Christmas gifts not costly in money

Hello to all!

As it is Christmas, probably the biggest gift-giving season of the year, have you got your presents all sorted and correct? Congratulations! People who are so organised such as you I simply hate with a passion! I have some really weird superstitions concerning shopping too early, especially for the older generation.

If I see something in about August, my brain says: Ahhh, perfect for Aunt Jane. No, hang on, isn't she still really sick from that last flu? Ummm. Maybe I'll give that a miss. There's no one else to give it to, if she does die.

And promptly the sky falls on me. Don't get me wrong. I adore all of my older relatives and never for a minute would wish death on them. ( Well, maybe Uncle Francis. That cancer of his makes his life a living misery. What the hell am I thinking about? Uncle Francis loves his life, pain, misery and all. And he really loves seeing all the relatives at Christmas so he can gloat that he's still alive.)

And so it goes. I am so lucky I cannot think of ONE relative whom I would genuinely wish off this mortal coil. I really hope you are like this too. Karma has a bad habit of biting the softest areas of your body if you aren't.

So, back to getting a gift for the relative in question. Well, why not involve the kids as well and make a personal gift? There are so many things that you can make, wrap in a pretty handkerchief or something and HAND-DELIVER, unless of course the person lives many miles away. Then spend the money that you would have spent on something they will not use, like fancy soaps, powders and that sort of thing, and have your gift COURIERED.

Or invest in a two-minute phone call. Some old people absolutely love the sound of a voice in their ear who is not selling them the newest vacuum cleaner or the (best) funeral plan.( In my part of the country this year, although they do advertise all year, they have really seemed to amp it up this year around Christmas. How revolting. And depressing. And they could at least schedule their ads better, instead of one for Chrisco followed by one for XYZ Funeral Plan.)

No, I am not in denial of the subject. I simply think there could be a little bit more tact used when programming these things. Another memory is of a god-daughter visiting an elderly aunt of her mother's. The little one was only about four, but one of those ads came on. before her mother could stop her, the child said, clear as a bell: Daddy says they are too expensive and the cheap one we have organised for you will do. Out of the mouths of babes! Luckily the old lady concerned had a marvellous sense of humour and roared laughing, saying to her niece later on: Tell young Jeremy seeing as I will go first, I'M the one who will probably receive him into Hell.

So I buy these gifts  or make something simple and pray to God that he will not take the person concerned before I can see them/phone them or do some little thing to show them I have not forgotten them.

After all, we cannot make it up later, and one day out of 365 isn't much at all to make someone happy for two minutes.