As a child I managed to convince all my family that my desires were too difficult to understand, so they could just give me cash and I'd sort it out. Its been decades now and they still only give me cash and while its very emotionally void its incredibly effective.
And as such, the pomp and ceremony of it all is skipped, because none of them are gonna make a show about a card with money, and we get back to pure family shit sooner.
When I get cash, I try to make sure to toss a message with a picture of something nice I purchased for myself later on in the year. Like, I bought a new chair, and tossed messages to three family members with a picture, saying "thanks for the birthday gift of a portion of this chair you gave me a bit back, it's really comfy, I appreciate it.", that way they get the pomp and circumstance they might actually want in gift-giving activities, but also, I just get proper cash.
As a child I managed to convince all my family that my desires were too difficult to understand, so they could just give me cash and I'd sort it out. Its been decades now and they still only give me cash and while its very emotionally void its incredibly effective.
And as such, the pomp and ceremony of it all is skipped, because none of them are gonna make a show about a card with money, and we get back to pure family shit sooner.
When I get cash, I try to make sure to toss a message with a picture of something nice I purchased for myself later on in the year. Like, I bought a new chair, and tossed messages to three family members with a picture, saying "thanks for the birthday gift of a portion of this chair you gave me a bit back, it's really comfy, I appreciate it.", that way they get the pomp and circumstance they might actually want in gift-giving activities, but also, I just get proper cash.