Gifts

So far, so good, this Christmas season. I haven't fallen under the spell of the "gotta-get-ta-Dolla-rama-cheepie-plasticy-gotta-gottas". That is to say, that every Christmas I get all self-righteous and wax poetic of the ridiculousness of people running themselves ragged getting stuff that nobody wants so that we can all set up yard sales next summer and pretend to simplify our lives. Then one morning I wake up, feel impassioned and compulsive about getting to BJ SuperToys to the point of driving there with fifty kids in tow, then filling a plastic bucket, or worse.... a large red plastic bag.... with stuff that my kids don't need. (But they'd have such fun with a kicking donkey pen... or a pink fuzzy notebook... or fifteen lipglosses in blue and green.)

I've noticed that super toys are kind of like lingerie. Just go ahead and chuck it on the floor. That's where it will all land up anyway.

So, this year, I'm breaking all sorts of holy rites of Christmas passage. I took the girls shopping this weekend and when they saw a shirt that they liked and were willing to spend their own money on it, I simply took it from them and mentioned that they would find it in their stocking on Christmas Eve. They did the same for me. We went to the thrift shop together and as we went through the cast-offs, they picked up stuff for me after asking for my "yea" or "nay". I'm sure that this year, I won't get any annoying chunks of mass-produced stuff. nope. I'll get OLD, fabulous stuff that was mass produced a long time ago. Much better.

I just really don't get the wonder in us all writing lists of stuff that we want, right down to the producer and record cover, then "secretly" sneaking off to purchase the very things that we are completely specific about. Its just weird.

My favourite gifts are the weird ones anyway. The five brightly painted cats that Brian got at The Forks. The three black cats he bought me at Ten Thousand Villages way back when we were practically just kids. The old light fixtures that got dropped off at my house a few days ago. Buttons sent from England. A lustreware teacup. Old quilts. Red rollerskates.

Here's where it gets complicated. I'm afraid that people have been way too thoughtful.
So, who of you needs me to rush off to Dollarama and BJ SuperToys because that's what you really like instead of old crap from a thrift store?!