For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for December 03, 2023

Why does she buy gifts for her sister-in-law’s nieces?

Juggling gift giving’s one of the skills a mother’s gotta acquire.;-D

Does Elly’s job at the bookstore pay enough to afford all that?

When did Christmas stop being a religious celebration and turn into a gift-grab?

Elly’s living in the present.

Now you only have to choose a gift for John. Good that most, if not all of the shopping is done. Now you can relax.

What about Michael?

Appropriate gift selection can be tricky. I once put a lot of time and effort getting a genuine original craft piece for a friend, only for them to open it and their mother said angrily, “I just saw a shelf-full of those in the Dollar Store! Give it back and demand he hand back the gift you bought him. NOW!!”

… and a curse.

Good morning Lynn, you are amazing, I love you

Last year, due to an emergency where we needed to get a “new” car, Christmas was extremely tight. We managed to find cute little necklaces for my brother’s twin teenage granddaughters. When they opened their gifts they didn’t even bother to hide their disdain. One even said, “At least the box is cute.” Their little brother & older cousin appreciated their gifts. Thinking about this year, I decided that those two little snits are getting $10 Walmart gift cards.

ba dum tss

It’s a pain in the butt,just like the relatives…

I give some gifts, but mostly money to the family. Friends may get a gift, if I find something they may like, but usually a gift card. If anyone doesn’t like what they get, they can give it back!!

Reading that exhausted me.

It’s not that hard, if you set your mind to it.

I figure it’s like any other math/logic problem – if you’re used to how it works, it all fits together like a big puzzle in your head. A gift sudoku, perhaps.

My wife is a lot like this.

Since I went full no contact with half my family two years ago, gift giving got a lot easier. :)

Ummmm…Nothing for Michael and hubby? TBH, about right. Then near zero hour ask the hubby what he wants, hope you can get it, and if not there is always the clearance section.

Christmas and New Year, what’s wrong with someone wishing , good health into the coming year ?

Wait till she has grandkids. Then she’ll have to worry about competing with the other grandparents in what she gives them.

Once you’re out of high school, that’s it. You don’t get a whole bunch of gifts every year anymore. The adults in our family have a gift exchange every year… We draw names, and then you buy one present for one person, with a maximum set dollar amount. It’s just a whole lot less stress and better for everyone that way.

No, but John’s job does.

How complicated. Glad I don’t play that game anymore

This is an interesting list. The only member of John’s staff who gets a gift is Jean. Elly’s former coworkers at the library get gifts, but only two of them and not the ones that laid her off from the job, the two who thought John was cheating on Elly with Fiona Brass. And most importantly, April and Elizabeth are noted for gifts, but I think there was another child in there somewhere who is not listed for a gift. John may be saying, “It’s amazing, El!” but he is probably thinking, “I guess I have to get the gifts for Michael this year.”

A few years back, my sisters and I agreed to stop sending gifts to each other including nieces and nephews. My only exception is my deceased sister’s only surviving daughter and my eldest sister who lives rather poorly. I send them gift cards electronically so they can be sure to get them.

Amazon just delivered 12 plastic lawn flamingos. Are they for friends or not friends?

I gave up that runaround a long time ago. When my nieces & nephews turned 18 I stopped giving them gifts. These days it’s my son, granddaughters and their children. Even hubby & I don’t really exchange gifts anymore. We just don’t need any more “stuff”.

the wife and I used to go through the same exercise every Christmas…. we don’t give presents anymore. We just enjoy the time… and the movies ;-)

I got dizzy reading this and fell out of my chair

I only buy gifts for the grandkids. They tell me exactly what their hoping for. Easy Peasy.

Since all the kids and grandkids are adults, a few years ago, I started giving a donation to the Alzheimer’s Association in the names of all the families, in honor of their dad, who is in memory care now.

Catalog? You can tell that today’s strip is a repeat from the 80’s. Would today’s kids know what a catalog (esp. a printed one) is?

So happy to be completely done with gift-giving.

This is so much easier with spreadsheets. Excel (or an Excel like app) even I can do it. At least the girls are back on this continent this Xmas.

Ellie, they have a name for that gift, it is called CRAZY!

We are old. We have a Christmas Club account at the credit union. We have $200 a month taken out of our regular account and put into the CC account, and have a decent amount at Christmas without having to scrimp.

It’s not the thought; it’s the gift that counts.

i stopped trying to buy for everyone a long time ago. i buy for my younger kids and my grandbaby. I try to get something for everyone else on their birthdays. Even then, it’s a select few.

Does anyone really like receiving scented candles or soap-on-a-rope or Old Spice gift sets or any of that other pre-packaged gift crap that only appear around Xmas and that nobody ever buys for themselves?They say it’s the thought that counts, but what if the gift obviously has no thought behind it and was just bought because it was convenient?

She does it because YOU DON’T DO ANY OF IT, John.

I was involved with a guy whose family was materialistic like this. They never kept the gifts they were given. Never even tried to match the gift with the individuals taste, so on Christmas day I kept my gift, a plain black skirt and top, and I painted a portrait for my bf and made them something they couldn’t return. They loved me! LOL

After viewing today’s strip and reading through (most ) of the comments, I am ever so glad that I’m Jewish, don’t celebrate Christmas and so don’t have to buy tons of gifts for friends and family in one fell swoop. I much prefer giving gifts one at a time for birthdays, anniversaries and other special occasions.

About $1500 for Christmas? Plus shipping. Wow. Someone must’ve hit the lottery.

I love giving Christmas gifts. Picking out good ones is one of my favorite things.