Bah Humbug!!!!!!!

That is a fantastic idea.

My family just finally went to buying no gifts for anyone at all......none of us can afford it. My sister is already saying she's skipping Christmas again this year.

It's a shame that your sis defines Christmas by the gifts. Sure, they're nice, but again, what's nicer is the people. That may be why I hear so many people say they like Thanksgiving best. It's all about the people.

maybe its a NJ thing...but Thanksgiving is giving toys just like christmas and easter and it seems every other holiday now. i swear if i had $1 for every person who comes in cuz they have to buy presents for the kids they're going to visit for thanksgiving (as thanksgiving presents, not as christmas cuz i'm not going to be there for christmans presents)i could pay my rent for a couple months!

i say there's no reason to not give presents for christmas (or whatever holiday you celebrate in Dec) you don't need much money just an imagination! coupons for your personal services (like....a coupon to wash the car, give a massage, cook dinner and do all the clean up...even just going over and vacuuming or doing the laundry!)only cost a few few index cards and a penny's worth of ink! (and index cards are $1 or less for 100!). you can make a lot of treats (hot cocoa mix, cookies, chex party mix...whatever) and put them in containers you've saved for the last few months for $10 or less and one batch will be enough to give a lot of folks!

search out the $1 stores or thrift shops...last year i got enough pretty cups and saucers to give everyone i give at work one for less than 25cents each...added a few little things for the cup and had a nice present. i gave little lotions and lip balms from avon....but you could put in a few tea bags and cocoa packets and each one would have been no more than $1 or $1.50 each.

wheni was a kid there were many years that dad didn't have a job or was layed off or on strike from Oct til after the new year....our christmases weren't much. but mom found things to give us.mi remember the year she got some doll dress patterns from someone, went through my great grandma's scrap fabric and made my Velvet doll a bunch of clothes. on christmas morning i woke up to find the doll i got a year or two before dressed in a special velvet christmas with a green velvet cape and satin lining. next to her was a doll suitcase (that was given to me when one of mom's friend's grandchildren had been killed in a car accident (yeah..i got my toys in a lot of weird ways) full of the clothes mom had made. i think the other present that year was a knit scarf mom made.most of that only cost mom time. maybe people nowadays don't want to spend time when they don't have money.....but christmas would just mean so much much more if money got out of our heads and hearts and imagination were there instead.

I haven't heard of giving kids Thanksgiving gifts, Jeane. Seems weird. I always bring a little something, usually some cookies or chocolates to contribute to the Thanksgiving dinner, (although I notice the Ferro Rochers I gave the last two years never made it to the dessert table. LOL

And you are right, there are countless ways you can give presents without spending a fortune.

Your story about finding the doll under the tree with new clothes is very reminiscent of my own childhood. My mother also made new clothes for our dolls, and we would find the dolls under the tree with the new outfits. She also made clothes for us. I remember one year she made skating outfits for my sister and I, black velvet skirts lined in red satin, and knitted red sweaters. (I think I still have the sweater somewhere). and she made matching outfits for our dolls.

Y'all's stories of homemade gifts really touches me. In the words of pop culture, That's what I'm talkin' about! Your moms had to have thought about and worked on those doll clothes for months. That's from the heart.

BTW, Jeane, my paper ran this story today in the financial section. You are not alone!

http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/11/18/1652169/black-friday-creep-irks-workers.html

I've seen that story on CNN and other places on the internet. I think the retailers don't have
a clue about the hospitality industry. Some places close others are open, hotels etc don't have any choice.
Shopping is optional getting a meal or a place to sleep when your traveling is different. Also I've noticed that on
holidays there is very little local traffic.

The comments regarding this just staggers me. The people are not ungrateful to have a job, it just that they are
being abused. These are probably excellent employees and have gone above and beyond, still to much is too much.

We didn't have much either at Christmas when I was a kid. Mom would wrap every single lil thing separately, like the doll in one package, a set of clothes in another, other accessories in yet another box. That way it looked like we got more. We made the ornaments for the tree, and I remember a few years stringing popcorn for the garland. We got to eat any that broke....

After reading that article, the only conclusion I can come to is that Ellen Davis, Vice President of the National Retail Federation is an idiot.

BobCat, I agree that the woman is an idiot; however, she is right about one thing. People don't have to shop that day. I plan to stay away throughout the Thanksgiving weekend as well.

I won't be shopping on Thanksgiving day either GB. As I said earlier, I think every working person deserves to have a holiday once in awhile. It's that little gift of time. I've always thought that when employers ask what they can do for the employee morale or as an incentive to get a big job done, the easiest and most appreciated thing in my book would be to give me a little time off - even telling us that we can knock off a couple of hours early on a future Friday afternoon or something like that is better than buying us lunch.

I totally agree BC, especially in these tough times.

welp, there's a LOT of mistakes in that article(like the times the stores hours have changed...should be 3hrs earlier than last year for the first store and 2 hrs for the second store (though i thought wallyworld was open all day thanksgiving last year).
i've worked in movie theaters and worked all day thanksgiving BUT that's different....movie theaters are like b'way theaters or whatever ...you expect them to be open in the show must go on tradition. hotels...same thing...restaurants it depends on who owns it but then again....if you're wait staff you get tips and people tend to tip better on a holiday so you'd probably want to work that day.
stores? opening on holidays is just for people to buy .... and all they do is run in and grab the cheapy cheapy stuff and run out the door again. after an hour or two of opening up the stores are dead for hours until the next deal sale starts. sometimes stores will have door buster sales then 5 hrs later have additional things at special prices and then mayube have another special deal later int he afternoon/evening.

i don't know...america is just really grating on my nerves a lot this year....and in the last few months its getting worse. guess i'm getting old.
i went in today and look at the schedule for next week and it only goes up to Weds. They have a sign up sheet for peopel who want to work on thanksgiving night...but i was informed on the drive in this morning that it i worked htanksgiving night i woudln't get a ride in cuz they would be asleep. (yeah....by 8:00 or 8:30 they'd be asleep)
besides,if i went in that early i'd probably be walking home around 3-5:00am.
but the people who work the early hours there's more pay.
i don't know..i need the money but i don't need the agro. i'm just going to take whatever they give me and if it means walking over two miles both ways in the dark so be it.

wallyworld opened at midnight last year. If you remember there was that big stink because one of the workers was actually killed in a stampede to get into the store in Valley Stream (I was staying at my cousin's house in valley Stream, and we had been joking about going there. I'll never joke about it again, nor will I go to any of those early/late openings.

found my schedule for the rest of the week. i go in at 8:00 PM on Thanksgiving and work til 6:00AM on Fri. we'll see if i survive. i think i'm going to be reminding myself a lot that there is extra money in those hours. I don't know what the 'incentive' is, but when they had the sign up sheet up they had something about there being a pay incentive. I would pray for it to be double time (like hell is gonna freeze over) or time and a half (which would what they should do...never worked a holiday and didn'tget paid time and a half or double time) but it might be as little as $1 more an hr. BUT even $1 is going to help...every penny i can get is gonna help get Salem's surgery done asap.

What's a good time to call you Thursday?

OhLord, those hours are going to feel long for you Jeane. How on earth do they expect you to stay awake all night long when you don't normally work those kinds of hours? I know how hard it was when I had to work 3rd shift, I never did get totally acclimated to it.

its just one day...and as long as i'm not stuck behind a register for most of the time AND if i get coffee and something to eat besides donuts i should be able to make it. we USED to get variety bagels and spreads,juice,milk and coffee for preopening but now if we're lucky its coffee and donuts (donuts don't stick with ya like a bagel). since everything will be closed while this shift is going on i doubt we will get any food. i'll have to remember to make a couple peanut butter sandwiches and take to work (I was moving something last night and found an unopened jar of Jif:)...of course when i checked the date it expired last month but who cares..its not moldy and it tastes fine...i don't go too much on expiration dates; )).

If you have an unopened jar of Jif it should be fine. Those expi dates are way under-dated (to protect themselves legally) and only refer to shelf life anyway. By all means take your own food! If you don't end up having to use it, so much the better. Good luck on your all night marathon, honey. Time & a half is pretty standard for these things, so hoping for that.

Considering it is a holiday it should be double-time pay. One month expired but unopened should be fine Jeane.