In this column, I will call out my dear old mother, though it probably applies to hundreds of thousands of mothers in the world, especially during the Christmas season. While it might be tradition to go out of our way to tell our parents how we love and appreciate them, especially during this giving season, I am instead going to tell my mom that she’s really difficult and annoying when it comes to Christmas. Specifically, she’s really difficult and annoying when it comes to Christmas giving.
As a child, one wants to give their mom something. It doesn’t have to be big, but it has to be something, because after decades of support from parents we children want to show that we’re thinking about them and their needs.
The first step is to try to get an idea of what she might want. This is inevitably greeted by “don’t get me anything.” Which is not helpful, because I’m going to ignore that suggestion and find something.
Maybe it’ll be something I overhear her complain about, such as when I bought her a new house phone after she spent months talking about how her phone didn’t work quite right. Maybe it’ll be something I know she will enjoy, such as the time I bought her some Elvis albums which have since become a staple of her van’s CD player. This isn’t a perfect system, such as in the year when all of her children bought her slippers, and it would be easier if she just gave helpful suggestions.
Then comes Christmas morning, when all of her many children present their gifts, and no matter what it is or the amount of thought and care we put into our selections, are always greeted with “What did you get me that for?”
Well, mom, we got you that because we love and appreciate you and want to give you something that you might enjoy.
It’s not just my mom that has this problem. There are potentially millions of other children out there with moms and dads who refuse to be at all helpful over Christmas. And, even if we are constantly told otherwise, we are still going to show our appreciation for our parents no matter how much they insist they don’t need anything and don’t know why we’ve gone out of our way to find them a gift. After all, we need our parents to know how much we love and appreciate them, even when – possibly especially when – they irritate us.
To my mom, to other moms, to dads, to grandparents, to uncles and aunts and other relations. You’re going to get gifts, you’re going to like it, because your family loves you and wants you to know. Deal with it.
