I still want a present!

I love presents! I am sure most people in the world love getting presents, can't think of anyone who does not. The present frenzy gets to the maximum right around Christmas time.

Before the Halloween decorations are off the shelf and the Thanksgiving are on the shelf there is a hint of Christmas. It probably has something to do with the chill in the air and snow, maybe. By the time Thanksgiving rolls around people are already counting down to number of days of Christmas shopping left. Most people I know put up their Christmas tree right after Thanksgiving.

Even though I am not Christian, we still celebrated the season. A holiday is a holiday - family and friends, food and fun. Presents were usually chocolate or candy. After moving to the United States with my husband, Christmas took on a whole new meaning - talk about holiday shopping - people were really serious!

I never thought that people actually made lists of who all to get presents for and that included your baby sitter and dentist. The retailers gear all their merchandise for Christmas, articles in the newspaper, magazines and the Internet are all about how to pace yourself and managing Christmas shopping without going broke and planning next Christmas. Wow! I had no idea that it was so big - and to have found out about it only now - O the presents I have missed. All the conversations at work and school were about Christmas shopping and baking and singing carols and cooking. I did not want to miss out so I joined the bandwagon too.

Then I understood what all those discussions about pacing yourself and budgeting was all about. Phew! It is hard work. The first year I wanted to do it all. I had no family here - so I was glad to be part of the work secret Santa - I loved the dollar limit- since I was on a budget myself. We still had food, friends and fun. The presents were based on the list of five things under 15 or 20 dollars. Yet the feeling you get when someone opens the present you picked for them - is like the Visa ad says- priceless.

Then I had kids and Christmas presents took on a totally different meaning - it was Santa Claus, cookies and milk, reindeer dust and presents under the tree from Santa and from mom and dad. There was always food friends and fun. And the feeling that you get when you see the joy on the kids faces when they ripped open their presents - was like the Visa ad says - priceless.

Now the kids are teenagers - and Christmas presents take a totally different meaning - there is still the Christmas tree and lights, cooking and food, family and fun. But the presents are negotiated earlier based on the sales, budgets and the latest electronic gadget. Since it is already negotiated - I thought we were doing okay until my teenager complained that she never gets any presents. Wait, I thought to myself and what was all that stuff we bought earlier? Well, they don't count - she still wants a present that was bought or made in secret, wrapped in ribbon so she can rip it and be surprised.

I thought about it and realized she was right. It does not matter how old you are - I still want a present that I can look forward to opening and be surprised. By the way, I did make her a present and the feeling that I got when I saw the surprise on her face when she opened it - was like the Visa ad says - priceless!