Basically I would see my family after Christmas.
That made me feel like an asshole, so I planned, bought and packaged an advent calendar for my mom, my dad, my brother, my sister in law and all of their four boys.
I dropped it off at my parent's place two weeks ago.
I made a spreadsheet to keep track of, and organize this!
Then one of my coworkers got herself fired (Which is a whole pile of drama in itself, but meh, I'll try to keep my blog free of that) and I, and my remaining coworkers could make another Christmas plan.
So suddenly I will come for Christmas with my family along with hubby.
Which is of course good news, but it feels a little funny after compensating with the advent calendars for not being there!
The three big gifts are huge and heavy
Oh well. It will be fun!
Also, we have now fixed almost everything gift-related for our families: We sent the gifts to hubby's family the same day I went to my visit my parents. It feels surprisingly awesome to be done with something that is usually stressful and annoying.
Luckily the gifts we sent for hubby's family were a lot smaller and lighter
I do have a question for my readers though:
What would you give for Christmas gifts for four boys between the age of 13 and 20??
I have some very vague ideas of what games and brands that should be popular, but damn... I'll probably end up giving up and just giving them cash again, but that feels so sad! You might as well just print "I have no idea who you are as a person or what you like" on it.
Your advent calendar and presents look beautiful! I'm talent-free when it comes to wrapping gifts, it always looks botched and I end up asking my boyfriend to do it.
ReplyDeleteI don't have any boys in my family, but a god-daughter aged 12 plus her sister (14). They aren't too girly and like getting things like this:
Exit Game: https://www.amazon.com/Thames-Kosmos-Exit-Treasure-Multiplayer/dp/B07B7TTQ7V
Anything Lego Tech or Lego Robotics is also pretty cool, but kind of expensive and more for the tech-savvy. I also love Lego Architecture, but that's more for adults rather than thirteen year olds.
Pretty much every male loved a drone two Christmases ago, so maybe one of these? You can get very reasonable priced ones pretty much everywhere and it's probably something that would work for all ages (also gets them outside!).
Oh, and the neighbor's kids (12 and 16) love these little skateboards: https://www.amazon.com/Rimable-Complete-Skateboard-Black-Green/dp/B00NXO1U18/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1542794620&sr=1-1-spons&keywords=penny+board&psc=1
I really don't like gift shopping, I never have any idea what to get people.... Worst are the in-laws!
Hehe, thank you! I actually quite enjoy wrapping gifts up, so that helps!
DeleteHoly crap, those ideas are great! You're way betetr at this than me XD (I can wrap it but not come up with it) I extended the suggestion to my brother (Like Luisa Androne said below "Just ask" lol) and he thought the ideas were great too. I think I will use the Lego Tech and drone idea for the birthdays coming up here in February and march!
You did a LOVELY wrapping job!! I always use gift bags since I travel to family and find it just way easier. Plus with kitties, wrapping paper is more of a toy and I rarely have any. Even gift bags....my family and friends know that my gifts are wrapped with fluff. :D
ReplyDeleteAre you still working 2 jobs? Ugh!! And school as well? I'm so glad you are able to visit family despite all of that and while money is great, and hard to say no, make sure you DO find time for yourself. My job has no holidays and it's easy to burn out because we just work 24/7 (not at the barn, but it's constant with client needs/horse needs etc). But we do make time for holidays and family or else everyone would be crazier than we already are :D
For gifts---if you know the boys you are giving to (likes, hobbies etc), I would go with that, but very often, gift cards are ideal. People today find it practical---I sort of like to mix it up and give someone a gift towards an interest they have, and then sneak in a gift card inside it (like warm gloves for the winter season and have it holding a gift card)
Wishing you and your family a safe holiday season!!
Thank you thank you :) Funnily, I find that wrapping presents appeals to my math-brain because you need to see where the paper "ends" to make it look good.
DeleteUnfortunately I had to put work #2 on pause for now... I hate that it was necessary, but work #1 is requiring 40-50 hours a week and studies are set at a full time work load of 40 hours, so... Seriously drowning here -__-
How do you deal with not having free time like that? Doesn't it wear on you? I'll take any tip you have!
I am the "give'em cash" type and this is learned from my grandmas. I know what you mean, it seems plain "meh but it works". You could ask the guys what they want, I mean maybe ask their parents so you and the guys don't feel akward.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your reply I felt kind of stupid: Why didn't I just ask? lol
DeleteSo I asked and... My brother thinks money is the best gift. Doh.
He admitted even they have problems finding the thing that is precisely what they want, so.. If even the parents struggle with it, I guess I can be forgiven for being boring. It does feel meh, but oh well!