Prairie Dog, I agree with you. The gifts should be tokens, but they seem to have become THE WHOLE POINT. Corporations spend millions on advertising to lure us stupified shoppers into their stores to part with the hours of our life. (because the money you spend represents hours of your life, unless you have won the lottery)
In the interest of keeping the 'reason for the season' pure, people have to step up and put the brakes on a run-away train. I have seen it in my husband. His brother got him a gift worth X dollars and now Hubby is in a panic to find a gift of equal or greater value lest he be judged a cheapy by not returning the favour in kind. Gift giving becomes an obligatory pissing match to meet or beat what you were given. That is joyful? Hah! It is stressful and financially dangerous. Besides, adult men should have passed beyond this stupid gift giving stage many, many, many years ago. Neither of them needs a damn thing! Time to dial it back to buying adult siblings a box of chocolates, a pound of wonderful coffee or a bottle of favorite booze and calling it good. THey do this because they have always done it. THINK, PEOPLE, THINK! It is easier to stagger on unchanged than to say, wait a minute, this is stupid and I am not going to play this game anymore. Christmas by the blindly thoughtless.
A 'good' Christmas cannot be the sole responsibility of a single person in the house and as we've heard, for many, that burden is thrust upon them by an expectant crowd/family who has high expectations and low participation. The 'reason for the season' is hard to get close to when you are run ragged with all the social and family demands and expectations. Saying no, putting your foot down, stopping the madness results in negative reactions from people who LOVE Christmas, but have never organized, produced or cleaned up behind a Christmas.
It should be a quiet, gentle time. Baby born in fresh hay, time. Stars in brilliant, clear sky, wise men feeling a call in their souls, time. For me it is not possible to have a three ring circus going on AND reflect on an historic event that some of us may or may not believe in. Either way, it is a tradition of this country and I think it bears pondering. It is hard to ponder these things when the season and its demands make you want to take the turkey out of the oven so you can stick your own head in there!