The Oh lets not do presents this year thread

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DarthKermit

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#1693479 21-Dec-2016 20:12

Geektastic:

Quite - who wants kids turning up at their house?!

@Geektastic: Once you've caught a few in kid-sized mouse traps it tends to scare the rest of 'em away.

Geektastic

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#1693482 21-Dec-2016 20:15

DarthKermit:
Geektastic:

Quite - who wants kids turning up at their house?!

@Geektastic: Once you've caught a few in kid-sized mouse traps it tends to scare the rest of 'em away.

Ha!

I use the Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!

mattwnz

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#1693486 21-Dec-2016 20:28

dafman:

deadlyllama:

We do home made consumable gifts for friends and relatives -- my wife makes amazing chocolate truffles and I make ginger beer, both of which are very popular.

We try to do "big gifts are for birthdays." We don't want the focus to be on the presents. This is for a bunch of reasons but the big one is that <religion>Christmas is supposed to be about our Lord and Saviour being brought into the world as a tiny defenceless baby born to a couple of Jewish peasants,</religion> not landfills worth of cheap plastic crap from China.

The grandparents and aunts/uncles are getting quite good at clearing ideas for gifts for the children through us. This year our daughter has got a swingball set which was most exciting. Last year they got a trampoline from the inlaws.

Yeah, the kids know that Santa isn't real. They're still excited to see someone dressed as Santa at the preschool Christmas party handing out parcels.

I have too much stuff in my life, so the idea of other people guessing what extra stuff I might want has never appealed. I like your idea of consumable gifts, so will probably drop that into the discussion this year over Xmas dinner.

As an athiest, I'm not aligned with you on what Xmas is about, but I do agree 110% on it not being about landfills worth of cheap plastic crap from China.

A good sort of gift I find is, natural consumables like soaps etc, that aren't made from these nasty chemicals. Also artisan food products made in NZ, eg. what people perhaps wouldn't buy themselves for everyday use due to cost, but are a good treat

Batman

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#1694749 24-Dec-2016 23:25

Have a suggestion.

Give cash. Yea yea yea everyone can be critical about how un-etc ... but what do people really really want? $$$

blakamin

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#1694757 25-Dec-2016 00:03

Mrs and I buy each other nothing... She buys herself some dresses, I'm buying a 2000kg trolley jack (maybe) and a $29 BT car stereo off ebay to build my own outdoor wireless speaker for the pool area.

We buy for my daughters and I'm doing an oil change for her parents Peugeot.

Xmas day with her brothers and 6 nephews is at our house too. It's BYO. 2-4 pm.

Solved!

mattwnz

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#1694761 25-Dec-2016 00:08

joker97:

Have a suggestion.

Give cash. Yea yea yea everyone can be critical about how un-etc ... but what do people really really want? $$$

The only problem with cash is that it doesn't link the person to the gift. Where a good gift that lasts a long time always allows people to have a memory of the person.. But cash is better than gift vouchers...thinking of all the people who got DSE gift vouchers last year.

HP

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Batman

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#1694765 25-Dec-2016 00:10

mattwnz:

joker97:

Have a suggestion.

Give cash. Yea yea yea everyone can be critical about how un-etc ... but what do people really really want? $$$

The only problem with cash is that it doesn't link the person to the gift. Where a good gift that lasts a long time always allows people to have a memory of the person.. But cash is better than gift vouchers...thinking of all the people who got DSE gift vouchers last year.

Was perhaps targetting the comment at people who buys "gifts that nobody wants". Cash is better than unwanted gifts.

But yes, an item that is cherished and treasured will be forever sentimental (for the life of the gift that is ... once it's in the bin the mind will eventually move on).

Kiwifruta

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#1694788 25-Dec-2016 06:25

I love homemade gifts, both to give and receive. Made some roasted capscicum sauces a couple of years back, they were a treat.

When my nephew and niece were young, initially I gave them expensive things, but as they got older I changed from giving physical things to gifts of experiences with me. e.g. tickets to sports events, trips to the pools etc. Now that they are older those experiences have served to bond us better than any physical shop bought item would have.