A "Helpful" Gift Giving Guide from December 3, 2010.
For the last several Christmases, I've used a little rhyme to help guide me in the purchasing of gifts for my big girls.
Something you want,
Something you need.
Something to wear,
Something to read.
Something homemade,
A game to be played.
Please feel free to nominate me for Poet Laureate of Austin.
The girls make their wish lists according to the categories in the poem and they get six gifts each from Ryan and I, aka Santa Claus.
This year, we're changing things up. There are a couple of reasons for this.
If at the end of my free time session, I have a beautifully decorated photo album or a knitted scarf or a hand sewn apron or a one of a kind piece of jewelry, then I was not having free time at all. I was working. And working is not how I want to spend my free time.
Secondly, our whole family has fallen in love with the people of Guatemala so the bulk of our spending will be donated to our adopted village there, Pueblo Modelo. We're thinking of buying livestock and I have to admit, it's pretty fun choosing between chickens, cattle, goats.... a whole new kind of Christmas list. We'll also be contributing to a multi-purpose center we're hoping to build in the near future.
The girls make their wish lists according to the categories in the poem and they get six gifts each from Ryan and I, aka Santa Claus.
This year, we're changing things up. There are a couple of reasons for this.
One, I must admit the homemade something always stresses me out just a little bit. I'm not really a crafty person, though I would like to be one.
Actually, that's not true at all. I think that free time means time spent doing nothing that amounts to anything.
If at the end of my free time session, I have a beautifully decorated photo album or a knitted scarf or a hand sewn apron or a one of a kind piece of jewelry, then I was not having free time at all. I was working. And working is not how I want to spend my free time.
So I don't want to be a crafty person.
There. I said it.
INSERT 2011 NOTE HERE: We're not buying livestock this year. Just continuing to donate and serve. Want to be sure I'm 100% honest.
Anyway, that means our little rhyme has to be modified for only two gifts per big girl. This year's version goes a little something like this:
Something you need,
Something to wear.
That's all you're getting,
Please do not swear.
Something to wear.
That's all you're getting,
Please do not swear.
What do you think?
I'm thinking of seeking a publisher - I feel a book of poetry might be in my future.
I'm thinking of seeking a publisher - I feel a book of poetry might be in my future.
Have a great weekend and I'll see you Monday!
Does Austin HAVE a poet laureate? Is that how that works?
ReplyDeleteOh, Lana!! You crack me up! Merry Christmas, my friend I've yet to meet!
ReplyDeletePlease do not swear. That's great. I'll have to pass that along to my son who is now calling everyone douche-bags. Yeah, that was all me.....sigh.
ReplyDeleteSomething to wear was all I ever wanted when I was in my teens - fashion was it!! Big hair and big sweaters - those were the days! I still think buying livestock is a great donation. (and I'm not crafts-y either! But I wish I could crochet like Karla - wow! That would be cool!)
ReplyDeleteJim - I'm actually not sure how poet laureates work.... I thought if you were one, it was for the whole world. I know I'm not enough of a poet for world-wide fame so I was just settling for Austin....
ReplyDeleteLisa - Come meet me!
Lizbeth - I haven't heard someone calledd a douche-bag since I was in 6th grade! At least Alex is "retro"...
Karen - Me, too. I loved me some clothes in my teens... Kind of still like them now, too.... And my Reagan has tried to teach me to knit and I'm a hopeless case.
You know, home made doesn't necessarily have to mean "made in YOUR home." There are lots of great artists out there on sites like Etsy who just want to share their work with the world -- and many of them donate profits to great causes too!
ReplyDeleteOn the Christmas gift giving, we actually do a little variation of our own -- Little Miss gets three gifts from Santa (and her stocking) on Christmas morning -- the gifts represent the three gifts given to baby Jesus by the wise men. The stocking is just for fun! :-)