Drowning in Christmas Gifts...

At ths very moment I am listening to the 12 Days of Christmas by Bob and Doug Mackenzie. " and a beer in a tree"
I too have an OPS corner, well room actualy. Much if it wil be gone on MOnday then I will finish the kids and hubby's.

just a thought, who are all these people? if it is family, is it perhaps time to start drawing names instead of buying for every single person? we did that this year and it has taken a lot of pressure off. merry christmas!

You said you mostly you buy for the kids...have the kids draw names and then you woul dbe just buying 1 nice gift.....just an idea. The kids in our family loves to do that :) Or a chinese Christmas between boys and girls. Sound like you have a big fmaily so that would be fun :)

We seem to have a ton of people to buy for as well. I would just bring up the subject of doing a Christmas exchange with just the kids. I mean, there have to be other people in your family that feel the same way. If you're buying for friends, stop! Or just get them a gift certificate or card for a favorite restaurant or store. That eliminates some of the boxes at least!
Or, look at it this way, you are so lucky to have so many people in your life :)

Can I get on your list :)

Without kids at home it's so not the same. I have lights around my window and a manger scene on a shelf and that's about it. The rest has been shopped for online and is all getting sent straight to their homes. No fighting with wrap and tape and looking for tags and bows.... it is boring, but then again there is no mess. It's kinda bitter sweet I guess.
Enjoy the wonderful chaos we call Christmas, there's nothin else like it ;)

We've seriously whittled down our Christmas list! We adopt a child to buy for every year and we have our two. We buy some gifts for each other and for his mom and my dad (their spouses are divorced and deceased). We send his Dad and Dad's girlfriend theirs by mail as well as his sister's families who live in CA. Other than that, we stopped with aunts/uncles and cousins. Everyone is basically grown now, and I don't think any of us need another tin of flavored popcorn! We all kind of came to a mutual agreement with our friends years ago not to exchange presents. If someone is hosting a party, we'll take a good bottle of wine or small hostess gift, but especially since many of our friends (and I) have birthdays near the holidays -it's just too much. Next year, try to narrow it down. Maybe during gift giving this year, if you swap with a bunch of different relatives, you could suggest that the adults stop and only buy for kids under 18 or something.

L. (Twin of mine! lol)
Today is MY day to nail down the REMAINDER of my list and to wrap what I have so far.
My list is a lot like yours.
I use a corner of the bedroom to stack OPGs (other people's gifts) and I use large suitcases stored in the bedroom closet to hide the kiddo's loot.
My hubby is a planner & saver (thank goodness!) so we have the cash, but the getting & wrapping is where I stumble...and the ever-growing list....
We do a grab bag on my side so that's 2 gifts ($75 limit) but we also buy for our son, each other, his mom, his dad, my great nephew, his niece & bephew & sister & BIL, teachers, postal chick, bus driver, my coworkers (8-10), hubby's subordinates at work (4), neighbors, BFF & hubby, friend single mom & her son, on and on and on........! And my family "adopted" a needy family through the church, Toys for Tots, Stockings for Soldiers.......It never ends. So I feel ya.
My attitude & coping mechanisms include:
• A "gift is a gift" and it truly is the thought that counts.
•Beautiful presentation is everything! Last year, O. co-worker gave us each about a 1/2 cup of holiday M&Ms--but his wrapping (art directors!) was so absolutely beautiful--his is the only gift I remember from last year at work.

I try to keep in mind that Christmas is NOT about the presents, but The Presence! And I truly enjoy giving more than getting, so I don't see an end to the madness for me.

i only by for my immediate family, my kids and husband and if i'm hosting christmas i try to make sure all the kids that are coming over have at least 1 gift, and adults play silly santa (12 and up).

with the economy where it is and knowing how bad my husband and i struggle, my mom wont accept a gift from me, she heard i got her one this year and about ripped my head off, until i told her it was .50 from a garage sale.....she still didn't like it...told me next time to get the kids some clothes they can use with that .50, but i bought her a NICE necklace a few years back from Zales, and she hasn't found a chain she's comfortable wearing with it (so not to lose the jewel it) so that 600 i spent on her that year she feels was a total waste...but she still loved it was a diamond heart necklace that said mom in it...i just COULDN'T pass that up...never spent that kind of money on my mom and wanted her to know she's truly appreciated. :) will probably be a long time before i can do that again :(

I think the actual wrapping and packing (to ship) are overwhelming. But it's something I just have to plough through until it's done! I look at all the boxes and paper and want to quit right then. But only after I have completed those tasks will I let myself think about whether to pull in the reins here and there next year.

At some time or other a limit has to be set. My children, once they were grown up, started picking names out of the proverbial hat for giving among themselves. During the present economic crunch, however, they agreed not to exchange gifts among themselves at all. If they hadn't all agreed, some of them would still need not to give presents until their financial situations are better.

I give them all gifts because - well, because I want to. I shop for Christmas all year round and do my own "Christmas club" savings, and those things help considerably. If I had to find gifts for everyone in December I'd have a meltdown. And everybody knows that I'm NOT buying any big-ticket items! I set a spending limit per capita and try to get as much bang out of each buck.

Our list of folks to give to is growing because we're adding grandchildren - and I sure won't complain about that.

There are 14 kids in my whole family including mine. Every year we decide to draw names and then it changes to buying for everyone. This upsets me because I pass up some better deals for the ones I think I'm not buying for. Last year we decided to draw names for the adults and I got to the hostesses house and she told me she bought my hubby a gift and I didn't have one for hers because I wasn't exchanging with him. I was sitting out in the country with no where to go and buy him a gift! I was so embarrassed.Sometimes I think she did it to make herself look good!
I still remember one year when a person went up to her room and grabbed a present for me since I got her something. She might have had it there not knowing if I could afford gifts for everyone (I was young). It made me feel awkward. This year I started buying for my neices and nephews early and my sister told me she can't exchange this year since she is behind on her bills. It will be at my house and I know my nieces and nephews will be expecting a gift so they will still receive them. There are just so many and I love them all! Last year I was going to bake them all a box of cookies but had to much to do and didn't get that far. Every year I hear my Gmas voice in my head saying "buy for your own family and make sure they have a wonderful Christmas, don't worry about everyone else." Oh my parents have birthdays the week after also. lol

Yeah, like SHE said, who ARE all these people?!

I was like that too when my kids were younger. OMG, the teachers and coaches and.....so MANY people touched our lives, did NOT want to miss any ONE of them.

Then there's the in-laws and cousins everywhere, neighbors, mailman, the lady at the peds office who put up with my pack of toddlers....

I guess I found the point where I'd had enough. I don't do it any more. Life quiets down, reall, it does.

But you DO have choices, you want to GIVE GIVE GIVE, me too. But you're gonna eventually have to learn to FORGIVE FORGIVE FORGIVE yourself for toning it down.

BTW, what is drwoning? tehehe
and everytime I see your name I think "LEAP!!" Don't know why, strangest thing....

:)

I don't have much to add other than I am feeling the same way with about the same amount of people on our list! Fortunately we have an "office" that we can shove stuff in until about a week before Christmas so it's not in the way. Do you have an extra room or closet or high shelves you can put everythign in?

I feel the same way, there are so many people to buy for. We are only buying for the kids this year. I have started just buying gift cards because I am really not sure what they want and figure that they can just get what they want that way. Plus, that would solve your space issue. Of course I wouldn't do that for younger kids most of the kids that I have to buy for are older. They all have iPods so I just did iTunes gift cards for them all! LOL It was quick and easy this year. I dont' know how long I will be able to get away with doing iTunes cards, but I am going to use it as long as possible!

yes yes yes.
the only thing i did different is get my girls fewer gifts but bigger (thus more expensive). money-wise i have spent the same amount like always.