If I ruled the World, we'd have Christmas every other year. Last year, I was really good about buying presents. I bought things throughout the year, putting real thought, effort, and expense into choosing presents that I hoped would delight the recipients. It really gave me a lot of pleasure to hand over some well-chosen gifts.
This year, we're having Christmas in Italy, so I'm restricted to taking only a handful of small presents. I've had a busy year, and Christmas hasn't really featured on my radar at all. The presents I've bought have been last-minute choices, with little thought, and frankly I'm irritated that the whole gluttonous shebang has come round so quickly. I can't raise much interest to be honest. I'm looking forward to spending Christmas abroad with friends and family - that'll be a novelty - but apart from that, it seems like a soul-less convention, devoid of meaning. Once you're old enough to start receiving socks instead of Scalextric, and sceptical enough to skirt round any religious attachments, conscientious enough to be a vegetarian, and grumpy enough to refuse to watch TV, one has to focus on what's left - spending quality time with people you don't see as often as you'd like. Chuck in a few drinks and hopefully it'll be quite pleasant :)
In our family, those ethical "goat-style" presents were poorly received - I only found out why when I got one recently. There's no sense of attachment to the animal, or the community which benefits from your donation, and if you read the small print on the back, you'll see that your money probably hasn't bought a goat, but has been spent on goat-related accessories, or even more likely, has just been added to a generic slush-fund for the charity. You may as well just make a donation privately, and avoid the whole embarrassment of handing over a card with a picture of a goat on it.
Happy Christmas anyway - however you're celebrating, I hope you enjoy it.
