Once again this year my mother is participating in the highly commercialized Christmas season and as always she is bugging me for “the list”. It’s that little list I am supposed to work on starting in July and turn into her sometime before the first week of November. Well, in the 20-however-many years I’ve been making this stupid list, I’ve never been on her schedule with it. It also never fails that I have no idea what to put on the list. It feels a little short as well as short-sighted.
http://images.cmkularski.net/blog/ChristmasList2009.pdf
I don’t know where to go with it, and I have very little enthusiasm for it. As if it’s not bad enough that I have to make the list, she will still be obvious about what she is doing because of questions she will ask. Its just no fun, and on top of that, lately the whole receiving gifts thing has started to annoy me. If I don’t need anything, then I don’t need anything, but of course, she will do the frivolous thing as she always has.
Since reading this an hour or so ago, I’ve written about 10 speeches in my head… Instead of lecturing, I’m just gonna say this: Giving a gift isn’t about the gift, its about the giving.
Speaking as someone who wasn’t able to give anyone anything last year, I say let her give her gift. As obvious and unneeded as that gift may turn out to be, you don’t know how much it may mean to her just to be able to give.