JourneyOnline
CHRISTMAS IS a time of giving.
But what plagues my mind every December is what do you give the person who has everything?
When I look at my Dad I see a man who has it all.
He is financially stable so if he wants something he’ll just go out and buy it himself.
This makes finding a Christmas gift for Dad incredibly stressful and time consuming.
I always love gifts from my Dad because I know that whatever it is it’s going to be fantastic!
As silly as it sounds, the more thought he puts into my gift, the more pressure I have to make his gift even more special.
I have two options.
I can either go shopping the traditional way and head to my local shopping centre, only to be grabbed and prodded at by pushy ‘sale strangers’, all competing for me to spend big bucks in their store.
Or alternatively I can buy all of my Christmas gifts online.
Just type in my credit card details and away I go, only to discover that before I know it I’ve racked up a hefty Christmas debt.
However appealing these options may be they are both a maze to navigate through.
For a hopeless gift buyer such as I am the more options available, the more daunting the task seems.
So I do what a uni student does best – I procrastinate.
Until before I know it I’m running around like a headless chook on Christmas Eve at 11pm looking for the perfect gift for my perfect gift-giving Dad (who has everything).
What I’ve needed to realise all along is that the perfect gift simply does not exist.
Maybe everyone gets caught up in finding the unattainable perfect gift and we forget the true meaning of Christmas giving.
This year I will stop searching for the perfect gift and I will not let the vast array of choices overwhelm me.
Instead I will find something nice for my Dad to tear open on Christmas day.
If it’s exactly what he’s always wanted than that’s great!
But if it’s not, that’s ok too.
I know at the end of the day that I am his daughter and I could give him a hessian sack and he would appreciate the gesture.
I guess it really is the thought that counts.
Here are some of our Christmas ideas;
Make something – a toy, a scrapbook, some edible treats, beautiful Christmas decorations, etc.
For a unique gift that will also help those less fortunate try one of the many alternative gift catalogues:
Christmas Bowl:
www.actforpeace.org.au
UnitingWorld:
www.everythingincommon.com.au
Tear Australia:
www.usefulgifts.org
World Vision:
www.worldvision.com.au
Photo : Tara Burton sifts through the many gift ideas for her dad. Photo by Osker Lau
