Stone Soup by Jan Eliot for November 29, 2012

Here’s a thought, why not not just give money, like on Chinese New Year? Except it’s done on Christmas.-Works for anyone who wants to make things easy on themselves and avoid shopping on Christmas and people who don’t know what to get others for Christmas…-At least that’s what some of my relatives do… I mean, it works for me!-After getting the money I would hunt for the stuff/present I want and if I’m lucky, I get it at a Discount on Sale and STILL have some money left to save or spend as I choose.

Eh Joan, they’re below the age where they can yet have liquor (absolute necessity to make flip even marginally drinkable).

Or we can get Nasty and like “No Presents this year…?? Prepare for a WHOLE (next) YEAR OF VINDICTIVENESS… and there are FIVE of us!!”. Still thinking about that “Nog”…??

I simply hate eggnog!!!OJ in Tn.

Holly holding the baby—what is she thinking? Holly could lead a conspiracy to withhold the baby for more presents!!!

When I was a kid the presents were opened by 10:00 and we were bored with them by dinner.

I think she’s messing with them now. It might have been a serious conversation before, but now she’s just having fun.

If people did that the economy would collapse. Christmas is when most merchants make their nut for the year.

Quick stop at Clancy’s and a pint or two (or three) of “Nog”? Chrismas shopping never looked so good afterwards!

If you gave my grandmother a gift, she’d say she already had six of “those” and would have rather had the money. Of course if you gave her money, she’d be insulted because you didn’t take the time to get her something. A gift card was the worst, because she would have to go (sigh!) all the way to whatever shop it was to spend it. Never happy.

Money for a gift makes a lot more sense than some trinket that a person doesn’t need or really want. I certainly wouldn’t be insulted if someone wanted to give me money. The more money they gave me, the less insulted I would be. ;-)

5 kids? What was she & hubby thinking? Not thinking, obviously.

hints of alchoholism?

My modus operandi (not opus moderandi, as I once absentmindedly said, to my younger daughter’s delight), is to ask the grandkids to pick what they want online and send me the url and order #. I have the goody sent to their house, and viola! (Yes, I know it’s voila – got the other from Jill Conner Browne, the boss queen of the Sweet Potato Queens.) Anyhow, my system is working better, the deeper I wade into my golden years, or words to that effect. If I happen to be celebrating with them, I’ll wrap the package, or have my husband do the job. If not, Miss Artiste (the one who did my avatar) or Amazon or whatever will take care of the wrapping.

Val, Joan, and Grandma have blown it, actually. I don’t mean in how many gifts are given on Xmas morning, I mean in ANNOUNCING ahead of time how many will be given. Christmas morning, the kids would just feel drunk with the presentation of presents under the beautiful tree. They wouldn’t turn into Dudley Dursley and demand, “How many ARE there?!” before they’re even opened. During the times my folks had to cut back on gift-giving when I was a kid, I never noticed how many gifts there weren’t under the tree. I only saw that there WERE. Joan, Val, and Grandma may as well have announced to the neighborhood that they’re keeping thousands of dollars in cash in their home. Disasterous behavior is just waiting to happen.

Who says that egg nog must have liquor?We always had egg nog WITHOUT the awful alcohol in my family. Every Thanksgiving and Christmas.Always enjoyed it very very much.

Personally, I’m MAKING most of my gifts this year. Yes, I had to purchase supplies, but the final products will be much more interesting than [a yard of fleece].

When I was younger, I worked for a small company which paid poorly but usually gave nice Christmas bonuses. The last year I was there, the company was making money hand over fist.

But, when we opened our bonus packets, the only thing inside was a cheap card with children gazing at a decorated tree and hand written words “Christmas is for Children.”

A few months later, I found a new job. My former co-workers weren’t so lucky. About two years later, the company’s president and vice president both retired and depleted the whole employee’s pension fund when they did. The fund was closed down. The remaining amount was divided up among the older employees who got an average lump sum of 16.00 each.

Perhaps Joan, Val and Wally are setting the kids up for a big surprise. Maybe they have something special planned.

Hmmmm.

Hmm… an open container at the mall? :-sOn the flip side, I think they would take it MUCH better if they got 1 big item instead of a bunch of small items. Maybe a family computer, a family big-screen, a new stereo for each of the (older) kids, etc.

My granddaughter doesn’t want gift cards, she doesn’t want money. Fortunately, she doesn’t want a lot; but what she does want is something she can open on Christmas Day.

Better get used to ‘no presents’ your mom has a job so she’s one of those ‘filthy rich’ people that the emperor is going to tax the snot out of and give it to the welfare generation. See what happens when you elect Santa Claus!