, etc.). Some complained about getting "sexist" gifts; e.g., women's jewelry for a guy, or men's toolset for a female employee. One year, it got to a point where my boss required everyone to actually bring a receipt as proof of purchase, reflecting the actual dollar amount.
Boy, was that a bad idea. It couldn't be helped, but some people didn't want to play by the rules. We haven't done a gift exchange in about five years ...
We used to do that in the office, too. We'd set a maximum value of, say, $25 per gift. But after awhile, people got tired of getting scammed. My boss, in particular, was quite unhappy whenever he got undesirable presents (of less than $20, etc.). Some complained about getting "sexist" gifts; e.g., women's jewelry for a guy, or men's toolset for a female employee. One year, it got to a point where my boss required everyone to actually bring a receipt as proof of purchase, reflecting the actual dollar amount.
Wow.
My company just has a holiday party and a $10 gift exchange. One of those things where everybody brings a wrapped gift, numbers are assigned, and you can either take one of the gifts from the table, or steal someone's gift that they already unwrapped. Lots of fun, and not much whining.
My boss suggested if everyone was going to bring a "crappy" present, then we could just do a white elephant gift exchange. It didn't matter. My co-workers always complained one way or another, so we decided to forego it every year and focus our efforts on giving to the needy, i.e., Salvation Army families.
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