Okay neighbors, friends, blog stalkers, enemies, whoever you are . . . if you are reading this blog, I am in need of lots of comments and opinions today. For your benefit, and maybe even for mine, I have disabled all public comments - just for this one - so that you can spill your guts out on me and no one else will ever know.
My Christmas Spirit is in a funk this year - in a big way! I can hardly think straight, and have no ambition . . . so this is where I need brutal honesty. . .
It's neighbor gift time again. For the last two (three?) years, my family and several other families in our neighborhood have donated what would have been our neighbor gifts to the Road Home. It has served a greater purpose for our families, but I know that for others, it has been somewhat offensive. I am struggling to find the desire to do anything this year - neighbor gifts or big projects such as this drive, so I am needing some input to direct me one way or another.
On the one hand, neighbor gifts are a great way to reach out to someone we may not otherwise talk to much throughout the year. On the other hand, many of those gifts are given out of obligation - and Heaven only knows that I do not need to eat one more goodie!!! :)
However, the economy is so rotten that by donating to the Road Home, we serve others, and those who can't afford neighbor gifts are still able to contribute as the people there benefit from many no longer needed items that we already have. This year the Road Home is over-flowing with children, and it's tugging at my heart strings and leaving me with a desire to help.
Long story short . . . will you PLEASE leave me a comment/opinion on what your preference is this year. It will only take a second, and I'm even allowing it to be anonymous. If enough people love the idea of contributing to a charity (doesn't even have to be the Road Home - ideas welcome!), I will be happy to head it up again. However, if you are offended by this, I'd like to know that too. If most of you fall into that range, I may not waste my limited amount of Christmas Spirit in pulling something together. Bah Hum Bug! LOL!
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE take a minute to comment on this! THANK YOU!!!
Oh, and if any of you happened to have found my Christmas Spirit lurking around, would you please send it back my way? . . . Much appreciated! :)
14 comments:
Jessica, you know I'm with you on the charity thing, but I don't want it to over burden you. It's been nice not having to give something to every single neighbor, but we still do go to the neighbors that we need an excuse to say hi to. Is it too hard to do things for families near by that are in need? I know that can be tricky, but I know there is need. I guess I enjoy helping those I know maybe a little more than strangers. Just a thought. Good luck deciding. I would totally understand if you just bagged it this year. You are busier than me.
Hey Jess, I think what you have done in the past is an awesome idea. We have tried to do some sort of service instead of exchanging gifts with cousins in our family. I think it's great for kids to be a part of service to others. I actually was wondering how I could start up something like that in my neighborhood...like instead of neighbor gifts lets just donate what we would've to a local charity...it's just something that is hard to approach for me...however, if it's something you've already started I would stick with it and I would say you have the right spirit about you and it's not lost if you are considering helping others. I have had a kind of weird feeling as well about how commercial Christmas gets....don't get me wrong I don't want to ruin the magic of it for my kids since they still believe, but it's hard when the focus is off what it's really about. Sorry I've rambled on and on but I think you should still do it if it's what you feel best about. All the others can choose to be offended and it's their problem I can't imagine anyone that would be offended about helping others in need.(But I"m sure there are some) Someone once told me about an idea of doing an open house type of thing where neighbors can come to a home bring their plate of goodies to share, visit, and then a donation jar on the counter being optional if anyone feels like donating to a cause. I know I went on and on, hope this helps...Just know you are an amazing woman and whatever you decide will be awesome! Love ya
I hear ya. We had a wonderful neighbor who organized a big donation drop-off night and she had donuts and coco and it was really fun. Everybody understood that this meant NO neighbor gifts, yet people ended up doing gifts anyway. Every year we make a goal to keep things simple yet we seem to get caught up in the craziness. I say do what works best for your family and don't care about easily-offended neighbors. We are choosing to stay here for Christmas with NO family or friends around. I am looking into service we can do on Christmas day, like at a homeless shelter. It will be the first Christmas where it's going to be just us - should be interesting! Something that always got me into the Christmas spirit was going to see the Forgotten Carols. Is he still doing that?
Good luck and I'm sure you will have a wonderful Christmas!
I personally like giving neighbor gifts. I am planning on doing it this year after the hiatus of the last few years...HOWEVER, I really like the idea of donating to much needed charities - I will probably do both. Sometimes the scrooge in me says - "This is why I pay Tithing and Fast Offerings and its Christmas! I want to give my neighbors something!" I would not be offended if a neighbor dosen't give me a gift "back" I hate that! Where you feel obligated to give something back. Ugg! I don't know...Jessica, I think you are wonderful for organizing, storing, and delivering these items every year and I am willing to do whatever I can to help you.
I know that I'm not in your neighborhood, but I think that your idea of helping a charity is incredible. Neighbor gifts are nice, but honestly they aren't worth the time and money. Just like you said, who needs more treats at Christmas time? I hope you are able to get in the Christmas spirit soon.
Hey Jessica - It's Joelle. I must admit, I am one of your blog stalkers hehehe...I stop by on my way out of Syd's blog =)
Anyway, I think what you are doing is fabulous! You are always doing such wonderful and selfless acts of service! You know that saying, "Those that matter don't mind and those that mind don't matter?" hmmm...
Just keep up the good work...and hopefully that Christmas spirit sneaks up on you soon!
You truly are Superwoman.
I say go with the charity. That way people don't feel the obligation to give everyone something, I mean we are all supposed to be friends and neighbors but we all have our closer friends that we do things for anyway.
Wow, that's always a touchy subject with people huh. I'm good either way. I think having done it the last few years people have gotten out of the crazy habit of neighbor gifting the entire ward (that was overwhelming). I like the idea of still doing service/giving to others. We have always taken your idea and just found our own family to help instead of neighbor gifting. Huh, I guess I'm not much help. I think I'll still not do the whole neighborhood and find someone on our own to help. That seems to be working for us. Thanks for all your effort. I think your heart is in just the right place!
Jess, I am not a neighbor involved with your gifts, but I am so glad to hear there is someone else out there who is lacking in the Christmas spirit. Jason is very frustrated because this is my third year of not wanting Christmas to come. If you figure out a way to get the spirit back, would you please share it? Love you.
Jessica-
I wasn't able to respond right away and so I've been thinking about this alot since I first read it, but I'll try not to write a book!
I have always found neighbor gifts conflicting in my mind- fun to come up with but usually stressful to put together, fun to give and receive but usually just some little thing that you really didn't "need". And then there is the whole worry of having extra's just in case... you know what I mean. lol I always end up thinking that the money could have been spent in a better way.
The charity idea is nice too. I just wonder if they get lots of help this time of year? Little help the rest of the year? I don't know.
After thinking about it awhile I think that a better way to find the Christmas Spirit might be to encourage everyone to find someone to help anonomously- shovel a walk, a plate of goodies on the doorstep, a gift card for someone who might need some extra help, a fun gift for a family, etc. It's always fun to get a surprise gift and wonder who it is from! I think it helps people feel loved and blessed and tends to make you think of what you can do for someone else. A gift in the spirit of Christ and santa all at the same time. Kids always have fun with this kind of thing too and service is an awesome gift for families that might not be able to afford more this year.
(Oh- and then do the charity in the spring when people are spring cleaning and going through things.)
You are awesome for doing this Jessica!! Can't wait to hear what people think.
Thanks
~Emily
Hey Jessica! I LOVE the road home idea! I look forward to it every year! I seriously used to dread christmas neighbor gifts. It's so hard to decide what to make and how many etc. This way you're actually doing something for someone else that they actually NEED! Please keep it going! Our family loves it! Thanks for your hard work every year!
Yeah, I feel same way! Last year, our neighbors decided not to do neighbor gifts and we had a xmas party and donated all the cans of foods and we all brought our treats/appitzers for xmas party and visit with each other. That was FUN!! We sent all the flyers to most of the neighbors and we only got few gifts from neighbors that we still felt obligated to give neighbor gifts but that was only like 3 gifts. I am not in mood to do neighbor gifts this year again too.
It's been a hard decision for me this year. I have, in the past, been a big supporter of The Road Home and especially of your efforts on my/our behalf. This year, however, it's difficult to ignore the needs of those close to us...our friends, our neighbors, even our own families. My children are also getting a little older and I'm trying to figure out ways they can be more directly involved in the spirit of giving this holiday season. I'm not sure they understand as well when I simply donate money to someone they don't know...or even see.
This year Ian and I decided that we would take your idea and try to make it work for our family in our own way. Hopefully we'll be able to help fulfill a need for someone we know and love a little closer to home.
Good luck with all your work on the Road Home. You are wonderful to work so hard to help so many people...community and neighbors alike. :)
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