I am at the âMaking Things Evenâ stage of Christmas. It is a family tradition.
When I was a kid, my mother sent me to retrieve something from her wallet and I discovered a scrap of paper with a handwritten list of Christmas gifts and what they cost. She was making a list and checking it twice, making sure thereâd be no strife.
Was such attention to equitable distribution necessary? Probably not in our minds, but it was in hers.
Now, here I sit before an open computer file analyzing spending. If only my mother had known about Excel. The tallies between families are within equitable margins. My long-range goal is balanced giving and a proportionate spread of good cheer. When did Christmas become the language of brokers and investors?