I have mentioned before that I am an organized person. I start my Christmas preparations very early. The goal is to have the week before Christmas devoted to stocking stuffers, which is fun for me.

I was fairly successful this year. My SIL usually arranges with the parents to not do a gift exchange because there are several birthdays this time of year and it hits the budget hard. With two mortgages this year, we were more than eager to jump on the band wagon.

So how do you handle this? Two weeks ago we went to visit and celebrate FIL's birthday and the parents showered us with wrapped presents. They said they were tired of not buying presents and wanted to get us gifts. We appreciate the thought...

So now what?
We closed on our house so they know we now have some cashflow again.
They gave us the gifts two weeks early, and they are coming up on Christmas day.

Of course we will get them something, in fact we got the gifts yesterday. I just question their and honestly, our motives. And I really resented having to do the shopping so close to Christmas time.

I know everyone in the US is tired of the commercialism of Christmas. I know my rants are unoriginal. I also know I hate the pressure of finding the perfect gift for someone. My mother was surprisingly hard to shop for this year. And I am still not sure my ThYO will like his gift from Santa.

He really wanted a lego train this year, but with a one-year old in the house, Santa really can't bring one of those. We have explained this and he seems to understand but he looks at the picture so longingly. I know we're doing the right thing, we found him a toy we think he will like but it's so hard knowing he's going to be disappointed.

On the flip side, we also know he will play with his little brother's toys and completely disregard the fact that they're baby toys.

And as for stocking stuffers, the budget has run dry.