Giving the Gift of No Gift

Let me first say that I like the holidays. I am definitely not the Bah Humbug type. I enjoy seeing the lights, the parties, the delicious food. I even have a little tree and a few decorations. With that said, I also don’t worry about shopping for gifts. At least not for adults.

Many years ago my boyfriend Bobby and I gave each other the best gift ever. It’s the gift of not exchanging gifts. If there is something we really want, we get it. Not for Christmas, no wrapping, no big surprise: we just get it. And this works perfectly for us. Neither one of us ever loved the stress of holiday shopping, so this was a big relief at holiday time.

Not long after Bobby and I decided on giftless Christmas, our family also decided that we would only get gifts for the kids, and not have to worry about the adults exchanging. Nice. Even less holiday stress. Then our friends all decided that we’d still do birthday presents, but no Christmas gifts. Yes! We still bring hostess gifts to parties, but no Christmas gifts. It makes life so easy. And not only do we not have shopping stress, we also don’t have to worry about crazy bills to pay.

Obviously, this isn’t going to work for everyone. But if your friends and family are into it, this is a great way to go. I wish you a stress-free holiday, whether it’s with or without presents. I, for one, am going to enjoy my little tree with nothing beneath it. Don’t feel sorry for me, no gifts is the best gift of all.