Hokey Pokey Wednesday: Doing the Holiday Gift Dance

             I’ve made a decision to stop buying silly, useless holiday gifts in the name of love.

            The retail industry is adept at tugging on our heart strings. They embed the message: Show your love through gifts.

            The more you give, the more you love them.

            This is so not true. If love could be measured in money, rich kids would all be happy. Check out the celebrity reality shows past and present (IE: Hilton, Kardashian) and you’ll see that some rich kids grow up miserable and broken.

            Shopping not only eats at my wallet, but also my time. I absolutely refuse to go the mall. But I even resent shopping locally. I just cannot stand the commercialism – and worse – the misleading promise of it all.

            Of course we should give our kids something – but not everything!

             I notice that I’m getting all sorts of e-mails about stocking stuffers now. That’s become the next big marketing push. Heaven forbid those stockings aren't bulging with goodies - even if you've spent hundreds of dollars on a gift already!

            I show my love to my kids every day by guiding them through life, giving them food and shelter, and nurturing them with love. Material gifts are a bonus.

            I’m not saying anything new here, I know. And I’m not going to wage a full-scale war against holiday shopping. Let people whip themselves into a frenzy at the mall. I’m not giving into all that nonsense anymore.

            Buddha said, “Simplicity brings more happiness than complexity.”

             I think that fits this situation well. Too many gifts clutter Christmas.

            Think of babies and animals, happy to play with boxes and wrap.

            I’m heading to my writing group now. This is my gift to myself.

            The greatest gifts are, in fact, things that cannot be wrapped – like helping my son through the maze of colleges and applications. It is the gift of his future.

            And like hugging my son Casey, and telling him how much I love him.

            Spending time with our kids is a gift.

            Shakespeare wrote, “Things won are done. Joy’s soul is in the doing.”

            I don’t think “shopping” was the “doing” he was referring to. Just a wild guess.