Your stupid life event.

I've been thinking a lot (and bitching a lot, frankly) about gift-giving. This may be partially because in the past 5 years I've been invited to about 15 weddings and had about 30 friends reproduce. I'm thankful to know these people and to be included in their milestone events, but the gift-giving side of things is frankly really damn stressful. I get so tired of poring over wedding and baby registries, and don't even try to tell me you don't get sick of it too. Two years from now, if they even still have the gift you gave, they're not going to remember it was from you. Same goes for anniversaries, birthdays, Christmas, etc. Why must everything be so commercial, anyway?

Don't get me wrong - I really enjoy giving gifts. But the occasions for gift-giving keep increasing - faster than my bank account, frankly - and it can be really tough to keep up and stay inventive. I swear, people will think of any excuse to celebrate/give gifts. I love making handmade gifts, but not everyone appreciates the effort or enjoys the look of handmade stuff.

So when Jay found this article yesterday, I nearly peed myself giggling over it. The writer sure is cranky, but there are many valid points raised here. My favorite line: "Oh, your kid just got confirmed? Bully for him. I'm glad he's officially a righteous Christian fuckwit now. But I'm not going to bestow a gift on the kid for it. You know what his gift is? Jesus' love. Suck on that." Enjoy!

Comments

[Kate]

Hahahah! Man, I am glad all my friends are single and not pregnant. Sheesh.

But I remember the people who got me all the stuff when I got married. I do! Really! My cousin Richie gave me a really cool cutting board from Virginia, my cousin Jason got me a book about Maya Lin, my friend Craig got me some steak knives...

You'll notice I said "me" and not "we". ;-) Because I kept everything! EVERYTHING! NOTHING FOR MY EX!! BWAHAHAHAHA!

Sorry. A little divorce humor there.

[Rachel]

That article was HILARIOUS! You are too funny and I thoroughly enjoy reading your blogs!

Rachel

[Heather]

I love homemade gifts!

[Kate]

It's true - in many instances, gift giving has gone from a joyous occasion to a soul-sucking occasion. Anxiety over what to get, how much to spend, etc. (Don't even get me started on the wedding registries that include new TVs and a Wii)
I also love to knit handmade gifts, but the recipients of those are often limited to people I know will appreciate them.
For my kids' birthday parties, we no longer have guests bring gifts - instead, the kids pick a charity, and guests are asked to make a voluntary contribution in lieu of a gift. I love it when the kids' friends have parties like that too - much less stress and pressure on the parents or the kids.

[Jennifer Spragg]

You know. Matt and I even used to stress over what to get for EACH OTHER when it came to birthdays and anniversaries and junk. Now we have both come to the conclusion that giving each other gifts is dumb. A) we're spending from the same pool of cash B) what the hell do we even need or want anyway? So we looked at each other before our recent anniversary and I said. "Let's never give gifts to each other again." and he was like "awesome." I feel like most gift giving is really empty and just sort of going through the motions. It's Christmas, so I have to get my mom and dvd. The only truly good gift I think is a homemade one, or at least a unique one that really says you know the person well.

[Jennifer Spragg]

Haha, btw, the title of this post is great.

[a-dogg]

As a non-gift giver on Christmas, you know my opinion on this one :-)

[a-dogg]

When you get a second, google "Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping." He's my idol.

[J-ROK]

haha! I hear ya! If everyone would just give me back all the baby gifts I've given the past 6 years, I would have everything I need :) Now, get to work on Hazel Mari's gift ;) JUST KIDDING!