The X-word

Is it December already? How did that come up, and how do you service the annual consumer fest with nae money? Possibly quite well-

1)Use a tenuous Jewish interest (membership of the Jewish Literary Society) to feign a religious objection
2)Strong-arm friends and family into the no-present pact
3)Have the friend who's a great cook to stay over Xmas
4)Assign and then applaud kiddos' repudiation of materialism; anything more than a lump of coal and a satsuma are ostentatious superfluous capitalist displays of wealth bled from the exploitation of alienated labour etc. ....

Bingo!