None of your questions have anything to do with the meaning of Christmas. But I'll go along with it
1.) How many family members do you shop for?
1.) 6...my mother and my brother's family (sister-in-law, two nephews, one niece). I may get my grandmother and a few aunts, uncles, and cousins a little something, but it won't be substantial. I usually pitch in for the group present for Granny, usually in the form of Benjamins, which she's happier with than an actual present.
2.) How much do you tend to spend on a gift? Is there an amount you try not to exceed?
2.) Depends on what I feel like getting and what I can afford without strain. For instance, my brother's family needs a new home computer, but they don't have a lot of space, so they're getting a laptop which hits around $650. It's ostensibly going to the nephews, but it's "for" everyone. They also need a new video camera (for baby filming purposes), as their old one is trashed, so that's going to be around $200-300. My mom's going in with me on it, so we'll get those two big things and that'll be it from us to them this year. And of course my baby niece will get something just for her, like a stuffed animal or something.
3.) Do you prefer giving gifts or hanging out with family for Christmas? Why?
3.) Hanging out with family usually corresponds with gift giving and getting, but all told I prefer the get-together. The gift-giving can easily become the focus of the season, and it's not often that the extended family gathers together. So it's nice...plus, the limited duration allows for peaceful co-existance for a while, which helps improve relations among each individual family unit that make up the clan.
4.) Do you have family members that come over or Do you visit them?
4.) Being part of a large extended family means that not everyone can always make Christmas at my grandmother's (the matriarch's) house, but most of them time we get just about everyone there. Sometimes the "local" parts of the family (those of us who sees each other more often and are closer to one another) will gather at one of the siblings' home and exchange gifts among themselves...this year, it'll be at my mother's house. It's catch as catch can, I suppose.
5.) How do you determine what gift you're going to give? By the person giving hints/asking for it or just figuring out what that person would like?
5.) I take suggestions for gifts, particularly if it's something they really need or could get lots of good use of. But I'm not Santa Claus...part of the thrill of the hunt is in looking for something someone may like.
It's especially fun if you do your shopping at Spencer's or something...I got one of my more lewd cousins a roll of "fanny floss" once, which was nothing but a roll of toilet paper cut to be 1" wide. I got one of the nephews a Barbie doll one year, which was priceless. But I usually look for something they like or will suit them in my own opinion.
6.) When do you do your Christmas shopping?
6.) I used to do it in the months preceding December...between August and November, picking up odds and ends in December. But since I've been working full-time (my second Christmas where I'm full-time, thank the Lord), my free time is much shorter. So as it is I haven't gotten much yet.
7.) Do you bother to wrap the presents?
7.) Wrapping is part of the wonder of Christmas. One of my fondest memories is of my dad sitting in his recliner with a curious look on his face as he held a present next to his ear and lightly shook it. I wouldn't trade that for all the tea in China. Another is how my brother cuts the tape off the package in order to read the funny paper it's wrapped in afterwards. I hate wrapping, but I like the outcome.
8.) Do you care about how much a gift given to you costs?
8.) I don't want anyone to waste a lot of money on me, since being an adult with very little debt, bills, and overhead makes me my own Santa Claus and every day can be Christmas. By the same token, it's the thought that counts...and the thought that someone would sacrifice to the extent that they feel me to be worth paying a lot for a gift is both flattering and humbling.
9.) What do you do with gifts that are given to you that you really don't use/ Didn't want?
9.) I either take it back to Walmart or wherever it came from (the usual fate of unwanted/unneeded gifts), stick it in the closet to give to someone else the next year, or keep it anyway and put it in with the rest of my accumulated stuff.
10.) What does your family do for Christmas?
10.) I think the body of this reply should give a lot of insight into my Christmas doings, but here's a rundown of my schedule for this year. After waking up, I'll go to the radio station and do my weekly two-hour program as usual, and when I get back I'll get ready for Sunday School and church. Afterwards, we'll load up and go to Granny's to see the freak show, have lunch, and possibly exchange a few gifts. Afterwards we'll go back to church for evening worship service, and then I expect my brother's folks will come down to the house to eat and exchange gifts between us.
