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Gifts are a traditional part of Christmas – but why do we give presents at all?

Social Behaviour: The Gifting Protocol

The Gift protocol is a non-voluntary strategy to affirm and strengthen the moral bonds of society.

It is a competitive, formal game that diminishes the pure value of gifts and makes it into a set of rules.

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An anthropologist explains why we love holiday rituals and traditions

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Holiday traditions – whether culinary, religious, decorative or musical – help families bond and individuals feel stable and content.

Key Ideas

Why Holidays Feel Special

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Holidays are filled with family get-togethers, rituals and many things that make us smile.
This period is bursting with sensory treats: great food...

Family Traditions

Prayers, toasts, recitals, or singing Christmas carols are basically structured, and repetitive actions that lower anxiety and make the world a bit simpler.

Festive meals are always the main attraction, with special attention to home-cooked treats. Many cultures have elaborate rituals related to how food is cooked, served or eaten. From cooking seven different kinds of curry to spit-roasting a lamb on Easter, many cooking rituals are time-honoured and make the festival special.

The Art Of Giving

The gift-giving ritual is not to be taken lightly and is extremely crucial to maintain social ties and create reciprocal actions filled with love and respect.

Even if the gift choices are pre-planned, the ritual of exchanging gifts has tremendous value and significance.

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Why Do Children Get Presents on Christmas, Anyway?

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theatlantic.com

In 1800s New York, the overlapping interests of middle-class families and the wealthy produced a cultural practice that’s still in place today.

Key Ideas

Christmas Gifting To Children: The Tradition

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Every year, many families across the world celebrate Christmas and have a tradition of giving children with special Christmas gifts.

Critics have decried the commercialization of the Christ...

The Holidays Mean Gifts For Children

Donating gifts to poor children as Christmas charity started only after gift-giving to the children of one’s own family and friends became a common ritual.

Gifting in general is not according to ‘good behaviour’ and does not have an exclusive link to the Christian faith.

Christmas Gifting To Children: The Origin

Gift giving for children during Christmas started in New York City in the 1800s when the holiday was ‘reinvented’ as a family bonding time that integrated the various home decoration and shopping rituals.

When the city’s population grew ten times from 1800 to 1850, city planners and the elites feared that the street revelry done by ‘commoners’ would be a problem for them during the holidays, and started to focus the celebrations to be done at homes only.

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How to Simplify the Holidays : zen habits

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"A man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone." ― Henry David Thoreau, Walden Today, millions of people will be shopping, and the gift-shopping spree that is the holiday season will continue for a good month.

Key Ideas

Remember what’s essential about holidays

Do you care deeply about your religion? Do you care most about spending time with your loved ones? Maybe certain traditions matter tremendously to you. Maybe you love the feeling of giving (of which, ...

Start to let go of the non-essential

Talk to others about letting go of the traditions you don’t like. Yes, letting go can feel painful at times, but think of the downsides of the things you’re letting go. Think of the simplicity you’re creating. And feel the relief of relaxing around letting go.

Let’s let go of the myth that you have to spend to give:

Gift your family with some small experiences, such as caroling, baking, watching It’s a Wonderful Life;
Volunteer as a family at a homeless shelter.
Make meaningful gifts. A video of memories. A scrapbook.
Bake gifts.
Have an experience instead of giving material goods: do something fun together, go to the beach or a lake.
Give the gift of your expertise. Are you good at fixing cars? Teaching music? Teaching cooking? Magic tricks? Help or teach someone something you’re good at.