To Gift or Not to Gift? A Family Christmas Conundrum

If you come from a large family, or even if you don’t, Christmas shopping can be completely overwhelming. There are budgets to consider, likes and dislikes to ponder, and time isn’t always on your side.

Every year, usually by the time Halloween rolls around, I start to feel a mild sense of panic tightening in my chest. Christmas is coming and I have NO IDEA what to get for anyone in my extended family, nor do I have any specific needs of my own. I’ve never liked the idea of someone spending their hard-earned money on me when there is nothing I truly need. It often feels like we’re mutually scrambling to find something, anything, to gift the other person simply for them to have something to open labeled “From: Us” on Christmas morning.

My own attempts at changing the way my family exchanges gifts have failed in the past, but if you find yourself saying “Bah humbug!” to over-buying, give some of these ideas a try that I and some of my fellow Dayton Moms Blog contributors have suggested!

Draw Names

This could be done at the end of your family celebration each year in preparation for the year to come. Simply put everyone’s names into a bowl and have each person draw one name for whom they will purchase a gift the following year. Your family could choose to keep it a secret, or not. There are also ways to draw names digitally if you can’t all be together for the process. Just have a trusted family member (or a tech-savvy one) compile all of the names into an online generator and voila! Now everyone only has to buy ONE gift for ONE person! The gifts can be so much more meaningful, useful, and purposeful this way!

Adult Night Out

Several of our contributors mentioned this and I love this idea! Hire a few babysitters or ask grandma and grandpa to watch all of the kids so the adults can enjoy a rare night out together! Take the money you would have spent buying each other gifts and make lasting memories together instead. Think about it: when is the last time you actually got to enjoy a kid-free night with any of your extended family members? What a great gift!

Experiences

Can’t hire a babysitter or want to make sure grandma and grandpa are included too? Consider a fun family-friendly outing around Dayton that everyone could attend – check out our Holiday Event Guide if you need some inspiration. Want to keep it even more budget-friendly? Host a game night for the whole extended family!

Kids Only

Depending upon how many children are in your extended family, maybe you all could agree upon only buying gifts for them. If that’s still a large number, maybe the kids could draw names amongst each other instead. Personally, it’s so much more fun for me to watch kids open gifts than adults – this idea still sends the wrapping paper flying while the budget and stress stay down.

Charity

This is something I would absolutely love to agree to do with my family. Choose a charity, either individually or as a whole family, and donate the money you would have spent on gifts to them. Better yet, find a place that your entire extended family could serve together! This would absolutely fill my love tank so much more than a present would any day.

No matter what your family decides (or doesn’t decide) to do, my hope is that you’re able to shift your focus this holiday season from gift-giving stress to contentment. If you have any great ideas on ways to make this happen, please share them in the comments below!