One year my niece commissioned the best gift ever, a personalized decoration. (Heather Hack/Contribution)

I guess no one will write a new Christmas carol for 2020. However, the lyrics may include "We will all go home for Christmas" and "The Christmas I want is just an Amazon card."

Some of us skipped the normal holiday details.

Who has the money to buy gifts and decorations? We are all busy boosting the stock market and building our toilet paper empire.

This year, if you didn't bring a bundle of toys at Christmas, you can always say that your gift was stuck in a container in Long Beach.

The gift-giving tradition in my family has changed, mainly because we are getting older. We all have credit cards, and we know how to push the button to make things appear in the cardboard box at our door. If I try to guess what my mother really needs or wants, she may have found it in her online list.

Of course, childhood is another universe. Back to simpler times, before our phones have spoken and people are still answering the door for carols, our parents will let us wake them up before sunrise for the "Christmas Carnage". After the grand opening, there was too much rubbish on the carpet in the living room, it was like a crime scene.

Mom knows that we are greedy little fairies, and are driving the trend of quantity and quality. We are very happy to receive a lot of gifts. It took a long time to unpack. My family needs to drink two cups of coffee before going back to bed. Mom developed a habit of buying daily necessities and wrapped her underwear and socks with beautiful plastic wrap. We did not recycle. Our stockings are stuffed with toothbrushes, hairpins and crayons.

Hidden in these things she will buy us no matter what, we usually find our inner desires.

Our family has experienced many trends since childhood. During my years of poverty, I made gifts and my family pretended that they were quaint treasures. We try to draw names, buy only for children, buy only food, exchange gifts and exchange white elephants.

Last year was a pandemic and my father died of cancer. Many of us did not consider going to the mall.

However, I remember how I felt when I was a child, so I must buy things for my 11-15 year old niece and nephew.

Like most kids now, their wishes include gift cards and more gift cards. Money, even plastic, is always the right size and color.

Don't get me wrong. I like some gift cards, as long as they are given to me.

However, buying gift cards for children is not in line with my aesthetics. In addition, they will know how much I spent instead of bargaining shopping and pretending that I am generous.

Last year, the children’s mothers worked very hard to convince the children to create a wish list on Amazon. I'm biased against Amazon because when I really want to buy something, I like those stores with front doors and cash registers that still exist. However, 2020 is a year of compromise.

The children started to complete the task of the wish list, as if we asked them to clean the litter box. They ignored the repeated text. If there was a transportation bottleneck like in 2021 last year, they would get nothing.

We had the same problem this year, but their mom must be chattering on the list starting with Veterans Day. I was glad to have some clues, but then I looked more closely.

My niece wants a book. Smart girl.

My niece is an artist, so I can understand the joy of watching stories through images. However, when I saw her choices, I wondered if they were called "graphic novels" because of their narrative methods or violent content. The girl on the cover of the book looks like she is leaving home to fight zombies or join a punk rock band.

My three young family members have soft toys on their list, which may mean cuteness and cuteness. Of course, they are soft toys used to play video games and are separated from adults at the same time.

Then there is my cutest nephew. He has eight items on his list, but only two sell for less than $200.

I bought books, video games and soft toys. Maybe next year we won't bother with this list. I will be an aunt who provides savings bonds or gift cards. Related Articles Edible Accessories | Seed it! Light bulb rotation can form a habit | Seed it! Clover and other forgotten seeds | Sow it!

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