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Ohhh! CHRISTMAS trees! ha ha ... I thought [2008-12-01]
;D
Christmas Tree [2008-12-01]
Real and anywhere from 8-1/2 to 12 feet tall depending on where we put it in our family room. It's up and decorated since Saturday.
Buy him a hearing aid for Christmas - Both problems solved! hah. nm [2008-12-01]
.
When do you buy your Christmas Tree? sm [2008-11-29]
What kind do you get and how tall do you get? We redid our living room over the summer and since then, at least once a month, I I
One more question - any problems with your pets and a real tree?? Years and years ago, the guy at the tree lot swore up and down to me a specific tree (can't remember what kind now) that cats will stay out of - yeah right!! My cats still managed to drag that tree halfway through my apartment! LOL
My family's traditional Christmas mints [2008-11-25]
Again, really easy but time-consuming. The base is just two egg whites whipped up to stiff peaks and fold in about a pound of confectioner across, then flatten them with a fork. Put them on waxed paper - they stick on everything else. Get your kids busy stirring and rolling and it'll go quickly. I also use the same for frosting for Christmas cookies. Couldn't have a Christmas without them!
Most sales like that are NOT available on [2008-11-25]
line. The whole point of the early morning sales are to get people in the store.
Christmas candy ideas [2008-11-24]
My husband and I make about 30 tins of candy each year to give to family and friends. We make chocolate covered cherries (just dip cherries in melted chocolate), white chocolate covered pretzels with red and green chocolate drizzled on top, turtles (I buy a 5 lb chunk of caramel), buckeyes (peanut butter balls dipped in chocolate), peanut butter kiss cookies, mixed nut clusters dipped in chocolate and peanut butter fudge. All of it is pretty simple, just time consuming. My family really looks forward to receiving it each year. I use a double boiler for melting chocolate. I haven If you would like specific instructions for any of the above, feel free to e-mail me. I think the kids could do a lot of the dipping to help out.
We don't do christmas lights. Instead we [2008-11-22]
do halloween decorations. We have more fun with that and it helps that halloween usually falls during a time when our energy bills are normally the lowest for the year.
Christmas Club...sm [2008-11-20]
I have three grown kids (includes 1 in-law) and I have money taken out of my paycheck through the year and whatever the amount is when I get the check, I divide that by 3 and that is how much I spend on the kids. It I put back through the year from my OT and get my husband something nice and then I just pick up a few inexpensive things along the way for a couple of other people I like to give a little something to. I don't think anybody really cares how much I spend on them, but I do try my best to be equal in what I spend on the kids, even at their ages now!
Anyone not putting up Christmas lights? [2008-11-20]
I usually make a big to-do out of having the house and yard lit up, but this year I don't think I'm going to. The few hours they are on a night sure packs a punch on the electric bill. How bout everyone else?
Looking for Christmas gift ideas for [2008-11-19]
a 14 yo girl and a 17 yo boy. Any suggestions???
Christmas Gift for Boss [2008-11-19]
My other job is a legal secretary. I am looking for gift ideas for my boss that was not too expensive. Any suggestions would be much appreciated! Thanks!
How much do you spend on Christmas gifts? [2008-11-19]
Is it the same budget every year, or with the economy the way it is will you cut back? If you have small children, do you spend more than on others?
Just curious to see what people do moneywise.
Christmas Gifts [2008-11-19]
We have two daughters 5 and 14. It's harder with the 14 year old because now she wants all the high end gifts. We usually spend about $300 per child and we're probably going to do about the same this year. Luckily they're about the only people we buy for any more. If we had a lot of family members to buy for it would probably be a lot less. Now that the nieces and nephews are older and some married, we don't get them gifts and the few relatives we do buy for we usually don't spend a whole lot. My husband and I already got our Christmas gift for each other, a big flat screen TV so we're basically done with ourselves too.
Christmas Tree & Decorations [2008-11-17]
We always try to have the tree lit up and the decorations out on display by Thanksgiving day. I think having a fake tree makes that possible.
Do you set a deadline to have the tree up and decorated by Thanksgiving week? If not, when do you try to have it finished?
Is it tacky to hand someone a Christmas card... [2008-11-17]
//
Alternative Christmas celebration and [2008-11-14]
Does anyone here NOT celebrate the traditional Christmas with their kids...specifically I am referring to the Santa portion. I am thinking about doing this with our second child (currently pregnant). Our first child is now old enough to know the truths and it is kind of a relief to be honest. I have tried and tried to stress the importance of family and the true meaning over Santa but its really hard. Recently I have just been thinking that may be next time it would be easier all the way around to not follow that but wonder how it would work with school, people asking, etc.
Love movie "A Christmas Story" when dogs eat the turkey and they go out for Chinese. We love d [2008-11-13]
nm
My most memorable Christmas - [2008-11-12]
Well, actually I have two -
When I was younger (back during the last recession in the 80s), we had moved to Texas for my dad to find work in construction. My family was really homesick and wanted to come back where we were from and decided to move right around Christmas time. Therefore, we were told there would be no Christmas at your house that year. However, on Christmas morning we got up and all had a present that we had really wanted - mind you it was only 1 present, but that was the best present!!!
The next one was when I had first married and my husband was a soldier and we moved away from our family the first week of December. At Christmas, there was no money for presents (not even cards), barely any food to eat, and we had a daughter who was 1. Well, on Christmas morning, the neighbor we had never even spoken to, came over and invited us to dinner with her family and she had bought us a present. I will never forget it. She got us a salt and pepper shaker set and had bought a doll for my baby girl.
Well I bought my first Christmas gift today...sm [2008-11-12]
for this year, and it was a big one. My son has been wanting a Playstation 3 since they came out, which I think was last year. They were $500 last year, and luckily he didn Well I saved a little this year so I could buy him this gift for Christmas this year. He says that is what he wants. They are now $400 this year. I saved and saved and I had the money put back to get it. So I gave my mom the money yesterday, and when she went to Walmart this morning, she bought it. I am so relieved because this is a major portion of Christmas bought. I only have the one son. No more children. I am so glad I was able to get this for him this year and so glad I already have it bought and put away for Christmas.
Has anyone else started on their Christmas yet?
My best one was the Christmas I [2008-11-12]
After everything was open and my brothers and I were so excited to be playing, my Mom asked me to get something from the kitchen. Of course it was dark because we There it was my Barbie Dreamhouse in the kitchen! I loved that Christmas and it got lots of play...
Fav foods are cookies, cookies, and more cookies that my sister-in-law makes. I have an aunt that makes Walnut cookies to die for! Every year she
On a lighter note, I love seeing our kids opening their stuff! It brings back great memories!
I wish Christmas were all year long, [2008-10-31]
xxxx
I wish Christmas were all year long, [2008-10-31]
xxxx
Hark the Herald Angels Sing on Charlie Brown's Christmas sm [2008-10-28]
I have the whole CD from Charlie Brown's Christmas and enjoyed it so much last year! Will start listening to it again this year after Thanksgiving :-)
Home Alone 1, A Christmas Story, Home for the Holidays, Chevy Chase's Christmas, sm [2008-10-27]
There The Gift of the Magi, He sells his gold watch to buy her a comb for her hair and she sells her beautiful long hair to buy him a chain for his gold watch. It used to be on Short Stories by O but thatIt -- too depressing, especially with banks closing, too intimidating right now!!!
Candy making question [2008-12-01]
If I make some candy would it still be good for Christmas? I'm going to make those Peanut Butter Bon Bons today.
How do you make you choolate chips and paraffin wax to dip them in? I can't remember how many choc chips I used before, but one time the candy didn't get as hard as it should.
I always keep these in the fridge anyway.
My family decided last year to just enjoy the holidays [2008-12-01]
We're all adults, no children, and live in small homes or apartments. I NEED tons of stuff, but have no place to put much of anything, and can't afford to reciprocate with a gift. Same with a couple other siblings. My mom's been impossible to buy gifts for, for probably the last 10 years. I was the first to bow out the year before last. I started the ball rolling because I just plain couldn't afford it anymore, and was too busy working all the time to spend hours on end in a department store. I had a new job, no PTO, and NO money, so I alerted everyone that I wasn't going to play the game that year. Turns out it was a relief to all! And last year, without all the holiday 'getting mauled at the mall' disasters, each of us had quiet, happy, stress-free holidays. So now that we've eliminated the gift-giving aspect of Christmas, I finally can look forward to the season and enjoy it again.
Oh, do I remember! [2008-12-01]
It was a big deal around Christmas time. We'd take the bus or train to a store in another town because they had a Christmas display made up of moving figures as big as a 3-yo child. People would come from miles around to see it.
We hadtwo 5dimes in our town right aside of each other. One was modern, bright lights and big display windows complete with a lunch counter and all open displays. The other was dark with all wood shelves and bins, so cramped only2 people could fit in the aisles if they turned sideways. This store also had the candy in glass cases that you paid for by the pound.
We also had another old general store like the older 5 dime but he even sold shoes. He had a pair of red shoes with bow ties on them in the window one year. I wanted them so bad because they matched a skirt I had at the time, but they were $10. I only got an allowance of $.50 a week. I was afraid it would take me forever to save the money. Our school's magazine sale was going on at the time and I worked hard to sell as many as I could to win the $10 prize. I won and bought the shoes. It was one of the happiest days in my life.
fake since - sm [2008-12-01]
Christmas in ND in 1992 and cats not staying out of the tree no matter what, drinking all the water, chewing on the needles. Went to fake and up to 9 feet tall now and really no problems at all even if there is a kitten at Christmas time. Such a difference at our house going from real to fake. Plus, no zillion needs to clean up. I do miss the fragrance, but it was either the cats or the real tree and the cats won! :-)
candy making [2008-12-01]
Aww, my favorite time of year. You can freeze your candy and it will still be good until Christmas. I make chocolate and peanut butter fudge and freeze it. As a matter of fact, it is really good frozen, takes longer to eat, just melts in your mouth. I have to disguise the candy in the freezer, otherwise people will pick at it and it will be gone by Christmas. YUM!
Real or fake? Big or little? [2008-12-01]
Christmas tree preference?
Speaking of shopping........ [2008-11-30]
Anyone remember how the old stores were when there were 'Main Streets'? Remember the wood floors and the merchandise in wooden bins on tables? Remember the cookies and candy they sold that was all encased in glass? No escalators, and only the best stores had elevators? Elevators with a man asking 'what floor'?, elevators that creaked and had criss cross bars across the front, instead of doors that closed? Evening in Paris perfume for our mom's at Christmas, Old Spice or hankies with his initial on them for dad? Remember when all you could use was cash? And of course, those wonderful lunch counters? I remember one of them sold sardine sandwiches! Anyone remember?
I still love giving gifts and have a solution with my family. sm [2008-11-30]
We all buy gifts for our parents (there are 4 of us, all married) but we wrap them all in the same paper and they are from everyone. That way, if someone is having a tough year, then it still looks even. Over the years, all of us have had a year that extra money just was not there during 1st babies, 1st homes, high gas prices, unexpected bills, lay-offs, new jobs etc. This way, our parents don't know who did what and they can't turn them down or worry about one family when they don't want to share with them their troubles.
We treat the kids similarly. We all buy for all the kids (7 total) but no set limit. Some years, when having a good financial year, they get big presents, some years they don't. They all get to open at least 5 presents (counting Grandma and Grandpa) and we torture them until after dinner before they can open gifts! There have been years of Dollar Store gifts and years of video games. We all look for things during the year that we can give to all equally. Last year, I found pajama bottoms at Old Navy for $2 in the summer and bought a pair for everyone, including the adults. One year, my sister got them all Uno decks which were $3 each because that's all she could do and they are still the favorite gift and go everywhere. Uno tournaments, using all the cards are a family tradition and we make up different rules all the time!
I am fortunate to be in a good position the last few yeas and have bought more extravagant presents. Not to show anyone up, but because I can. Not to make up for the very lean years, which were many, but because it is easy for me to do right now. We don't have jealousy and I don't expect anything in return because if I need something or want something, I usually buy it for myself. I just like to give gifts and can, and everyone is fine with that.
But I have to tell you, my best gifts from the others are from years when there was no money and have now become tradition ... strawberry jam from my SIL, fudge from my brother.
Christmas is what you make it. We are loud and loving and crazy and if we exchanged soup cans, the kids would still love it. It is what you make of it and how fun you make it for them.
This is what it is really all about.. [2008-11-30]
We all have a little bit of that Christmas excitement as well the true reason for the season even as adults.
My Dad used to wrap things like Smiths Brothers cough drops, dominoes that he had lying around, peanuts, a bar of soap, an old deck of cards, a candy bar, and things like this... Well my SIL (my older brother Now granted my Mom would get things from Avon and give us as well, but these little things from my Dad would cause all of this giggling and laughing and thanks Dad; I really need these cough drops. He just got a kick out of it for sure and so did we.
RIP: Mom and Dad (2006/1995,respectively). We miss those gifts!
I'm sure some of your relatives are feeling sm [2008-11-30]
the same horrible crunch. Feel them out gently. Together you can approach the insensitive members of your family.
Instead of saying you won say you can instead. It's the sign of the times, and not a reflection on you.
You can have a very merry and wonderful Christmas without gifts. It's love that makes Christmas Christmas!
Merry Christmas to you and all the other posters and readers!
2 problems with hubby - any advice??? [2008-11-30]
Problem #1: His hearing. He will not go to the doctor, complains to me all the time that he can not hear me and talks SO loud. I can't tell him anything in the stores or I might as well announce it over the loud speaker which in turn creates an argument (hence, miserable day out shopping yesterday).
Problem #2:I dread this time of year with him. He turns into this greedy person that is beyond comprehension for me. Every time he opens his mouth it I always grew up being thankful for what I got and can I never ask for items for Christmas - I appreciate the thoughtfulness that a person puts into getting me something (even if it I also believe the kids come first (3, 2 of which are teenagers) and we buy for them first but it seems I always have to budget my money for the kids and then for him. He does not like inexpensive items either. The last few months I'm the only one who has bought gifts for the kids - he hasn't spent any of his money and is counting on a bonus from his employer that may or may not come through and you never know how much it's going to be.
Sorry - and thanks for letting me vent. I've been so stressed lately.
Same problem here. [2008-11-30]
My husband works with loud machines and we both have noticed his hearing is going. I actually thinks he likes it because when I ask him to do something and it doesnI didn. Very frustrating for me.
My husband also expects big presents for Christmas, birthday, etc, wrapped up all nice and pretty. Last year, he received a big gift and I received nothing from him. He says I'm hard to buy for so he won't do it. Or else on Christmas Eve, he will say he's going shopping what should he get me. He always takes the fun out of any gift-giving occasion. This year, I told him we are not exchanging and that means BOTH of us will do without. We'll see how he likes it.
Times gone by......... sm [2008-11-30]
I remember when I was a child the dime store in our town. It had everything from pencils to yard goods to toys to old medicinal remedies. They had a wonderful candy counter where you bought your candy by weight. You made your selection from the glass-fronted counter that was juuuuust above eye level for a small child. The clerk would scoop out the desired amount of candy with an old brass candy scoop and weigh it on an old balance scale. Then she would put the candy in a little white paper sack. There were all kinds, jelly beans, butterscotch that melted in your mouth, peppermint that really cleared the sinuses, and wonderful little maple goodies to name but a few. It tasted so much better than candy tastes these days. And yes, they had Evening in Paris and Old Spice and hankies for both mom and dad. I even held my very first job there in high school where I helped take inventory every year right after Christmas. We had to count each and every item (well, probably not the jelly beans) by hand. I remember counting boxes and boxes of pens and pencils and rulers. I miss that store as it closed down many years ago when the big discount houses started opening up in the nearby big town.
Gift Giving [2008-11-29]
I just got married in July 2008, bought a new home, and am now expecting my third child in April 2009 so we ourselves have had many blessings this year but our financial situation is also pretty tight. We will not be buying gifts for anyone but our children. Our family will receive homemade treats this year. We still like to do something nice for them because they have done so much for us this year and every year but we don't have a lot of money to play with.
In my case, we take care of our obligations (bills, our children, etc.) before we worry about gifts. We feel that providing our children with things that need and the love that they deserve is more important than any material gift will ever be. Our family understands our situation and is very happy just to spend the holidays with us without the expectation of a gift because honestly the quality time with family is the biggest gift we could give each other.
In my opinion, you should just explain the situation to them and let them know that you will not be giving gifts this year. They may take it hard but they will get over it. You have to do what you have to do. Gifts aren't the real reason for the Christmas season anyhow.
Good luck to you!
And sad to say, a lot of people this time of year are mean and cranky... [2008-11-29]
I am basically done with my Christmas shopping as well...I have found in the past that if I had something in mind and waiting until after Thanksgiving, it would be out of stock and I would have to pay more for it in the long run...
we don't exchange gifts either [2008-11-29]
We stopped exchanging gifts about 30 years ago. When my husband and I first approached the subject, we met with some resistance, but we stood our ground and said we would not be buying gifts. My husband is the oldest in a family of 7. By the time they all married and had children, the number could have been quite staggering to buy for. I was a surprise baby, my sisters being greater than 11 years older than I am, so when they began their families I was too young to buy anything to buy for them and so never started doing so. Now both of our families agree the holidays are much more enjoyable without the stress of the gift buying, worrying about what to get, how much, will the like it, can I afford it, etc., etc. The true gift of Christmas is the love we feel for our families and all we ask is time with them, and everyone agrees on this. We usually bake or take small treats to the families are who have misfortune of spending Christmas at the Ronald McDonald House in our city due to the illness of a child. Often the other kids in the family (the healthy ones) get lost in the shuffle of caring for a child with cancer. There is no gift one can give as great as giving and bringing joy to a family in such a situation. Anyway, my point is that there may be others in the family who will feel the same way, that it is just too stressful, and you may find that they will appreciate the holidays much more if the gift stress is taken out of the equation.
I should add here, I do buy something for my own children but usually one or two things and my grandchildren because, after all, Santa still comes (!) and I do think Christmas gift giving is for children. Watching my little ones open is a gift a truly a fun thing to do and makes me happy. I do ask my kids not to buy for me or my husband because they have young families and can't afford the extra money. I have always told them I would rather they spend time with me any day then go out and buy a gift.
I feel exactly the same way. [2008-11-29]
When my siblings and I started having kids, we agreed not to buy for each other's families. That has worked out fine.
This year, we have NO money. Even though we still have our same jobs, it seems like more money is going out than is coming in. I don't quite understand where the money is going myself, try explaining that to family. I would just like to completely forget Christmas this year. I would even volunteer to work to get out of it.
Don't feel bad about being bitter. I find myself getting tired of having no money and having to explain why we can't do the things we used to do all the time. I've started preparing the kids for Christmas, telling them it is going to be real skimpy around here. They are old enough to understand but whether they believe me is another thing.
Has society become this bad and why [2008-11-29]
I saw the post down below about the Wal-Mart worker. Here is a new article that just came out (link below). The police are now looking at video surveillance to see who trampled this poor worker to death. Personally I hope they find all responsible and prosecute them to the fullest. It doesn I like their store just fine, it is what society is doing to people that nobody even bothered to stop and help this person. I grew up in the 60s/70s in a small town in New England. Maybe I'm old fashioned but my parents/grandparents taught me better than this.
I just can And for what? Getting a Christimas item? This is one of many reasons why I do my Christmas shopping (what very little I do) online and gift cards.
I think the traditions of the big shopping day the day after Thanksgiving should go away. I really donlove thy neighbor, not trample, bite, and spit at them so you can grab that item. (BTW - you can shop online at Walmart too).
I think to myself that I thought the spirit of Christmas was supposed to celebrate Christ. Oh yeah, I'm sure he is so proud of people like those who harm others and cause death so they can get what they want.
I hope those guilty are sitting at home worrying about whether or not their face is going to show up on the video camera.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20081129/D94OJ4NG0.html
I agree with you 100%! [2008-11-29]
Christmas has become this commercialized that people have forgotten the meaning. As for the stores, I think they need to come up with a better idea than allowing these people to wait for hours outside for their bargains which only happen that one day. This is why people get so uptight. I personally don't do Black Friday just for this reason. I think my family would appreciate having me around for Christmas, not having my funeral.
Thanksgiving [2008-11-29]
1939 to 1940
Abraham Lincoln href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_D._Roosevelt>Franklin D. Roosevelt broke with this tradition. November had five Thursdays that year, and Roosevelt declared the fourth Thursday as Thanksgiving rather than the fifth one. In 1940, in which November had four Thursdays, he declared the third one as Thanksgiving. Although many popular histories state otherwise, he made clear that his plan was to establish it on the next-to-last Thursday in the month instead of the last one. With the country still in the midst of The Great Depression, Roosevelt thought an earlier Thanksgiving would give merchants a longer period to sell goods before Christmas. Increasing profits and spending during this period, Roosevelt hoped, would help bring the country out of the Depression. At the time, advertising goods for Christmas before Thanksgiving was considered inappropriate.
We got our tree today [2008-11-29]
We went to a tree farm, took a tractor ride and cut down our tree. We have 12 foot high ceilings and usually get a 12 foot tree, but this year we put it at the other end of the family room, and we got an 8-1/2 footer.
We used to have a fake Christmas tree up until about 8 years ago or so when our cat began eating all the fake pine needles. Long story short she ate so many she had to have emergency surgery to remove them (she wasnt' able to pass them) and $1,500 later we decided no more fake trees. She's no longer with us, but when she was younger she would climb in the tree and actually knocked it over one year. We had to anchor it to the wall. Our other cat never really bothered the tree except batting around ornaments at the bottom. He's been over sniffing it today, but hasn't paid much attention to it over the past few years.
Black Friday Shopping [2008-11-28]
My husband got up really early and went to Target. He said it wasn't bad at all. He got my daughter two seasons of House on DVD and got my other daughter one of those Crayola Light Up Boards, all were on sale. Then we went out at about 9:00. We went to Kohl's, and the line, literally went around the whole store! Needless to say we didn't need anything that badly (I bet the wait was 4 hours, no kidding). Then we went to Target again and looked around (actually not very busy at all). Then we went to the Mall and got a slew of Twilight stuff for my oldest daugter and picked a few other things for my oldest. Then we ate lunch went to Walmart and just got home about 3:00. Now my husband is finishing up the Christmas decorations outside and tomorrow is tree day. I love shopping on Black Friday. And with the exception of Kohl's are wait was 5 minutes or less.
after my shift...sm [2008-11-28]
I was in Walmart for 10 minutes because there was non-Christmas stuff that I needed and then I went to the grocery store, which was not crowded at all. I was going to go to Target for 1 thing until I saw the parking lot. Not a chance! That 1 thing wasn't that important. This is the first time I've gone shopping on Black Friday in years. It was good to reminded why I don't do it.
My sisters and nieces and nephews and I stopped [2008-11-28]
exchanging gifts several years ago. My mom and dad and my family stopped exchanging gifts a couple of years ago. This year, my 2 grown children and my husband and I agreed to keep Christmas very, very simple. One gift each. No big major spending. We havea new grandson who is a week old and, of course, he will receive gifts from us, but, even for him the spending will be kept to a minimum this year Maybe you need to just tell your family that you They may not understand, but you should not have to stress about such a beautiful time of the year. I know that I am actually looking forward to the holidays for the first time in a long time because I We are by no means rich people, but we do have what we need and a lot of what we want. There is really nothing that any of us needs. We are truly blessed.
I went through this myself about 20 years ago. [2008-11-28]
My husband is the eldest of 4 siblings. They tend to give expensive gifts, and none of them have children. I came from a very poor family, so our Christmas holidays never included lots of gifts. When we were first married I stressed over the gift selection and the money we spent. My husband, who is an accountant, stressed over every penny. When our first child came alone, I quit my full-time, downtown career-oriented job and stayed home. Our family income was cut in half, and so we had to tell everyone, our siblings, parents, friends, etc., that we couldn't afford to give any gifts. Family members wanted to give us gifts anyway, and we begged them not to, as it really made us feel uncomfortable to receive but not give. We didn't need anything, really. We just couldn't afford to spend anything on gifts. It took us about 3 years to get everyone to play by our rules. Twenty years later, and we're doing better financially, but we still don't exchange gifts with anyone but our children. Even my husband and I don't exchange gifts. We try, instead, to make donations to charities or causes that we care about. Over the years, some of our family members have experienced financial difficulties, and they opted out of the gift giving either temporarily or permanently. It always feels a little strange at first, but eventually it's ok. The season isn't about the gifts, and if the gift-giving becomes a burden, then that's certainly no fun.
You have the financial responsibility for your family. You make those decisions, not family members who make you feel guilty. They'll get over it. Don't let it get you down.
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