Making Christmas extra special.... because of Covid!

[TheOtherMe]

Dec 6, 2020 21:27:35 GMT -5 raeoflyte said:

Dec 6, 2020 17:17:18 GMT -5 steph08 said:

Could you or TOM send me a link to that? That might be great to get for my mom.

This is the one I'm looking at: welcome.storyworth.com/

That is the one I did.  Some of the questions were not pertinent to me but it let me choose other questions.  I added some photos and the book came out very nice.

Look around.  I found a discount about this time of year.

[lurkyloo]

I did Storyworth a year or two ago for Dad.  I like the model a lot but I really wish I’d done it earlier while he still had the energy to get into it.  I think he answered three of the weekly questions over the course of the year.

I spent about two weeks buying all the things.  Now I have no stomach for buying more, so I hope I got everything!  I usually buy too much, mostly books, Lego, STEM stuff and video games.  I also splurged on a ninja line setup, which is less a christmas gift and more a potential sanity saver...toying with whether to buy a zipline.

DH is getting a robe, umbrella, expensive sunglasses, thoughts of dog calendar and four shirts, plus I got them matching jammies.  Super sexy, I know  

[daisylu]

Kids are 19 & 21, I have bought a few small  things for each and they will get some cash. Paying for tuition for 3 people at the same time is $$$$$$$.

Mom & Dad & ILs will likely get cash. Usually do gift cards for restaurants, movies, etc, but with everyone staying home, that option has poofed. Both sets of our parents live too far from town to use Instacart or GrubHub, and pretty much any other delivery service, so that is out as well.

[dondub]

Donnadub’s Jewish SIL, whose birthday is Dec. 25th, has proposed an across the board family gift exchange. This involves 26 people including some toddlers.

Then Dubette #1 followed up, that as we are all doing well during this troubling time, that we should do charity gifting of $20 in the name of the person we were matched up with.

So I followed up with a challenge that all adults give $100. I suggested Planned Parenthood and Mary’s Place (local place for abused women and their children to escape and prevent homelessness) and FamilyWorks which operates 2 food banks and has a matching partner.
familyworksseattle.org/.

Happy Holidays everyone.

[TheOtherMe]

Dec 8, 2020 22:33:17 GMT -5 dondub said:

Donnadub’s Jewish SIL, whose birthday is Dec. 25th, has proposed an across the board family gift exchange. This involves 26 people including some toddlers.

Then Dubette #1 followed up, that as we are all doing well during this troubling time, that we should do charity gifting of $20 in the name of the person we were matched up with.

So I followed up with a challenge that all adults give $100. I suggested Planned Parenthood and Mary’s Place (local place for abused women and their children to escape and prevent homelessness) and FamilyWorks which operates 2 food banks and has a matching partner.
familyworksseattle.org/.

Happy Holidays everyone.

This is a wonderful idea.  

We have a home here that takes in abused women or other homeless women.  It's a transitional place.  They have two different houses.  One is temporary and the women and children can stay in the second one until they are ready to move out on their own.  They have therapists, get lessons on money management, job interviewing, etc.  

Many success stories have come from that charity.

[Deleted]

Dec 9, 2020 9:55:05 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

Dec 8, 2020 22:33:17 GMT -5 dondub said:

Then Dubette #1 followed up, that as we are all doing well during this troubling time, that we should do charity gifting of $20 in the name of the person we were matched up with.

So I followed up with a challenge that all adults give $100. I suggested Planned Parenthood and Mary’s Place (local place for abused women and their children to escape and prevent homelessness) and FamilyWorks which operates 2 food banks and has a matching partner.
familyworksseattle.org/.

This is a wonderful idea.  

We have a home here that takes in abused women or other homeless women.  It's a transitional place.  They have two different houses.  One is temporary and the women and children can stay in the second one until they are ready to move out on their own.  They have therapists, get lessons on money management, job interviewing, etc.  

Many success stories have come from that charity.

A friend who worked at one of the domestic violence shelters said they're doubly hit hard by COVID.  Because they can handle fewer people in the spaces they have due to social distancing, they're having to send residents to hotels, which costs more money.  There's also been an increase in domestic violence with everyone stuck together in houses and under extreme stress.

Give if you can.

[Lizard Queen]

Since I have an abundance of stuff, and not an abundance of money, I checked to see what kind of non-monetary donations they accept. They want new stuff, apparently--lotions, shampoos, socks, undergarments. I happen to have some that I'm never going to use. I've got a box of stuff ready to go. Hooray for unneeded gifts!

[tcu2003]

Dec 4, 2020 21:18:15 GMT -5 TheHaitian said:

Is everyone doing that? Seems my neighborhood is... neighbors that have never put up lights before have this year, decorations were up earlier, and gifts are being sold out at rapid speed.

My wife overheard one of our neighbors saying to another neighbor that this year with Covid she feels extra pressure to make Christmas nice and magical for her 2 boys.

I actually had to tell my wife to slow down because I feel we have been overspending on keeping my daughter busy for the past 8-9 months. My daughter birthday in January put it in that weird spot that we try not to overdo it for Christmas and balance it with her birthday.

I think we spent about ~$500-750 on both events and my wife just sent me the list on what is for her birthday and what is for Christmas. That does not include she will get from family members and cannot control that.

Christmas :
- bike
- magna tiles
- book
- puzzle
- lego set - beauty and the beast
- towels (special request from her, she does not want to use baby towels anymore)

Birthday
- magna tiles
- two paw patrols lego
- rapunzel lego
- books

She is 3 turning 4 soon and really into the magna tiles and lego’s. I think we have spent between us, aunts and grandparents at least $500 on magna tiles alone so far and the 2 we ordered for Christmas and birthday were $130 each... maybe I should buy stocks in magna tiles.

The bike was the most expensive at $270 followed by the magna tiles at $130 each... the legos were between $50-80. We figure it will be balanced out with next year being the first year we will not have a birthday party for her so just cake for us in the house.

How is your spending for Christmas? Spending extra to make it special?

I haven’t read the rest of this thread yet, but every dollar I’ve spent on MagnaTiles has been a dollar well spent. C and M are 8 and 4 and both still play with them often. M is getting another big set for Christmas to go with the 250+ pieces we already have. My kiddos love building and I’m happy to encourage it.

[tcu2003]

We’ve definitely purchased more for the kids this year. I’m pretty convinced one or both kids will be home again at some point for at least a couple of weeks (DD already spent a week and a half at home due to the assistant director at daycare getting COVID and causing too many staff to quarantine for them to have enough staff to open). DS has managed to stay in person since late September when they switched from hybrid to in person, but I’m still assuming he’ll end up at home at some point. So most of their gifts are things that will help keep them occupied if they are home and DH and I are trying to WFH.

DS(8) - Jurassic World Lego set, several Harry Potter Lego sets, Catan game, new books, art supplies, big insulated water bottle he wants for sports practices/games

DD(4) - MagnaTiles, Paw Patrol characters/vehicles, kinetic sand, books, remote control car, National Geographic dinosaur eggs (her friend has these and has shared and she loves them - a dinosaur is buried inside what is basically a big chalk egg that the kiddo gets to excavate the Dino from), art supplies

[giramomma]

Well, thanks to this thread, I bought Miss M another birthday gift (Now, she's up to three birthday gifts )....those fort builder things that look like giant tinker toys.

The older kids can do it with her too, though, they won't fit inside the creations...

[Ava]

Christmas will not be special for me this year.
I love Christmas and New Year Eve and celebrate them, but of course this year is different.
For a while I thought I would stay home alone for Christmas Eve.
But now one of the friends who invited me called and said the other possible guests are not going.
So it'll be her and her husband, plus their adult son. The husband and adult son are working from home and she's a stay at home. So I feel comfortable going.

I told her I'll probably go though it all depends on weather. If it snow I'll stay home.

But either way I decided to make this Christmas special for myself.
I'm going to:

- Hire a house cleaner. I'm looking for one right now but taking it easy. No hurry and I want someone I  can trust coming to my home.

-I'm going to buy one of those weighted blankets. I read so many good reviews. I want one for myself and one for my mother as a gift.

- I'm going to travel business next time I go to Uruguay. It'll be my present to myself. I'm so tired of the uncomfortable seats and being treated like cattle for a 14 hour-plus trip. Right now, business class is at around $2,000. It's expensive but then it's a long trip. There was a point a few years ago that tickets were getting really expensive and I remember paying $1,200 for tourist, so it's not that horrible and I really want to do it.

[Deleted]

Dec 13, 2020 13:42:03 GMT -5 Ava said:

- I'm going to travel business next time I go to Uruguay. It'll be my present to myself. I'm so tired of the uncomfortable seats and being treated like cattle for a 14 hour-plus trip. Right now, business class is at around $2,000. It's expensive but then it's a long trip. There was a point a few years ago that tickets were getting really expensive and I remember paying $1,200 for tourist, so it's not that horrible and I really want to do it.

That's how I travel on long-hauls.  It started when DH was still around- he was 15 years older and 6'2" and it just took him too long to recover after flying a transatlantic in Coach.  I don't have that excuse now that he's gone and I travel in Business anyway- in fact, the reason I'll never make it to NZ or Australia is that Business Class is crazy expensive, they want way too many Frequent Flyer miles for it (brother used 400,000 when he toll my SIL with him on business) and I will not fly it in Coach.

I noticed this year that my neighbor hasn't put up his usual Christmas lights- he has a 3-story house from the back (built into the side of a hill) with floor-to-ceiling widows and in past years he'd string up colored lights leading to a point at the top, making it look like he had a Christmas tree 3 stories high in there.  I miss them!  

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Dec 13, 2020 13:42:03 GMT -5 Ava said:

Christmas will not be special for me this year.
I love Christmas and New Year Eve and celebrate them, but of course this year is different.
For a while I thought I would stay home alone for Christmas Eve.
But now one of the friends who invited me called and said the other possible guests are not going.
So it'll be her and her husband, plus their adult son. The husband and adult son are working from home and she's a stay at home. So I feel comfortable going.

I told her I'll probably go though it all depends on weather. If it snow I'll stay home.

But either way I decided to make this Christmas special for myself.
I'm going to:

- Hire a house cleaner. I'm looking for one right now but taking it easy. No hurry and I want someone I  can trust coming to my home.

-I'm going to buy one of those weighted blankets. I read so many good reviews. I want one for myself and one for my mother as a gift.

- I'm going to travel business next time I go to Uruguay. It'll be my present to myself. I'm so tired of the uncomfortable seats and being treated like cattle for a 14 hour-plus trip. Right now, business class is at around $2,000. It's expensive but then it's a long trip. There was a point a few years ago that tickets were getting really expensive and I remember paying $1,200 for tourist, so it's not that horrible and I really want to do it.

This is how we do long haul flights too.  Between TD's RLS and my hips, neither of us wind up happy in cramped seats.  I will make a suggestion in that you need to look further than your local airports and American carriers for flights.  Earlier this year, we flew AeroMexico from Seattle to Santiago, Buenos Aires to Seattle.  The price of business class was about 1/2 that of Delta and the service was 100% better.  Since you have a local hub of other airlines, look to those who fly into Uruguay (AeroMexico might too), the difference is that you have to go directly to the airline's web site rather than travel sites.  We also had tickets to Fiji on Fiji Air - again booked directly with the airline.  These were for about 1/3 the cost of what I could get on my own by flying to Auckland and back to Fiji.  Unfortunately, that trip never went off as it was supposed to be this past May.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Dec 13, 2020 13:42:03 GMT -5 Ava said:

Christmas will not be special for me this year.
I love Christmas and New Year Eve and celebrate them, but of course this year is different.
For a while I thought I would stay home alone for Christmas Eve.
But now one of the friends who invited me called and said the other possible guests are not going.
So it'll be her and her husband, plus their adult son. The husband and adult son are working from home and she's a stay at home. So I feel comfortable going.

I told her I'll probably go though it all depends on weather. If it snow I'll stay home.

But either way I decided to make this Christmas special for myself.
I'm going to:

- Hire a house cleaner. I'm looking for one right now but taking it easy. No hurry and I want someone I  can trust coming to my home.

-I'm going to buy one of those weighted blankets. I read so many good reviews. I want one for myself and one for my mother as a gift.

- I'm going to travel business next time I go to Uruguay. It'll be my present to myself. I'm so tired of the uncomfortable seats and being treated like cattle for a 14 hour-plus trip. Right now, business class is at around $2,000. It's expensive but then it's a long trip. There was a point a few years ago that tickets were getting really expensive and I remember paying $1,200 for tourist, so it's not that horrible and I really want to do it.

I bought a weighted blanket with the gift card I got from work.  I went with 15 lbs.


I've only used it once so far so I'm still skeptical of the claims but it did help me relax and I fell back to sleep easier.

So for what I paid it's worth it.   Not sure I'd have paid full price.

[trimatty471]

Dec 5, 2020 18:58:44 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Dec 5, 2020 18:54:08 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

My living room faces the back of the house.  They all do in this neighborhood.  

The trees do have lights and I enjoy them.

Tree in a bedroom window in the front?

I should be the last one to offer Christman decoration advice. I do squat when it comes to holiday decorations.

I have been so lazy this year with the decorations.  I brought the Christmas box upstairs to decorate on Black Friday.  I barely touched it.