Last night I was reading a Letter from Kamp Krusty (HT: Carrie). The post prompted me to try to remember what was the most expensive Christmas gift I had ever bought. I didn’t think of it until today. 10 years ago, I bought Andrea our current dining room set. Except for the pellet stoves, it is probably the most expensive thing we have in our house. At the time we were doing very well financially and I paid cash for it.

My main comment on the letter from Krusty is, “well said”. Excepting the dining set above, we’ve never been heavy spenders at Christmas. Starting at age 2, we took the children out and let them pick out gifts for each other and us.

A funny example of that was when Sarah was 3 or 4 she wanted to get Mom a potato masher. Mom had broken hers a few months before and had been using a whisk to mash potatoes instead. When I had Sarah at the kitchen utensils section, I gently pointed out a potato masher. However, she grabbed a whisk which she insisted was a potato masher. Now most people I know would have corrected her, but I didn’t. What was important in Sarah giving a gift was Sarah choosing the gift. I was the person paying for it. The only part of it that was a gift from her was the choice of what to buy. A very very short explanation when the gift was opened resulted in Mom giving Sarah the biggest hug. A real potato masher was purchased in the next grocery run.

What has been the focus of gift giving on our house throughout the years has been choosing good gifts. (Our children learned the skill by choosing gifts, not by watching others choose them and not by looking at the price tag.) Not good in the sense of how much they cost or how popular they are. But in the sense of how the receiver will feel when they open it. A good gift is priceless. Good gifts require paying attention to what the person you are getting it for likes and does not like. The best gifts are rarely expensive.