A couple of days before Thanksgiving, my MIL always tells everyone to have their Christmas lists on Thanksgiving, so she can make her plan for Black Friday. To be honest, it bugs me. Not the making of the plan for Black Friday, but the having to give a list of what I want for Christmas. My own Mom asks for one, too, so it’s not just the fact that it’s my MIL that’s doing the asking. I procrastinate. I try to see if I can get out of it by just hoping she won’t notice that I didn’t give her a list. I mean, she has 4 children and their spouses, 9 grandchildren and one great-grandchild that she has to buy for, in addition to all the other people in her life. I suppose that alone should make me realize the need for her to have a list from everyone. Don’t get me wrong, I do see the need for people to have lists of what people want, especially when they don’t spend everyday life with you. It’s hard to know what someone wants when you don’t see them everyday and know what they like and don’t like or hear them talk about things that would make them happy or their life easier. I understand. It still irks me. Maybe it’s because that’s the way that I would prefer to give gifts–listen to people and know what would make them happy or at least make them smile. And I do need some peoples’ lists, too (ie: my brothers, my brother’s wife, my nieces–and yes, we still buy for them because we have a small family and my one brother doesn’t have anyone else to buy him gifts, so it’s just easier to buy for everyone), so I really shouldn’t complain.
Another reason why I don’t like to give a list to my MIL is because she always complains about everyone else’s list to me, so I’m sure that she probably complains about mine to other people. I worry about which things on my list that she will think are silly or dumb or frivolous or too difficult to find. Sam has kind of picked up on the way she is, too, and he never wants to give a wish list either. He feels like they don’t want to give him the things he really wants anyway, which are Xbox related things like games, controllers, battery packs, headsets, Xbox Live cards (for those of you who don’t know, it’s prepaid membership to the Xbox Live on line community), etc. Of course he wants clothes, too, but she knows that already and knows what kinds of things he likes. Anyway, often he doesn’t give his list until Black Friday or later because he’s fearful of what they will think. It shouldn’t create that kind of stress, in my opinion.
I’m not fond of other lists, either. For instance, my “to do” list is huge right now, as I’m sure that everyone else’s is right now, too. I’m not saying that mine is bigger or longer, just daunting in it’s own right. Then there’s the lists of things I still have to get to give people for Christmas. Tack on the list of things I should be doing, but don’t have time for. Don’t even mention my list of bills that just keeps growing and growing.
Lists are a necessary evil, I guess.
