I love a lot of things about Christmas. The lights, decorating the tree, baking and frosting cookies, debating whether or not to force my dog to wear a Santa hat and take pictures of him, and, most importantly, spending more time with my beloved family.
One big aspect of Christmas I’ve turned against over the years, however, is presents.
There are three reasons why I hate the gift giving tradition.
Reason Number One: Excess
When we’re kids, we can’t get everything we want because, well, we’re kids. We don’t have the money. So we ask our parents, our siblings, our relatives, and any other generous adults in our lives to buy us toys and games and the latest, coolest, trendiest items we must, must have.
When we become adults with jobs and start making our own money, we’re finally able to get whatever we want, whenever we want. That romantic comedy you saw in the theater three months ago and loved is now out on DVD? Buy it! Craving chocolate and spy a box of sea salt caramels near the check out? Buy them! Dropped your old digital camera and broke the lens? Buy a new one! There are exceptions to this, of course (such as wanting something really expensive you would never buy for yourself so you ask your husband/father/brother for it instead). But the majority of the time, if there’s an item we want, we’ll hand over the cash or the card.
This means that on Christmas day, almost all the gifts you receive will be cool, amazing, awesome things…but things you don’t need, never did need, and never will need.
As someone who has gotten into minimalism, I cringe at the thought of receiving presents I’ll just stick in a box or a drawer or add to my ever-growing what-the-heck-am-I-supposed-to-do-with-this clutter pile.
I don’t need more stuff and I don’t want more stuff.
Reason Number Two: Financial Problems
Buying presents for everyone in your life can get expensive fast. Teachers, sitters, the mailman or mailwoman, book club members, hair stylists, co-workers, neighbors…the list goes on and on and on.
Reason Number Three: Pressure
Sometimes I get lucky and I’ll stumble across the perfect present for my sister/mother/father/friend. I smile and perk up at the thought of them opening this gift Christmas day, surprise and delight on their face.
Unfortunately, I don’t find the perfect present often. Most years I go through a list emailed out by my family members and pick something they request. As for my friends, I usually settle on food items. Occasionally, I do find a great gift someone in my life didn’t request but I’m sure they’ll love.
There’s so much pressure to buy the perfect present, especially for close family and friends. I should know exactly what to get them since I know them so well, right? Yet every year I struggle to come up with a gift idea for my sister (who I’ve known for 33 years) and one of my best friends (who I’ve known for 18 years).
Our society loves giving and receiving presents, and that’s fine. I don’t. One day, I hope to be able to completely do away with the tradition in my own family and just enjoy spending the day with the people I love.