Glinda the Scrooge?
By Glinda
So we have a family that we are good friends with, who happens to have a son the same age as ours. They are good friends, too.
The boy is an only child, and actually has four sets of grandparents, so he is definitely not lacking in the Christmas gift department. And truly, like my son, he pretty much has everything he needs. His parents have more than once told me they are of the mind that he has more stuff than he could ever possibly use. And if he did want something, it would probably be too expensive for me to buy it for him on my own.
I called his mom last week, and told her I had an idea. I wanted to run it by her, and to make sure that she wasn’t thinking I was trying to wriggle out of gift-giving.
Instead of buying him yet more things he didn’t really need, I told his mom that I was thinking of taking the two of them out on a special outing, such as to an amusement park or a really fun place they don’t normally get to go. He wouldn’t be getting a gift, per se, but getting what I would like to refer to as a “treat.”
His parents both enthusiastically agreed, and although it was of course my idea, I felt bad for a nanosecond that I wouldn’t be giving him an actual gift on Christmas.
What say you?
Good idea, or does it just look like I’m trying to get out of getting him a present?
Because truly, I’m not.
December 13th, 2011 at 8:38 am
Great idea. You can give him a “gift certificate” wrapped up so he has something to open (not necessarily a real gift certificate from the park in question, could just be a fancy card you make yourself).
Also, his parents are probably delighted — a free afternoon for them, right?
December 13th, 2011 at 1:56 pm
It is a fabulous idea! My husband and I have been trying for a few years now to reach present detente with his parents, who insist on sending us junky cheap Chinese items that we cannot return for cash and that most definitely are not to our taste. (I think you know the story of the cast iron cat. If not, the link is below.)
We would prefer no presents at all, but if they must get us something, we have asked them to renew our Cooks Illustrated subscription or get us tickets to a play or a certificate for a nice restaurant.
I got my mom tickets to see “Jersey Boys.” My husband’s present to me last year was to take dance classes.
I love your idea. Things get forgotten, but memories last forever.
Cast-iron cat story: http://diaryofagolddigger.blogspot.com/2010/01/in-which-we-get-worse-presents-than.html
December 13th, 2011 at 1:58 pm
Dance classes with me, that is.
December 13th, 2011 at 2:31 pm
i think it’s fantastic, and you ARE giving him a gift.
December 13th, 2011 at 6:25 pm
My mother only gives “events” to my children as gifts, because 1. They have far more stuff than they need, and 2. What they don’t yet have, that they may still “want” will likely be purchased by me. My boys have been to Ano Nuevo to see the sea lion rookery, to Morrow Bay on an estuary tour (glass bottom boat), to the Ritz Carlton for brunch, to the S F Museum of Modern Art, to the Walt Disney Museum in the Presidio, to the SF Academy of Sciences and I’m sure there are places I have forgotten. I have taken my kids to some of these places too, but it’s always a special event with Grandma. They get either lunch or dinner, individualized attention and a memory that will last a lifetime. Priceless.
December 13th, 2011 at 6:26 pm
I failed to mention that I think your idea is outstanding!