Hi-
The last Christmas I was home in NJ it literally took over 4 hours to open gifts. In attendance were 6 children and 10 adults. The adults had drawn names, which by the way was rigged...(you know who you are and you know what you did), so the adult portion for opening gifts was quick. However, the kids took up the majority of this time as it should be. Let's just say I knew we were in trouble when grandma had to get help to "unload" the car. My sister's dining room was nothing but bags of wrapped gifts wall to wall. Plus every aunt/uncle bought something for each one of the nieces/nephews as well. So the craziness ensued. The noise level was deafening. My poor husband..he is so not used to it, but in case you didn't know it NJ people can be loud.
Well recently I had seen this thinking it would have been nice to have this as a guideline for my family for gift buying. Being the Aunt that I am I feel this overwhelming guilt if I don't get the kids this perfect gift. For crying out loud...I'm the Aunt not the parent. Wow. Coordinate with the parents if you must otherwise pick one thing and go with it. Grandma really needs to pay attention to this...
So here it is: (I had seen this on a facebook status--I don't remember whose-sorry)
The Four Gift Rule:
1-gift they want
1-gift they need
1-gift they wear
1-gift they read
Quite honestly, slow down, enjoy this time of year and simplify. Less stress=happy people.
Merry Christmas
Barb
