Christmas Spirit

And so ends Christmas. If you celebrate the eve.
My family, this year, made an announcement that they would not be giving presents. Instead, the plan was to give really good birthday presents. Which isn’t that bad, since all our birthdays are within two months of today.
I did not agree to this plan.
So, I stressed myself out and went shopping for the past week. I decided to go for quantity over quality; if I was the only one providing presents, it was important to have a lot under the tree. However, my family is hard to shop for.
I tried to ask innocent questions, like what they would like for their birthday. All I got from my father was “Peace and quiet”. But then he generally doesn’t want anything for his birthday but to be with the family. Basically, at Costco I grabbed anything that look somewhat plausible for a member of the family; chocolates and treats were my friend. I did the same at Southgate Mall. I tried to avoid clothes, because I have no fashion sense for myself, let alone another person.
Today, when no one was looking after dinner, I dumped my stash of contraband presents under the tree. (Smuggling them in was also a struggle.) When it was finally noticed, I tried to blame Santa, but I fooled no one.
So, while we watched the candles burn on the tree, I handed out presents. Apparently I did surprisingly well. Even dumb ornaments were appreciated.
I feel I have saved Christmas for my family.