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Curious....do you expect Christmas presents from your kids? Do your kids give your Xmas presents? And, if your kids are adults, do you give them Christmas presents? Do children owe their parents gifts of gratitude?
And, as a side note, if you are a mother in her fifties, what would YOU like for Xmas? Just trying to generate some unique ideas!
Yes, my son is 16, i expect something from him (even if I have to pay for it).
I do give my dad something small, he has everything, needs nothing, and is moving in the spring.. So books (Has sent us a inventory of his current library), sometimes a DVD if I find something he would like.
I have never thought of Christmas gifts as gifts of gratitude that were "owed"....Christmas gifts, to me, are gifts of love and friendship. Yes, I give Christmas gifts to my adult children and to my parents. My children give us gifts as well.
I try to give my everyone gifts they might need or simply ones I think they would enjoy. Parents included. I've given my mom anything from a knife sharpener (once when I visited her she mentioned her knives were dull) to costume jewelry since that's something she wouldn't buy for herself, to DVDs or books I think she'll enjoy.
We exchange gifts because we actually like each other and enjoy doing it.
My children are very good at picking up on what I'd like but would never buy for myself. We have a lot of fun with that because I invariably say, "How did you know I wanted this?" and they'll say, "Mom! We know you!" followed by immense laughter.
My kids get a gift for their dad. It's usually something useless, which is what he likes best. I buy gifts for my parents. The trick is to find something that they can't complain about. Last year I got my mom and MIL throw blankets with the Virgin Mary on them. It was perfect, neither one could complain that they didn't want it or it was ugly because they didn't want to offend the Virgin, and neither one could go on about how they were taking it back and getting something decent
Gift giving is something that we enjoy doing. We give gifts to the kids, to the adults, to friends, to people we appreciate and have no family in their lives, to kids in need, to seniors in need (we have a Santa for Seniors program we use).
Everyone has a stocking in my family too. My grandma and my preants even hang their stockings and they are all filled. My dad's stocking is the same one he used when he was 5 days old as a baby.
Our gifts vary depending on the year. If someone is having a tough year financially, we will do a combination of things that are needed and fun gifts.
My dad was someone who worked a lot and rarely took time for himself so we would usually get him tickets on a charter fishing boat or a couple of nights in a hotel and pay for a couple of activities in the town he was going to.
One year, my mom was really busy and didn't have time to clean the house she liked. She was saying that she was embarrassed to have people over for the holidays (it looked fine to me), so I hired a cleaning service to do a deep clean of her house. She loved it. Be careful with this one though because a lot of people could be offended by it.
Do schools still do those holiday shops? I have some pretty horrific examples of "jewelry" purchased by my sons in elementary school. I can't bring myself to get rid of it (or to wear it).
We have always exchanged gifts with parents and children. I've been pretty impressed with the thought that the kids have put into the process as they've gotten older. Only one grandparent is still with us, but she has been good about making suggestions for things she would appreciate.
We have thrown out the idea of skipping gifts this year, and taking a trip with the boys instead. They love the idea, although we are having some difficulty lining up dates that work for everybody.
Curious....do you expect Christmas presents from your kids?
Expect?
No.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TiltheEndofTime
Do your kids give your Xmas presents?
Yes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TiltheEndofTime
And, if your kids are adults, do you give them Christmas presents?
Most definitely! I enjoy picking out things for them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TiltheEndofTime
Do children owe their parents gifts of gratitude?
No.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TiltheEndofTime
And, as a side note, if you are a mother in her fifties, what would YOU like for Xmas?
The things I like may not be the things someone else likes....
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