Over the years Hubby and I have been blessed with two incomes and the ability to give great gifts to each other, far-flung family members and friends. Those gifts included our pets and even pets of family and friends. :-)
Now that I can't work, we are officially broke and material giving is canceled this year. I saw this decision coming months ago, and Hubby about fell over when I brought it up. After some serious number crunching, he finally saw the light of reality.
On the one hand, it's sad. On the other hand, I find a great burden has been lifted. After all, gift giving is not what Christmas is all about. It's time we focused on the real meaning of the holiday for once in our lives.
Cutting ourselves out of gifts is one thing, but we get so much joy watching the dogs "open" their gifts, that we can't cut them out of the merriment. Even if a $10.00 toy gets shredded in 5 minutes (usually!) it's worth it.
Christmas is when I most miss our first dog, Travis. We had to keep gifts on the dining room table until opening day or he'd have the paper shredded in minutes. That crazy mutt knew exactly how to rip off the wrappings without damaging the item inside. He had a ball rolling around in a mound of discarded paper while shredding it with his teeth and claws. The toy was just icing on the cake. Of our four dogs, Travis was the only one who really got into the shredding game. Our latest dog, Doc Holliday the dalmation, will have his first Christmas with us this year. He's a bit slow on the uptake with most things, but maybe he'll catch on to the unwrapping festivities. I hope so! Maggie is too well-mannered to even think of going after something that isn't specifically handed to her. :-)
All these memories make me curious. Are your pets included in the holiday festivities? We want stories!