thank you notes
Dear Uncle Joe,
Thanks so very much for the 30″ ceramic bust of Elvis Presley. We’ve put it on the shelf under the singing fish plaque we got from Aunt Louise, and next to the giant frog shaped paperweight you gave us last year. We hope you enjoyed our gift to you, the 4 DVD set of the history of pharmaceuticals.
By the way, we would like to suggest an end to this ridiculous facade. We will no longer be buying you any more Christmas gifts. We were “done” shopping in early November, until we realized we still had to find something for our grown-up relatives and a couple of co-workers. Wandering through various malls and superstores, it was difficult to figure out what you people really want or need based on the budget we had set.
Likewise we’re tired of receiving things that we have absolutely no use for.
It’s not as if we don’t like giving gifts. We are just no longer going to be pressured into getting some silly item (a dual bottle liquor dispenser??) just because it’s wintertime. As always, in March or June, if we see something you like or need, we’ll pick it up and bring it to you.
In lieu of exchanging gifts with you (and all the other grown-ups we know), we will be choosing a needy family (or a couple of foster children) and using our budget for that.
Again, thanks for all the wonderful gifts over the years, but we truly feel that Christmas is for the children.
Happy New Year!!
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December 27th, 2007 at 10:50 am
The Bad Gift Emporium makes your point—and may make you smile, too.
The homemade site-design, which expresses its theme perfectly, is worth a look.
(Click the button on the lower right to sort the items by “highest rank.” The “most recent” items show some puzzling Portuguese entries.)
December 27th, 2007 at 11:28 am
Oh, Tommy. You’re a Christmas Crank. That’s disappointing. I still have a velvet Elvis painting from a gift exchange over 20 years ago. We make a joke of regifting it all over the family. Same with the panther-print tie someone gave my brother several years ago. I got it this year. Try making lemonade, Tommy, and Happy New Year to you and yours.
December 27th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
Likes2 doesn’t get the joke, or the real point of this post. That makes it even funnier than the original! Go crank your bike and get off the innernets.
December 27th, 2007 at 12:55 pm
Gift exchanges suck. A couple years ago when I was at another newspaper, a lady I didn’t know from the sales department and I exchanged the exact same present: a $10 gift card for Blockbuster. We just stood there, looking at each other foolishly, in front of the publisher and everyone. What a waste of time and money .(I left work that morning to go buy the damn thing).
Has anyone ever gotten anything but stressed over the whole “Secret Santa” thing at work?
December 27th, 2007 at 4:01 pm
I become a crank when I have to start doing the adult shopping. I love buying for kids at Christmas and I love spending time with the adults I don’t see much of all year; but to have to buy something just to buy puts me in a bad mood. I buy things when I see them and that makes me feel good but that is usually in April or some other odd month!
December 27th, 2007 at 6:03 pm
My wife and decided something similar this year. We’ve stopped exchanging gifts between each other. Plus, we gave our daughter’s godparents kiva.org certificates and books. We hope they liked them. That’s what they’re getting next year.
Of course, our daughter is six and Santa brought her a few things. That’ll end too soon.
December 27th, 2007 at 6:09 pm
So why do you do it? We told everyone this year(well, we’ve been telling everyone for the past several, but this year it finally took) to not buy for us, we won’t be buying for them. If they feel inclined to donate, do so, but even that would be better done somewhere outside the holidays when it’s needed more. It was getting downright farcical with everyone exchanging $20 gift cards. Christmas presents are for kids, adults should share gifts of conversation and exchange ideas over good food and good spirits.
December 28th, 2007 at 11:31 am
well said WP!
December 29th, 2007 at 8:08 am
The kids make the holidays worth while, the adults beeping their horn and giving the one finger salute at Target do not.