Today while at the gym I overheard a conversation between two other women. The main focus of the conversation was that one of the women had yet to find a gift for her husband. She said that the rest of her day would be spent shopping, and she hoped to get something he liked, but probably would fail. Over hearing this conversation made me thankful that David and I do not exchange Christmas gifts.
The text below was originally posted in December of 2012. Today David and I still feel the same way.
Early in our marriage David and I would go out and shop for weeks in order to find the perfect Christmas gifts for each other. Sometimes the gifts we gave were a hit and sometimes the gifts were a big disappointment. 
This cycle went on for years. Each Christmas I would find myself stressing about what to get David. The stress of finding the perfect gift sucked the joy and fun right out of the Christmas season.
About 6 years ago we made the decision not to buy gifts for each other at Christmas. I can not tell you what a relief it is to not feel the stress and pressure of trying to find the perfect gift for David. I love my husband but he is IMPOSSIBLE to buy for.
Instead of buying for each other, we decided to take the money and buy gifts for children in our community. David and I have so much fun picking names off angel trees and then shopping for gifts for children. It is our chance to bring a smile and a little bit of happiness into the life of a child. It is our chance to be “Santa” to someone. It is also another way that we use to teach our children that Christmas in not about receiving gifts.
People sometimes can not believe that we don’t exchange gifts with each other. Some people think we are crazy to not want to give each other gifts. We think it is a great idea and it helps relive stress for both of us. David and I are givers in our hearts and the best gift we can give to each other is to give to others.