The Christmas AKA Annual gift giving thread

[ManBurning]

Well, it's that time of the year again...
I just thought I would start a Christmas thread. I myself am not religious at all, and I know alot of people aren't and some are.
But whatever holiday you celebrate, there is no doubt it probably invovles some sort of gift exchange, so that's what this thread is about.

Post your experiences leading up to the holidays and then after. We can use it as a thread to find out what gifts people got, I'm always interested in what other people got for Christmas. in the meantime, what did you ask for?

[icklekitty]

I'm not religous either, and we don't usually celebrate Christmas apart from the food, presents, and TV (maybe that is as much as a lot of Christians these days?). It would be a crap time of year because so much of it centres around my grandmother, but we've been having people over to distract from it. This year we're doing Xmas French-style (i.e. the meal on Xmas Eve) and we're having family over and a friend of mine from the US who is staying. This reminds me, I need to order the cake.

I've bought all my gifts (I only usually buy for one person but this year I've stretched to four) and I've told everyone to just get me money. I don't need any stuff, but I do need to decrease my mortgage debt. I hope people listen, because I really have no use for iTunes vouchers and wine glasses.

[ManBurning]

For some reason I am not a fan of recieving money/gift cards as gifts. I just find them... kind of thoughtless and last minute "Oh, I couldn't think of anything so i'll just give some money". I mean, I like money as much as the next person, but money/gift cards and Christmas just don't seem to mix. Maybe i'm just old school and Christmas reminds me of being a child. But there is some odd joy I get out of unwrapping a physical gift and having something someone put some throught into getting me rather then getting a card and telling me to go shopping.

I also don't like giving gift cards at all, I feel they are a cop-out of a gift, like the lazy man's gift choice. My girlfriend got each of her sisters that this year and called it Christmas. I was like no-no-no we gotta go shopping to get them REAL gifts, lol.

I think we came up with some good gifts though. One of my faviourte things about christmas is hunting for the perfect gift that you know your friend/loved one/family member is going to love when they open it. The reactions are sometimes worth the hassle.

[Hula]

I never give gift cards or money because it embodies the capitalistic nature of Christmas, where it's all about spending money on people and making sure they spend as much on you. That said, I never turn down a monetary gift if it's given to me

I don't know what to do this year. I'm used to having Secret Santa all lined up when it comes to bigger groups of friends, so now I'm faced with a bunch of people I need to get something for and I have no clue what to give them. I know what to get my best friend—she loves quirky jewellery so I'll probably buy her some earrings to go with her short hairdo and maybe write a short story for her—but I'm stumped for everyone else. I'd write something for them, too, but I don't think they'd appreciate the sentiment.

[icklekitty]

I have a question for all the US folk. Are any of the following a part of Christmas time in the US? I have a friend visiting next week, and I don't want to patronise her by explaining all the stuff she's used to:

Mulled wine
Mince pies
Colonial Christmas markets
Christmas crackers
Yule logs (dessert)
Brandy butter

She's going somewhere else on Xmas day as we're doing Reveillon, but I still want to stuff all this down her throat in the upcoming days.

Is anyone aware of any other differences between UK/US Christmases? I know about boxing day and pantos.

[Rémy]

I got myself all sorts of great presents for Christmas (though I can't actually open them until I'm home in Jan). The big ones include a Macbook Pro and a Canon 5D Mk II. Christmas 2012 wins on the presents front.

[Dra508]

I have a question for all the US folk. Are any of the following a part of Christmas time in the US? I have a friend visiting next week, and I don't want to patronise her by explaining all the stuff she's used to:

Mulled wine
Mince pies
Colonial Christmas markets
Christmas crackers
Yule logs (dessert)
Brandy butter

She's going somewhere else on Xmas day as we're doing Reveillon, but I still want to stuff all this down her throat in the upcoming days.

Is anyone aware of any other differences between UK/US Christmases? I know about boxing day and pantos.

I'll take a stab at the above, but it really depends. There are a lot of regional customs and each family's traditions.


Christmas Cookies are universal.
Mince meat pie I think is a fading tradition here, even in New England. Other areas, you would definitely see sweet potato pie.
Being that I live in NEW England, I know of all of your list save for Brandy Butter and Colonial Christmas Markets. Please tell.
I had version of mulled wine the other day that if I had more than a few sips you'd have to pour me back into my car. Tawny port, vodka, and spices - warmed. Yummmm. Yule log was also eaten that day.

We wrap all presents. I met someone who's family didn't wrap any presents. That is seriously old school.
Some families have traditional fish on Christmas Eve.
Some open presents on Christmas Eve.
Stocking stuffers. - something my family never did, but married into it. These are the little gifts that are more practical than anything - pencils, gum, socks, junk that the kids can open before the parents get out of bed. My husband's family didn't wrap these gifts, just "stuffed" them in the stockings hanging off the fire place mantel. Very traditional.
Christmas carolling - yes, people still do this. As a child, I always went to a Christmas party in Brooklyn which had carolling up and down a street full of Brownstones. A lot of fun for kids or if you like to sing.
December 26th isn't called Boxing Day, but it is the day everyone heads back to the stores to return the ugly sweater Aunt Karen bought you.
Yankee Swap or White Elephant is a popular gift giving game, same with Secret Santa.
If you're Jewish, the tradition in New York is to eat out at a Chinese restaurant on Christmas.

How can I forget Christmas Lights

I personally like very mild decorating. This over the top, waste of electricity, stopping traffic stuff is just stooopid.

Any of those traditions for you guys?

[icklekitty]

Colonial Christmas markets are little markets that take place around Xmas and New Year's that look like this. You typically get roasted chestnuts, mulled wine, and waffles served from snow-topped huts. Others sell hundreds of varieties of beer and hand made wooden crafts and gifts. If you imagine Bavarian culture, it kind of has that vibe.

Brandy butter is kind of like a clotted cream with brandy in it. Some shops sell cherry, baileys, and grand mariner versions too. You usually melt a little on a mince pie or yule log or put it in hot chocolates (...or just sit there and it eat out of the tub).

Are you reading christmas crackers as christmas cookies? I meant these.

We wrap presents too (just seems weird to give any kind of present unwrapped. The fish thing isn't tradition as far as I know, although fish on Fridays is usual here. Stockings, in my experience, are mainly for kids, as is carolling in general. I think the door to door sort has stopped (but then so has trick or treating to an extent) but churches and schools still do them. We have black friday type sales on Boxing Day. Spme people drive down to London to queue for the shops to open at 5am.
I've never heard of Yankee Swap, but Christmas fairs (most schools have them one Saturday in December) have white elephant stalls and secret santa is fairly popular.
I think some other restaurants are open on Christmas Day, but for the most part people of all religions have it as a family day with the big meal etc. I know a lot of businesses owned by Muslim people like to operate on Christmas Day, for the extra pay if nothing else (taxi fares are triple on Xmas day and NYE, and you get paid double (I think) if you work somewhere like a hospital or police station).
There's also stuff like the Queen's speech and Eastenders/Coronation Street Christmas specials on Xmas day, but I wouldn't expect you to do those!

[ManBurning]

Christmas crackers

We definatly have those here. They always look so inticing and fun at first, until you actually go to open them, and they never work. Then the gifts inside are the cheesiest pieces of garbage ever, but they're fun for the first 5 seconds anyway...

[Hula]

Had a contingency plan lined up that if I had to work on Stephen's Day, I'd do something for Christmas with a friend as there'd be no buses to take me into town on the 26th. As it turns out, I don't have to work and I'm the mildest bit disappointed—it was nice to imagine a Christmas without the inevitable arguments. Are there many people here who spend Christmas without their families (but aren't married / don't have a new family to celebrate it with)?

[Dra508]

Are you reading christmas crackers as christmas cookies? I meant these.

Yes yes. Crackers, biscuits, chips. I just can't keep up!

[allegro]

I have a question for all the US folk.

Mulled wine we have all fall and winter, we even make our own at home. Crate & Barrel and Willliams Sonoma make and sell mulling spices.

Re Christmas Markets, see this:http://gochicago.about.com/od/events...tkindlmark.htm

You can buy Yule Log cakes at most grocery stores.

And those fireworks thingies that never work.

We also have this, which is FRIGGIN' AWESOME:
http://www.thehenryford.org/events/holidayNights.aspx

Fish on Christmas Eve is Italian, see Feast of the Seven Fishes. Every Italian I know also eats lasagna on Christmas Eve.

[sentient02970]

For Christmas trees in the last 10 years or so we've gone to the same tree farm and cut our own. The last 4 or so years has been my youngest daughter going with me to pick it out. She never steers us wrong, although I do end up hiking deep into the farm to get that tree.

[halloween]

It's been a long tradition in my life to spend Christmas on a place traveling between Brasil and the States- rates are cheaper! planes are emptier! good times for everyone!

On a more serious note, someone asked me how if I celebrate Christmas, I was genuinely confused on how to answer. I don't "do anything" special for unless people around me are, and I don't have any religious connections to celebrating it...and I buy gifts soooometimes but only to the very very few close people (read: my sister, mom, dad. If they're around.) It's always belated gift giving, if any at all (that's reciprocal, by the way, I don't always get gifts either!)

I'm very apathetic towards these holidays in general. It's just a vacation time for me.

[Delusional]

Curious, if you're not a christian why start a "christmas" thread instead of a "holiday" thread?
I myself don't celebrate christmas and haven't since I was a child, but having my own family now and not wanting to isolate my daughter from the festivities around her we started celebrating the solstice a couple of years ago. It's nice that since it's not "christmas" we don't feel the need to emphasize gift giving... but anyways I got what I wanted, some good beers you can see them in the beer thread.

[Endlessly]

My mother's family does Wigilia every Christmas Eve, with the opłatek (like a giant Communion wafer) and the twelve courses. Every family I know that celebrates it has their own menu, but ours is always mushroom soup, fish, noodles, sauerkraut, potatoes, strawberry blintzes, and two kinds each of lima beans, barley, and pierogi. Then we all get together again for dinner on Christmas Day, without nearly as much ceremony, and watch my uncle dress up as Santa to hand out presents, which are mostly just for my nephews and my cousins' kids by now.

[Hula]

Curious, if you're not a christian why start a "christmas" thread instead of a "holiday" thread?

Christmas has become a secular pandemic at this point (at least from what I've seen in the UK and Ireland). At work, we're supposed to say 'Happy Christmas' to every customer but I went into it trying to say 'Happy holidays' instead, as we have a pretty colourful cultural mix in town and I don't want to stuff the holiday down people's throats; nevertheless, I've had women in hijab frantically snatching up toys to cross off their shopping list and wishing me a happy Christmas.

[redshoewearer]

I definitely have some Dexter in me when it comes to christmas. I don't feel anything inside regarding christmas, but I run a business, so I have to completely put on an act in order to be socially appropriate/acceptable. This means saying Merry Christmas at the appropriate times and giving the appropriate gifts. It doesn't mean anything to me, so it is kind of a burden. There's still a pile of Lush stuff on my bed that I need to put in the appropriate gift bags in the next half hour. It might as well be nascar for all i care about it.

[slave2thewage]

My mother is running around cleaning. My father seems like he may be drunk. My sister has pissed off for the day. I'm in my room watching True Blood.IT HAS BEGUN.

[BipolarMike]

"People, don't fight over whether to say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays". ANY empty platitude devoid of sincerity is fine by Me."

@TheTweetOfGod

[Harry Seaward]

Christmas has become a secular pandemic at this point

This. I'm a devout anti-theist and I celebrate Christmas. Christmas has nothing to do with Christianity. Christ wasn't born on December 25th (hypothetically of course, if he were anything but a story-book character.) Christmas is just a celebration of the Winter Solstice that was hijacked from the Pagans by the Christians. All of the Christmas traditions (gift-giving, pine trees, yule, mistletoe, etc.) were around long before Christianity.

[theruiner]

All of the Christmas traditions (gift-giving, pine trees, yule, mistletoe, etc.) were around long before Christianity.

Yeah, but backstabbing, drunkenness and family infighting weren't. So amen, praise the Lord and Merry Christmas, everyone!

[Harry Seaward]

Yeah, but backstabbing, drunkenness and family infighting weren't. So amen, praise the Lord and Merry Christmas, everyone!

No, I'm sure those have all been around much longer than Christianity as well.

[theruiner]

I know. My joke only worked for the half second before you actually think about it, then it completely falls apart.

[icklekitty]

Why aren't you people drunk yet?

[Harry Seaward]

Why aren't you people drunk yet?

Dunno about anyone else, but for me it's due to being poor. Sober, sad Christmas. Hooray!

[ManBurning]

Because I am nursing a hangover from last night... and I have to head to my Girlfriend's family dinner in a bit...

[halloween]

Haaaaah, so my sister is the best gift giver- and i feel like a bitch for not putting more effort into this but whatever- she gave me a small pillow that has a pocket for a remote control so i don't lose it while watching tv; and also my first "adult" (read= sexy) nightgown, that is reminiscent of mini mouse´s outfit (it's red with white polka dots).

Sigh, shes the only one in my family that tries to put any tradition into this thing. Next year, im going to try harder, just for her.

[Fixer808]

Bacon floss, bacon lip balm, bacon toothpicks, bacon mints, bacon jellybeans, bacon-themed desk calender. My sister knows what I like.

[Christo]

I have never been this drunk for Christmas. Hence, best Christmas ever.