The Present Predicament

We have a great holiday gift-giving system with our friends.  Everyone has Amazon gift lists, and we each select items from the lists for each other.  Present exchange doesn't happen on a particular week, but is usually over a few Friday night movie night gatherings.   Overall, it's a low-effort way to get that perfect holiday gift that your friend wants.  With a catch...

What happens when someone gets you a $40 gift and you got them a $20 gift?  Do they value your friendship twice as much as you value theirs?  Or was that what they wanted to get you, and they weren't concerned about the cost, they liked that item the most.  Since we're all picking the items ourselves, we can go back and see how much someone spent.  I don't mind one bit if I get someone a more expensive gift than they get me, or even if they get me no gift at all.  But I really don't want someone to think they're "not worth as much" as a friend.   I also don't want to get into a present price war with anyone either.  So while I love the system we have in place, I hope no one gets hard feelings in our group.

Overall, I'm not too worried.  We have the best friends, we enjoy every single one of them and have a great time together no matter who or how many are at a particular gathering. It's one of the best holiday gifts I've gotten this year, so many good friends with which to spend it.

The Big Boy Update:  He was hungry well before lunch today.  I tried a hand-me-down item from a friend that's a little bowl with a rubberized aperture he can stick his hand into to pull out cheerios or goldfish hoping he'd figure out how to use it and stay occupied for a while until lunch.  He is currently sitting on the floor sticking his hands in and out of the bowl and is quite pleased with himself when he successfully pulls out food.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  "It was a dark and snuffy night..."  While normally a quiet sleeper, last night there was an abundance of congested sounds coming from the crib.  I'm okay with the nasal aspirator (or "brain sucker") but my husband is a professional.  It's a skill he mastered with our son.  As it turns out, babies don't like having their brains sucked out in the middle of the night, or more to the point, ever.  With his help, her congestion was ameliorated, and she eat and and went back to sleep.  Go Daddy.