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22-11-2009 - The Gift of the Magi -- Oh, Henry!

My mood while writing this blog: ...

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Not long ago, I was perusing my husband's books, and I found he had a collection of short stories which included O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi." If you haven't read this sadly sweet short story, I won't spoil the ending. But, it is a sad story of people who sacrificed something important to them, so that someone else could have something they'd wanted for a long time.

'Frustrating story, actually. Every time I read it, I wanna kick them both.

I'm someone who doesn't like surprise gifts, anyway. If someone wants to buy me something, I'd prefer to pick it out myself. Otherwise, I just buy it for myself. If I don't have the money, then it's probably something I don't need anyway.

But, anyway, my parents are here, hoping the baby will arrive while they're visiting. And we got to talking about Christmas, and how we will spend it. This year, we probably won't have a tree, but maybe next year, when the baby is old enough to maybe actually take notice of it. Gifts? Probably, again, not many for baby, as he won't be old enough to do much more than a simple grasp or Moro reflex.

In discussing children and presents, my parents and my husband and I got onto the discussion of parents who buy their children excessive amounts of presents. Everytime this topic comes up, we reminisce on the Christmas evening we were invited to my aunt's house. She had invited us over for Christmas Eve dinner, and we were happy to go to this family gathering. After dinner, we congregated in the living room, where there were BUTTLOADS of packages under the tree. We sat through maybe 45 minutes of watching her kids unwrap every single God damned package under that fucking tree. I was already in high school at that point, and I didn't care about Christmas presents anymore. But, sheesh. What is the point of inviting people over to your house to watch your kids open presents that you bought for them? Honestly, I felt sorry for my other cousins (much younger than me) who had to watch this debacle.

'Made a huge mess, too.

'Next time we went to visit her, all those toys were in the garage.

I don't think my cousins touched those toys again for the rest of the year.

Anyway, everytime the topic of Christmas presents for kids comes up, I re-live that wonderful event. And it reminds me how much I DO NOT WANT MY CHILD GROWING UP THAT WAY.

There is someone very nice on this pregnancy board, who told me of her own family tradition. (Hi, Grandma Shirton!) I think it's a very nice one, and I described it to my mother yesterday, who agreed it is a good way to teach a child the true meaning of giving.

Grandma Shirton's Christmas tradition is to give her kids 3 gifts:

1. The first gift is a gift that they need. Perhaps it's new school clothes or shoes.
2. The second is a gift that they want. A toy, perhaps, or a game.
3. The third gift is their choice. They can either get something they need or want, or they can give something to someone else who needs something.

I would encourage them to think of someone else before themselves for their last choice.

3 gifts -- just as the Magi gave to Baby Jesus. No more. No less. Gifts that require some thought and reflection.

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