Don't Be A Scrooge

Wikipedia says of Ebenezer Scrooge, he is the main character in Charles Dickens' 1843 novel, A Christmas Carol. He is a cold-hearted, tight fisted, selfish man, who despises Christmas and all things which engender happiness.

Last night on the news they were talking about how people are adopting a rather "Bah Humbug" attitude. Angry at all the money they have to spend, have no idea of what to get anyone because people have all they want. Well, I agree about too much money spent on gifts and yes it is hard to get something for the person that has everything including a picky attitude about the gifts they receive, but NEVER EVER let that steal from you the joy of Christmas. Spend less, plain and simple. Save all year long for gifts if you want to spend a lot of money. Use NO credit cards unless you have the money to pay the bill the second it arrives. Think all year long of gifts to make that will be just the right thing. Don't wait until the mad rush of December to be spending and then complaining. When our children were small we shopped thrift stores and flea markets for many of their gifts. Choosing carefully all through the year for nearly new toys for next to nothing cost wise.

Christmas is a joyful time, it is the time to show our love for friends and family by giving a special gift. Not just handing someone $25 in a card and then receive $25 back from them. That seems to lame !

I think it should be mandatory to give people fun things at Christmas, a game, a toy, something that they can play with. We are all so caught up in the rat race of living that some folks just forget how to have fun. One year for Christmas when I was in my 20's, I got this coloring book that was very complicated designs that were geometric. An adult level coloring book and it was so much fun. Of course you can give a gift like that to some folks and they will just toss it aside, they need to take it to work with them for those moments when the boss is gone, then they will color in it !

Don't let the materialism of Christmas steal your joy, just take back the simplicity of Christmas but don't toss the baby out with the bath water. Keep Christmas fun in gift giving. I like the idea of making presents and spending less. But don't grumble about doing it.

Have fun, and recapture a bit of that childlike enthusiasm for the coming of Christmas.

this is one of the toys I bought for myself and have it wrapped under the tree. I love the Sunshine family and all their accessories. They even have a hippy van ! What is nice is that they have grandparent dolls, so now I can "play" with age appropriate toys : )