I am up way too late watching the Kathy Griffin special on Bravo, and a Master Card commercial just defined a major life crisis I am currently having.
The problem is that I have no Christmas spirit. We put the tree up this weekend, and Abby and I finished decking the halls this afternoon (Abby is way into setting up the "activity scenes"), and seriously nothing has inspired me to get excited about the holiday season. This may seem like a trivial thing, but usually I am way into making Christmas fabulous for my girls and everyone else, and it is fun, but for some reason I just can't muster the spirit.
Anyway, I was watching Bravo, and this Master Card commercial came on (I can't lie, I was watching it on fast forward) and this husband gives his wife some lame gift then surprises her with some fancy car and then the slogan appears: "The joy of giving". It was like lightening struck.
That is what I am pissed about- there is no joy in giving this year.
Sure, it is fun to do stuff for the kids, but my MIL always over does and totally outshines Santa, which, despite my pleading, will not stop. Whatever. The rest of my Christmas list is filled with gifts I HAVE TO buy. I am not talking about my niece- I would love to spoil her rotten, but I know she doesn't need a bunch of crap. Neither does my sister, or Nate for that matter, and I can't afford to buy Tim something that will bring him as much joy to be surprised by as it would be to surprise him with, and those are the people (besides my kids) who it would bring me joy to shop for. These are the people I would love to shop for, but I have to waste my time and money shopping for a bunch of other assholes.
What I am pissed about is that I have to spend time money and effort on finding something "perfect" for people like my mom, and Tim's parents who have everything they could ever want and don't really need or want anything that I give them. Every fucking year I go out of my way to come up with some thoughtful gift for Tim's dad which is always met with a lukewarm reaction then gets tossed in his basement. My MIL is a similar story. I go out of my way to make her photo albums of the kids and find something nice just for her then I have to listen to a list of things she would rather have had, most of which comes from Kohls which is a place I avoid like the plague. And don't even get me started on my mom. She, like Tim's parents, needs absolutely nothing, and while she is grateful for whatever crap I come up with, I usually find whatever I gave her in a box to go to the church rummage sale.
What is the point?
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2 comments:
i get it.
i've kind of given up, really. for the in-laws 'holiday' gift, i attempt to get a mediocre gift that i know they will not absolutely hate. that is my only criteria (outside of the obivious monetary limit). my parents i make a slight bit more effort, and my husband and i pick out our own gifts. it kind of sucks, because, as you point out, the joy of 'giving' is pretty much gone, but the way i figure, at least i'm not bitter about it either...
perhaps having the girls pick out gifts for eachother? they'd probably get a kick out of spending time alone with you, and you'd get to have the fun of seeing them give a gift to eachother?
or, you know, you could give up like i have... = )
Yes, I agree. I am sort of feeling the Christmas spirit a little, but it is a pain to pick out Christmas presents for people who don't really want anything and get stuff I don't really want or need from them. It feels kind of wasteful.
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