Ask Mrs. Balabusta
Looking in the mail bag, Mrs. Balabusta finds a comment that is really a question:
How do you handle Chanukah in terms of presents with your kids?
Well, Raggedy, when my kids were little, my MO was to buy a big type toy that everyone could play with, like a PlayDough squeezer kit thing or
maybe a castle or kitchen set, when they were bigger they got legos. The lego phase lasted a few years I believe. 
Lately, I don't buy gifts, wrap presents or do much of anything that resembles Christmas. They are bigger now
and it just feels strange. I do take advantage of the sweaters on sale, and the vacation time they have to get new sneakers, etc.
I also used to buy gifts for all the teachers at Christmas and then again at the end of the year. Now I just do the end of the year. When I had my own medical transcription business (appx one lifetime and two children ago), I used to buy boxed chocolates for my clients.
I don't do that anymore either. The fact is every time Mrs. Balabusta walks into a mall in December I feel like I am celebrating Christmas, so I have sort of made the conscious effort to avoid these types of interactions.
I did call the principal of my kids school and volunteer to sub for 12/26 this year so an English teacher could spend an extra day at home when her kids are home. And someone took me up on it.
Look for a post next week on Mrs. Balabusta Teaches First/Second Grade.
How do you handle Chanukah in terms of presents with your kids?
Well, Raggedy, when my kids were little, my MO was to buy a big type toy that everyone could play with, like a PlayDough squeezer kit thing or
maybe a castle or kitchen set, when they were bigger they got legos. The lego phase lasted a few years I believe. 
Lately, I don't buy gifts, wrap presents or do much of anything that resembles Christmas. They are bigger now
and it just feels strange. I do take advantage of the sweaters on sale, and the vacation time they have to get new sneakers, etc.I also used to buy gifts for all the teachers at Christmas and then again at the end of the year. Now I just do the end of the year. When I had my own medical transcription business (appx one lifetime and two children ago), I used to buy boxed chocolates for my clients.
I don't do that anymore either. The fact is every time Mrs. Balabusta walks into a mall in December I feel like I am celebrating Christmas, so I have sort of made the conscious effort to avoid these types of interactions.
I did call the principal of my kids school and volunteer to sub for 12/26 this year so an English teacher could spend an extra day at home when her kids are home. And someone took me up on it.
Look for a post next week on Mrs. Balabusta Teaches First/Second Grade.
posted by Mrs. Balabusta @ 2:29 PM
3 Comments:
At 9:03 PM,
RaggedyMom said…
Taking a break from ironing RaggedyDad's shirts - can't have him looking all that raggedy . . .
Thank you for your reply to my question-disguised-as-a-comment! I like the idea of a present that can be used by everyone.
I'm with you on buying things that they actually need and passing those off as their gifts. Since our apartment is of limited size, I really try to minimize the toys if possible, as much to cut down on clutter as cost.
My best friendships are those in which we've mutually agreed to forgo the gift merry-go-round. My sister-in-law has to get gifts for all her sisters' kids, but I told her long ago that she and I were just not going to go there.
Subbing at school sounds like one of the best gift ideas around! Happy rest-of-Chanukah!
At 12:00 PM,
Subway Sally said…
Subbing is a really nice "present"/g'mulat chessed (sp?). My father worked for the Post Office, er U.S. Post Service, for a couple of decades, and he *always* worked on Christmas so that a Christian colleague could take the day off.
My parents did a lot of "buying things that they actually need and passing those off as their gifts." Sigh. I didn't appreciate it, I gotta tell ya, when I got underwear for Chanukah. You can only stretch the definition of a gift just so far.
But we did try very hard to limit the spending on our son's Chanukah gifts. We felt that it was important for him not to get used to the idea that he could have anything he wanted, just because it was a holiday (or birthday). I remember all too well how shocked I was, growing up in a home in which gifts were likely to be knee socks, sweaters, or blouses, to discover that my son's non-Jewish friends and acquaintances' parents thought nothing of dropping over $100 dollars--and this was 15 years ago!--on a Xras present for their kid. When our kid wanted something that expensive (read: video game player), he had to combine the gifts from us and just about every relative who'd sent him anything in order to buy it.
At 12:02 PM,
Subway Sally said…
Shoot, my internal Spell-Check is messing up a transliteration. :) Try g'milat chessed. That's at least within hailing range, spelling-wise.
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