Gift Idea This Christmas

We used to love the idea that family traditions and customs could become lifelong memories. What we didn't realize was that when traditions and customs are not handled properly, then even the good times can begin to feel like being In A Rut.

A few years back, we began to recognize that every holiday season brought the same expectations. A relatively frenzied dash started shortly before Halloween an' quickly grew to a maddening crescendo by the time Christmas an' the New Year rolled 'round. Gone were easy-going holidays with family an' friends. No longer did we meet at the piano an' sing carols while building lasting memories. Instead, it was every person for him or herself. 'Gimme', gimme', gimme' ! ! !' That was the word for the day.

By the end of our happy an' festive Christmas celebration, wrapping paper, ribbons, packages an' tempers all seemed to be completely synchronized... for the onset of World War 3. Oh, my good hubby-buddy an' I started out with good intentions. Only, somewhere along the way our good intentions took over an' became tools for breeding greed, confusion an' frustrations for our little family.

In our desire to give, give, give we spent too much time searching for gifts, too much money buying unnecessary junk an' not nearly enough energy enjoying the real reason for the season. Our family suffered a temporary set-back until we re-evaluated the situation an' made a concerted effort to steer the tribe back on course.

Image: hinnamsaisuy / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Being home for Christmas was no longer the dream we had imagined for our family. In fact, our family Christmas held none of the won'erful feelings of peace on Earth an' good will towards man or any other beast. Jus' before Halloween folks were a'ready looking towards Christmas as though it might be fifteen minutes before midnight on Christmas Eve. In truth, I did my own version of hurrying the holidays along. I began thinking 'bout NEXT Christmas, 'round about Boxing Day.

So every year I began making next year's plans before the Christmas sun finished settling down on the snowy horizon. That is, until my good hubby-buddy an' I decided to take stock of what was really happening with all our family traditions. That's when we decided to make some new traditions. Change things up a bit.

Photo Credit: Flickr / National Archief

Look around an' see how Mother Nature decorates her Winter Wonderland. She has no pro'lems with using whatever is available to decorate, including putting a snowman in the house. 'Course, Mother Nature has a much more spacious home than most of us do, but the principal is the same.

Have you noticed how things are changing all over? How people are getting creative in taking back The Good Old Days? Well, that's what we did, too. We devised some plans to make lasting memories, looking to Mother Nature an' others for inspiration. When I asked my good hubby-buddy if he would wrap one 'uh my gifts nicely, he took wrapping to a whole new level. He built a snowman in the house.

Photo Credit: Flickr / State Library and Archives of Florida

Lemme' tell you 'bout the curious gift wrapping attempts made by my good hubby-buddy, over the years. The best description I can offer involves last minute shopping, paper or plastic grocery bags an' big, fancy ribbons an' bows. Not being a fan of shopping or wrapping gifts, my good hubby-buddy often procrastinated until Christmas Eve before attempting either.

Once his gift for me was purchased, his aversion to wrapping took over. Naturally, with the grocery bags all handy an' everything, he would cram the gift into the sack, wad the top of the bag shut an' plant a big Christmas Bow on the outside of the bag.

Image: digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

On Christmas morning my good hubby-buddy led me to my office where he had built a full size snowman. No, no... there were no nasty leftover residues where Mr. Snowman had rested his rear-end. Nope! No snowman puddles at all. However, hidden within each section of his body my Christmas visitor held a gift.

My good hubby-buddy had very cleverly wrapped (wadded) white paper 'round a gift for me. The bottom held a lovely large prize that I had been wanting for awhile. Inside Mr. Snowman's chest was another, somewhat smaller gift. An' his head was made up of a still smaller gift. With coal for eyes, a carrot nose an' coal for his mouth, the snowman was almost complete.

Oh, wait! He also had arms of twigs an' in one hand was a very nicely wrapped present about the size of a box of candy. It doesn't matter what gifts you are giving, you can still create the same effect by wrapping each section as one part of the snowman. Add a top hat, scarf an' a corn-cob pipe an' the recipient of your gift will be thrilled by the unique results. Trust me... you have my word on it.

We came up with other ideas for making the holidays more memorable an' I'll be sharing those, too. For now, I hope this will inspire your creative thinking so you can make a memory in your family.

Until the next time, keep a hug on.

~ Yaya

Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Every year Christmas sneaks up and surprises a whole lot of people. This year you can stay ahead of the game by watching the countdown clock on this page as it counts down the days until Christmas. Are you on track and caught up?