Gift Exchange VENT

[MushyMushy]

Bah Humbug!

My family is driving me nuts with Christmas gift exchange and I just want to call the whole thing off.

First of all, there's 15 yo DS. I'm fighting tooth and nail to find out what to get him and he doesn't want anything -- he doesn't even want to do Christmas. First he said he wanted a leather jacket, but changed his mind. Yesterday he told me, "Whatever you get me is a waste of money because I don't want anything. I've got ADHD and I'll just lose interest in it after a month." Well, it was kind of funny and made me laugh, but it's not very helpful, ya know? He would love for me to give him cash, but that's not happening. He'll just blow it on things he shouldn't be doing. I just laid it on the line with him yesterday and told him to try to see it from my perspective, that I wanted to do something nice for BOTH my kids for Christmas and he's giving me a hard time.

Then there are my sister and parents. Every year it comes down to the same thing. The six of us exchange names, then we're all expected to write a list of what we want. Then my sister goes through and figures out who has whose name. My sister and BIL always request gift cards, and they like to give gift cards. At that point, why don't we just hand over cash to one another? I got a little frustrated with them the other night when they were asking for my list and I said, "If you guys don't know me any better than that after 39 years, then let's forget it!"

Who else has a difficult family over the holidays and wants to join me in my Bah Humbug blues?

 

[Wishes2you]

The BAh HUMBUG comes in for my Inlaws.
It turns into a big show at there house.
We go and I'm glad when it's all over.


I love christmas with my family.
I grew up with fun traditions, gifts were bought with
lots of thought and love. Time with family and
friends is most inportant. That's what I teach my
daughter.

 

[ntburns22]

The holidays are already getting me with having to visit 10 different homes, SIL asking me to return a gift because it wasn't on my niece's list, and gifts for EVERYONE. So I am making some changes and people can take it or leave it. I am hosting a Christmas Open House on the 25th.

 

[XYSRUS]

I agree-exchanging gift cards is stupid...but I still would like my neices and nephews to know that I've thought of them. Plus, I have 4 kids and my sibling has 4 kids! I was thinking of a family gift this year? But what?

 

[camreesmom]

I can feel for you......my family can be a royal pita during the holidays also. It's not just my family but DH's also. If we could just stay home and have my mom come over, we'd probably all be happier.

DH's family always celebrates on Christmas Eve. We all go over to his grandmother's house which is tiny and cram inside. The kids all get some kind of crappy gift that is from the dollar store but one set of grandkids gets really nice stuff. It is kind of aggravating. There is always some kind of drama going on and I honestly don't think these people like each other very much.

My family on the other hand can get along MOST of the time. DSis and I had some drama after last Christmas but it seems to have been forgotten this year. Thanksgiving was uneventful. My peeve with my family is that EVERYONE comes to our house for the holidays because it is the only place big enough for everyone. Yet, the only thing my two sisters bring are their appetites and their families. We provide all of the food. It's kind of crazy. It doesn't do any good to tell them to bring something because they just show up without it. My youngest sister is with some loser guy now that we hate to even see. My middle sister is so vain that she just spends most of the time primping and looking at herself. Granted, she has lost over 100 pounds over the last 2 years but it is getting old being reminded of it. Her son always stays with us during the holidays while she is off running around visiting her friends. I don't even want to tell her no we won't keep him because the kids all love being together so much and since she lives out of town, that is the only time our kids have together. On the other hand, it is really aggravating because she never offers to watch our kids.

We also draw names with my side of the family. We draw for the adults and then for the kids. Included is my dad, stepmom, stepsisters and little brother.
Well my youngest sister will draw names but then not show up with gifts so we end up having to buy for our own kids on top of whoever we drew for. It is so aggravating! I've decided that I am not getting stressed out this year. I'm making sure that our kids have a good Christmas and DH and I have already decided not to spend a lot on each other but to go on a nice vacation after the new year.

 

[ntburns22]

I agree-exchanging gift cards is stupid...but I still would like my neices and nephews to know that I've thought of them. Plus, I have 4 kids and my sibling has 4 kids! I was thinking of a family gift this year? But what?

Popcorn popper with movies and games.

I love the idea of family gifts.

 

[MushyMushy]

I really like that idea of family gifts too! But no matter how good of an idea I think it is, I can just see my sis shrugging her shoulders and not having any idea what to get anyone.

It's not like any of us are picky.