Seeing as my name is Adriane and I am a middle child, I feel uniquely qualified to say this: My parents struggled with the equality of gifts each year you described. Now that I’m an adult (elder millennial, missed Gen X unfortunately) I can say that you can try and unburden yourself of that. The truth is, your kids are all going to need different things at different stages of their lives. It’s never ever going to be 100 percent exactly equal and that’s okay. Just love them all equally. The rest is all just stuff.
I would add that often in the striving to make things financially equal it can oftentimes make things feel far more unequal. Or at least from my experience growing up and having a grandma that tried way to hard to make things perfectly equal between her grandchildren and ended up making things far worse.
I know that my parents have had some guilt about monetarily supporting my brother more than me-but they have supported me a LOT! They bought me a brand new furnace and AC unit last year!! They occasionally mention worry that they’re not giving money equally, but my brother and I are the best of friends, and we are in very different situations. He has nearly constant migraines and struggles to work. It would be weird of them to give me, who has a husband working full time and who myself works part time, the same financial support as someone who has years upon years of chronic pain. Grown kids recognize equality vs. equity. So I agree with absolving yourself of that guilt if at all you can. Or put two of your kids up for adoption so that you can totally focus on only one child.
@@cancandoit not the same concept. It’s more about generosity of spirit. Giving to those less fortunate. Not being duped outta your money by some bamboozler.
Years ago, my husband had surgery that did not go well, and instead of a cure we received a devastating diagnosis for him in early December. After visiting with us in the hospital after surgery, my brother-in-law went to my house with his teenage kids, found our Christmas decorations, and bought a tree and decorated it for us. They also did some cleaning and vacuuming, so that the atmosphere was nice and inviting. I'm sitting here crying right now with the memory of his kindness. He is not a church-going man. Probably the last person I would have expected to do something like that. But when faced with the knowledge that there was nothing he could do, - he did something - he created a small island of comfort and sanity for us. I hope this story inspires somebody in your audience, as your videos do, to do what they can to bring a little light where there's darkness. I know my brother-in-law's act of kindness helped my family live through that terrible time.
Your brother in law was such a good person for doing that.. my heart is touched right now at reading your story💜 It just goes to show that it's not if we go to church regularly that makes us good people, it's the kindness and love in our hearts💜
Absolutely awesome act of kindness! It doesn't have to be material items. Family (if you can put up with them) & love is all people need some times. We have offered prepared dinners or pantry staples (I just go through mine & get 2 bags together of things) for mates who were going through financial troubles or cancer treatment. A clean house and washing done or living room decorated for whatever season would be so lovely. I'm going to remember this!!
My mom was a war refugee from Europe from second world war. I am a boomer. She raised us in a European manner and was always echoing her feeling that we in North America began to celebrate every occasion "too much" starting around 1970's and it continued to grow. Christmas has become about over spending, over decorating and many other occasions seem to suffer from the same illness of over celebration. Weddings are often a financial burden to not only guests but to the poor wedding party; the "decade birthdays (20,30,40 50 60,70,80) have turned into cruises, a ton of people taking trips around the world etc. There are few people like MIdwest Magic who understand the basic meaning of celebration Kudos to you from Moose Country
@@debbysouthworth5606 Ok Debby... I've never seen any wedding recoup money before. They are all a waste of money. That doesn't mean people shouldn't get married. But keeping it under a thousand dollars would be much more prudent. City hall weddings and backyard receptions would be even smarter.
@@debbysouthworth5606They ARE a HUGE waste of money!!! I got married at the courthouse;my marriage is just as valid as someone who spent a ton of money on a wedding. Because it accomplishes the SAME,EXACT thing,it IS a total waste!
It seems to me that the Christmas holiday has become a contest and a race to see who can do the most and give the most. One hears the constant talk about "the holidays" being so stressful. Why? The only stress that makes any sense is that of parents struggling to stretch resources to get a few gifts for family and to put a decent meal on the table. That part should not be so hard
This comment so true! Everyone has to out do each other it is insane! I am trying my best to really impart to my child, "it is the season of giving not getting". It's so hard in such a crazy world of commercialism and consumerism!
As a fellow Autist, I theorize that it’s our strong sense of justice/fairness that makes gift-giving difficult. We want everyone we love to get equal measures of PHYSICAL gifts…when it’s actually the MEMORIES that are the true gifts they’ll treasure, which thankfully ARE equal measure. You’re a great dad.
I have 3 children too. When you were speaking of tuition and equal gifts for all, I just nodded my head in agreement. What sucks eggs even more, one of my sons makes 3x more money than I do and wants for nothing. I am getting him silly gifts and baking his favorite cookies which are a pain in the ass to make, but will be made with love. If he doesn’t appreciate my efforts, spin kick to the throat.
I was a caregiver for disabled senior adults. One of my clients was a hoarder. After helping her for several weeks, I couldn’t continue. It would take me a couple days to emotionally recover after each visit. Thank you for your ministry to very needful people.
Mack, please don’t worry about trying to make videos for us….take care of yourself and Emily….we will still be here…praying for you all. Sending love to you all.❤
Good morning! I run a food bank and we offer hundreds of families Christmas baskets. Actually, not only families, single ppl too. Because ppl living alone also deserve a meal and a wrapped gift to open in Christmas morning. Consider giving a bit less to those around you that have everything, and giving to those who have nothing in their names. It does change lives. Mack, you rock. I'm glad my sub has done good, even more than usually. Happy Thanksgiving 🦃. I'm thankful for you!
I'd like to know how you FIND the people who have nothing, because even though I live in a poorer area, everybody around me seems to have things. Lee Strobel wrote about families, in the U.S.A. no less, that were so poor that the children had only one jacket to split between the two of them when walking to school in the winter, so one child wore it halfway, and the other wore it the other half of the way. How do you find those people? I have no doubt that I could at least help some of those people. Even used clothing is better than nothing at all!
Many stores like Walmart have an Angel Tree where people put a gift wish on a Christmas tree and people who shop can buy a gift and give it to the store to deliver.
@@annep.1905 I'm sorry, I didn't reply right away. So, I'm Canadian, so maybe we have different social support networks. Here, with free healthcare we also have social care, so ppl who need help can start there. We are listed on an official registry too, so when ppl call 211 they can ask for info about their needs, like food banks, women's shelter, etc. But, as we, our charity, started as a private entity, not founded by the government, we simply went the Facebook way. We shared in groups about free stuff, support groups for single parents etc. What helped is I already had a banner of groups all across our province, with 300k members , that was based of free stuff. It's called (translation from french) "Do you have this?". Ppl who need let's say, a chair, come and ask for a chair. And ppl who have one just gives them. Ppl can also post stuff they offer. It works really well, cars were even given away. So I developed a huge network of ppl that really really needed everything. I was able to target the area, the demographics, and set up shop. And it's more than a food bank. We have a free store. Clothing and household items. And we do Christmas baskets but also summer break baskets and we have a back to school program where we give backpacks with all the items needed for the kids to start the year. So I'd say, ask around, find a charity you like, ask questions, like how much the administration gets paid and how. And if anything, start your own! ♥️ it's hard work but extremely rewarding
New to your videos. My current dirty pleasure. Super curious about what you mean by “ADHD house.” I was diagnosed within the last few years, as an adult, and brings so many things into perspective. But, I struggle with my house daily. I’ll keep watching and hopefully figure it out. Anyway, commenting to say if you do hire someone (or I’d even volunteer) to give away your money next Christmas, pick me!! I love the idea and it would be a dream “job” ❤ Thanks for sharing what you share!
I do love watching you clean hoarder houses, but Mack I think most of us really like YOU, your family and your ability to make us all laugh. I don't expect you to put out a hoarder house every week. These chill videos are great! Great change of pace, and thank you for sharing a part of your world with us. Struggles, stresses, all of it. It totally helps some of us let go of some of our own stress by you sharing yours. Happy Thanksgiving~
Mack that's so sweet and generous. Some of my proudest moments in my life has been helping families at Christmas. One time we bought a bunch of toys for a single mom with 3 boys about 11yo and under. She sent pics of them opening and their smiles were priceless. And a couple years ago I sponsored a kiddo at a local elementary school and on his list he said "I'd like a bed, or a Lego set" and I nearly cried that a 7 year old boy didn't have a bed. Some people on my FB helped me track down a lead AND helped with money so we could go get him a bed PLUS we ordered him Legos and clothes and books. Because little kids shouldn't have to choose between a bed and Legos 😭
Actually, the whole story and how Mack describes it is making me cry that there are still good people in this world. Reading the comments reminds me of how wonderful humans can be.💙💙💙
When I was really struggling, I had a public Amazon list and i had no idea there was this reddit thing where people found these public wish lists and bought stuff from it, one day just get a notification that ive got an amazon delivery and it was this silly soft toy that i could never justify to buy for myself, I still have no idea who it was that got it for me, but it lives in my heart rent free and I still have it till this day, just reminds me of this amazing little act of kindness of someone. (that year my christmas tree was a house plant because i couldnt afford a tree!).
To Mack,Emily,Filth,Thug, Daniel,Drew Frank,Beans Dusty and Dakota- Happy Thanksgiving and thanks to you all for creating such a wonderful channel-we love it and you. You help people every day,not just cleaning and making videos but also making us laugh. Take as much time as you need and want to gear up for the new year and enjoy- we love you and we aren't going anywhere!
Coming from a family of a stuggling single parent of 3. I can say that I never paid any attention to what my sisters got for Christmas. If they got more or less, then I never concerned me. The fact that we got anything was amazing to me, and I was great full. My fondest memory of Christmas was getting new pajamas. I loved that so much and continued that tradition with my daughter even though my financial situation was much better than it was for my mom. We love our new cozy jammies every year.
So many "Thank You's" to everyone who has donated to Mack's channel, and a big Thank You, Mack, for facilitating generous gift-giving to families in need. I LOVE that tree!! Happy Thanksgiving, Mack, Emily, and family. 🤍🦃🤍
Dear Mr Slim Shady. What you did, from us, is amazing and I admit I got all teary eyed. I am proud to know you, and very proud to support this channel. People like Musk and his ilk can try to ruin the internet, but people like you make it a wonderful place again.
Mack you’re seriously one of my favorite TH-camrs of all time. You don’t see people do stuff like this every day, and I wish we did. You made my day better, thank you.
I’m so glad you eventually told us what the umbrella was for - because I was nearly ready to call the police 😳 Well done channel supporters - that’s great Mack was able to help those 2 families 👏 This time of year can be so stressful. I have 3 kids Mack and I told them as opportunities came up I’d make sure they took advantage of them. One year my daughter got the opportunity to go to Italy so off she went; a few years later my older son got to go on a school trip to New Zealand and my younger son also to NZ - so, you know, ‘swings and roundabouts’.
That tree snowing on itself is priceless. You're the best in so many ways, thank you for just being you as you are. Hugs to you and your family for a wonderful holiday season, stress and all.
We decided after my mother died right before Christmas that time together was the most important gift. We started saving all year for a nice family trip at Christmas with the kids. They get 3 or 4 small gifts to open, as little kids, as the grew we got them vacation relevant small extras. Now as adults we've built a massive book of memories and great family stories. Last year their boyfriend and girlfriend were invited to come and it was like a passing of the torch. Now they can plan for their families. Gifts aren't missed at all. And because we take all year to save and plan it's pretty painless. You'd be surprised how much you can save not eating out and minimizing coffees.
Hi Mack, I have two adult kids, first and maybe only grandchild. I buy her stuff all the time, I babysit her every school day for free (child care is insane) but officially I only bought her two things for Christmas, Donkey Hodie and Purple Panda plushies. She will love them. She is the first baby in our family in thirty years, at 19 months she will enjoy this Christmas very much. The adults I am getting nothing other than a fabulous Christmas meal. When I used to buy gifts I always tried to make it equal between my two kids. You got that right about the financial worry starting mid November to tax time. The IRS always tell me I did my taxes wrong so I think they should do them then tell me how much I owe them. I live in Colorado so we get the Tabor money back so I am hoping that will pay my property taxes….another thing due in April. My little bungalow is now worth so much it’s absurd. Good on you paying for the wish lists. When I can’t sleep I daydream about helping my family and my neighborhood. How grand you made that a reality for those families.😃Much success for you and your family and thank you for this video.🙂
the end of stress by giving to others is very real. i just bought a ladies small grocery haul when she saw how much i had and made a joke of it. so i took care of her bill. she kept telling me and the cashier NO and scooting her stuff apart from mine. i kept moving it in w/ mine. she was so nice and finally let me do what i wanted to do. God bless you sir.
I actually hired two ladies to help me clean during Thanksgiving. We all had pizza for lunch. They helped me clean for over a week. I needed to get my parents house ready to show and move to a new home.
That tree looks like it’s name is Zsa Zsa. 🎄Love it! That’s awesome you were able to help 2 families. I hope your channel continues to grow exponentially!
I'm a 'Boomer'. We get a bad rap. I'm a HUGE fan of yours. You make me laugh and appeal to my warped sense of humor. I hate what Christmas has become. Your suggestions are great! Enjoy your family.
@@Lorrainecats I worked for KMart from 1993-1997. I worked for 4 years during the holidays. Even now, I still can't deal with Christmas music. Drives me bonkers (how many renditions of "Jingle Bells" and "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" are there?).
Buying those Amazon wish lists was a wonderful thing for you to do. I remember when my kids were young, every single Christmas gift I had bought was stolen on Christmas Eve. Imagine waking up Christmas morning to every single wrapped gift just being gone. It was devastating. I was so panicked that I slammed my hand in my car door, broke my fingers, while talking to the police about the burglary. So a robbery AND broken hand. Our family and friends rallied around us, donated toys and helped us rebuy everything. Santa came a week late but it was okay. I’ll never forget the kindness people showed us that miserable Christmas. Love that you’re giving back when you can ❤
Next year, maybe you could do an Advent calender of the best bits from the year. Just really short clips, 1 a day for 24 days. All togged up with whatever extra decorations you like. Thanks Mack, Jonny the hoarder cleaner. Have a great time. 😄🎉
Your tree is the nutiest Christmas decoration I've ever seen *snorts*. Thanks for helping those families out, you could have taken some of the financial stress off your own Christmas but chose to do a remarkably generous thing instead. That's really admirable. And please send Emily my best, the waiting must be so stressful for her x
That is perhaps one of the coolest trees I’ve ever seen! At first I thought the umbrella at the bottom was to deter cats from climbing it - a tradition that never skips a year in our house. 😂 Here’s to a safe and speedy recovery for Emily 💕, and peace to the family✌️
I thought the umbrella was there to catch all the little green things that fall off the trees for easy clean up and I remember thinking how GENIUS that was and then once he explained how the tree worked and what it was really for, my mind. WHOA. Was totally blown! LOL! haha
It is more blessed to give than receive. It does something to us when we give. Not talking about giving when there isn 't the money to do that. It can be a smile, an encouraging word, helping someone, taking a meal to an elderly neighbor for someone who has list a loved one, etc. Kindness matters to others and ourselves.
I love llamas, hence my handle - I'm a llama too. 😂 Thank you for helping those families. That's what it's about, and I'm proud to be part of a group that gives generously. How awesome for that load to be taken off the parents. So many are really struggling. Love the tree!! Do Frank and Beanz not try to play with it? I've had to pull our cat from the middle of ours, and that was without cool falling snow!
Thank you for being you, thank you for everything you do including the wisdom of the holiday spin kick, and a huge thank you to your wife for the Christmas tree. It is spectacular, ridiculous, and spectacularly ridiculous. I love it. Happy Thanksgiving.
I come from a family of eight children and we were extremely poor. I'm talking about no running water or indoor plumbing or telephone and purchasing our clothes at used clothing stores (the term "thrift shop" had not been invented yet) and holes in our shoes kind of poor. We grew up KNOWING that if JIM needed shoes, the rest of us need not expect that we would get ANYTHING because there simply wasn't the money for that. On the other hand, if John needed a new coat, JIM knew he wouldn't be getting something too. We all knew that the person in need would get what he needed and the rest of us would not get anything and we were okay with that. We were happy that there was at least enough money to purchase the item for whoever needed something the most. When I went off to college (in 1965) my mom and dad pulled together all the money they could spare and they handed me the great amount of $7.00 (that SEVEN DOLLARS). My brother was driving me to Nashville where my college was located and on the way he asked me if dad gave me any money and I told him that dad gave me $7.00. Jim told me he didn't think that was enough and he gave me $10.00 more so I started school with no scholarship and with the princely sum of $17.00 in my pocket. I went to Student Aide and told them my situation and they gave me a temporary loan which would have to paid by the end of the quarter or I would not be allowed to register for the following quarter. I immediately got a job and living primarily on peanut butter and crackers worked my way through school, getting a temporary loan at the beginning of every quarter and paying it off before the end of that quarter so I could attend the next quarter. I'm trying to say that I didn't even expect mom and dad to give me any more money because they simply didn't have it. During my four years of college they MAY have given me a hundred dollars total and the rest of it came from jobs I held. My niece was telling me about having a birthday party for her son and she was talking about how expensive it was and she talked about the price of the cake and ice cream and she added that of course she would have to get a present for each of the children who came to his party because if HE got a present and they didn't they would be upset. I spoke to my older sister and I told her about the conversation I had with our niece about how she had to buy presents for every child who was coming to her son's party, and I said I didn't understand that because that certainly was not the way we were raised. The birthday boy or girl got a present and the rest of were happy for him or her. We were not raised to expect that we ALL would get a present on each other's birthdays. She said, "Yes, but we weren't jealous of each other. We were happy to see that someone was being given a gift on his or her special day.". I think I'm trying to say that you should believe your children when they say they are fine with you financing your daughter's education and a year or two down the road maybe you can help another one to purchase a car or come up with the downpayment for a house and your daughter will not be expecting you to also give her a gift of equal value. After all, you've already helped her with her college. I speak from experience having watched gifts be given to my brothers and sisters on THEIR special days just as they watched a gift be given to ME on MY special day and we were all okay with that and I'm sure your children would also be okay with the child who has the greatest need have that need supplied without expecting that they all had to receive a gift of equal value!
So what my parents did with big life gifts like tuition, helping with car repairs, etc was not make that part of Christmas or birthdays, but gave it separately to each child when they needed it. I’m pretty sure they’re keeping track of about how much everyone has gotten for their estate planning, but I think we all would be fine if they didn’t do that. For Christmas, they do give roughly the same number/value of gift to each of us. Usually one bigger gift and a couple fun smaller ones.
OMG I NEED TO SEE THIS TREE IN ACTION [yaaay! thanks!] Our Christmas lasts from the last Sunday in November to Candlemas in early February [40 days after Christmas] so there is plenty of time to visit everyone - Stir-up Sunday [a kitchen party], St Nicholas Day [candles at night, reindeer snax, stories about hapless children, special dinner], Christmas Eve [presents, midnight mass & reveillon snax], Christmas Day [presents, snax all day, dinner], Boxing Day [a luncheon, walking] New Year's Eve [fireworks, TV, snax] and New Year's Day [another formal dinner], Epiphany [midnight mass, dinner], and Candlemas [candles, fancy bread] with Advent [more candle oriented rituals] and the Twelve Days [count-down to Epiphany] mixed in. It's always a huge leisurely mess with so many target dates that no-one gets possessive about any particular date and everybody gets as many parties and snax and visits as they want, with laik a potlatch-y balancing-out of everyone ends up throwing some kind of big meal and we all eat well for two+ months... not that it's a solution for everyone, but it's fun for us, and not stressful. [edit: I forgot the O antiphons leading up to Christmas, basically emails and TH-cam videos]
@@sarazimmerman713 just opportunistically Canadian... which, hey, you can be too, at least the opportunistic part :) [just came back from a St Nicholas night with someone who'd never done it before and I am happy to say they enjoyed it to bits. They promptly invited me to Christmas Eve for their family's German-style Christmas, and I'm throwing a full-on traditional 1960's Albertan-style Christmas Day for some Taiwanese friends]
My family adopted 3 families for Christmas. We have been doing this for over 25 years now and love it. Thank you and this channel for everything you do for families.
Love your kindness and compassion . We as a family here in Australia keep it very simple , some have money some don’t have money . Kris Kringle stops unwanted presents and less financial burden on those you do have the money . Takes the stress out of buying lots of gifts and receiving crap last minute gifts 🤭🐨🥰 Christmas 🎄 Christmas 🎅🏻
Im going on 44 this month and I remember growing up my mom struggling to make sure our 🎄 was amazing each year. Even tho my parents had very good jobs its not easy to support a family of 7. I only have one child and it was a struggle to fulfill his wish list when he was much younger so idk how my mom did it, but by the grace of God she did. I remember one Christmas where we thought we weren't getting any 🎁🎁🎁 bc there wasn't anything under the 🎄 the night b4 Xmas. When we woke up Christmas morning, not only were there a plethora of 🎁🎁🎁 under 🎄but coming up the staircase as well. It was like a Christmas Miracle. My mom spent all night wrapping 🎁🎁🎁 just to see the smile and joy on our 😮😮😮 when we ripped thru the wrapping paper to unveil our gifts. Thx mom! 🥰❤😘❤ So i share this childhood memory to remind everyone to remember the true meaning of Christmas and if ur one of the fortunate ones, to pay it forward and let the spirit of Christmas put a smile on a family or child's face this year. Trust me you will feel overjoyed 😊😊😊 God bless everyone and Happy Holidays!
That tree is truly ridiculous! I think all that tiny styrofoam would make me MENTAL though! lol I can imagine my cats getting into it and me having to burn my house to the ground because it's everywhere. I'm not big on the holidays but as a mom, I do it for the kids. Things are often tough but I'm so lucky my kids aren't materialistic. A few gifts and some good food is all they look forward to. :)
Just told my grown daughter, her dad used to get laid off around Christmas. 7 times!! I always worked hard as a mom to give my kids a happy Christmas ,but I would be so stressed. She said she never noticed.❤😊 Bless you for all you do.
I think the idea of gift equity is from our childhoods. I don't know how old you are but I'm a Gen Xer and we always felt slighted at Christmas time. Especially those of us with a December birthday. "This gift is for your birthday and Christmas". That used to make me insanely angry. Would they say that if my birthday was in July?? All 3 siblings were born in January and none of them had that told to them. I also remember being 8 years old and wrapping all the Xmas gifts and putting them under the tree so my parents could go galavanting to friends homes on Xmas Eve. So when I had kids I wanted to make sure everything was equal and they had Santa as long as they believed.
We used to have a little tree that snowed on itself. My husband thought it was the coolest thing! I wish i could get him one now. He's in a facility with Parkinson's and Dementia, but still loves me and Christmas!
In my family, my parents always made sure to gift us all a special experience together (depending on the year and financial situation, it ranged from movie, escape room, to a week long vacation) AND one thoughtful gift that showed us that our parents knew us and knew what we needed or wanted. The last thing your kids want is for you to be stressed out. Having honest and adult discussion about money helps out the whole family going forward and some years you could prioritize a family vacation, some years, maybe a renovation, and some years are for gifts. Its all going to be up and down in life.
As someone who grew up in a poorish family and have huge amounts of guilt and adhd, not spending money on presents is so so so hard. And i usually always get in trouble financially. I've learned that if i buy off wishlists or if i do last minute shopping, that helps me stop the spending. After i get something from each list i can ruthlessly yell "no" at myself everytime i get the urge to buy something. Its a work in progress.
I screamed with laughter at your mad tree. So glad you didn't inflict the music on us as well. My very best wishes to you and your family, especially to Emily. I hope her surgery goes well and she is soon recovered. And thank you for your kindness to others; at a season of rampant commercialism and consumerism, you express the true meaning of Christmas.
I remember your tree from last year. Yep, it sure is different. It is so nice of you to remember people who need help this Christmas. I have children but they decided not to buy gifts several years ago. It does take the stress off because I don't have to buy gifts. I am retired so financially it is a blessing. I have no money to spare. I just ordered a present for myself. A much needed cordless vacuum! I have mobility issues and trip over the cord on my vacuum. I hope you had a good Thanksgiving, and will have a nice family dinner this Saturday, and I wish you a Merry Christmas!
Mack the more you allow your audience to know you, we find out what an awesome individual you are! You put into words what most of us are feeling. Happy Holidays to you and your family ❤
I LOVE that channel growth leads you to think about making a non-profit. You have a big heart. A lot of people just hoard money. Also that tree is ridiculous. I love it! 😂❤
I was rather old for my age to beleive in Santa. Not that we got a lot, but what we got I knew my parents couldn't afford. Our family was happy but struggling (50's, 60's). I found out later how my dad made most of that money by scraping. This year after receiving some money from my mother's estate, we're helping a couple of families out for Christmas, anonymously. Good thing you're doing. Oh, love the tree!
That tree is ridiculous, insane with a generous dollop of goth. And it has big balls. I just wanted to comment in order to say it had big balls. You understand. Dude, you are so awesome to truly think of others right now with all you have on your plate. We are glad to be a part of it. I'm technically Jewish so I dont do the tree thing. I tend to celebrate Yule instead. Have some decorations based on Scandinavian design (straw goat, tomtes doing ridiculous things). I do like Xmas lights, so I like to put those up. Right now I'm painting my bedroom. Trying to keep the pets out of the room while painting is my own small version of holiday stress. I have no family so I just have my roommate and pets to buy presents for. I always ask for a book as a present. Jolabokaflod is a tradition in Iceland where people get a book and then stay up all night reading it and drinking hot chocolate. To me, that is heaven. I hope you have a mostly stress free holiday and relax as much as possible...which I guess for you would be only working 60 hours a week. Seriously, take some time to chill. I once worked my way to the ER 3x in one year by either having dangerously low blood sugar and having heart attack symptoms. Let me tell you, its not fun. Give Emily a big ol hug & smooch and spin kick the kiddos for me. 🦃
Please don't apologize for the lack of videos. You are doing enough!! We love you and will be looking forward to your videos whenever you put them out and whatever happens to be in them. Wishing you happy holidays and a speedy recovery to Emily ❤ Oh and I love that tree!!!
Your tree is awesome, I’ve never seen anything like it!! Thank you for all you do for famines in need. If you don’t get a video up, don’t worry, we will be here waiting. Prayers for your wife.
THAT is a tree to BEHOLD!✴❄✴❄✴My daughter & I love it. Never saw one like it before. It's a great thing you did to relieve the stress of 2 families too. 🎅🤶 Giving & volunteering is so therapeutic when you're doing it for the right reasons (not virtue signalling for instance- UGH those people) I'm so glad your channel popped up. Bless all of your family. 🎇🎄✨
No worries of skipping to post a cleaning video. Those of us who get what you’re all about will still be here after the holidays and appreciate the part of your life that you do share with us. Thank you for spreading generosity and love. God’s blessings to you all and I hope you have an awesome holiday season!
Thank you for the end remarks on gen X. Lol. Self effacing comments are like pulling ponytails. To me it’s a signal of self acceptance. Happy Thanksgiving and best to everyone there.
I normally spend way too much and try to carry my daughter and her family on holidays and bdays but this year I’m going through chemo for the third time for multiple myeloma blood cancer and preparing for a stem cell transplant. I’m in my 40’s and they made me take all of my teeth out for the transplant because it can cause infection to keep root canals or different things. Three chemo caused them to get pretty bad. Sooo about 8k for dental work and dentures on top if medical expenses . Something needs to change with healthcare . Things are hard for a lot of people right now. I love what you are doing for families .
We grew up very poor the company my Dad worked for gave gifts to kids 16 years and under, ten kids Our neighbour was Santa he gave the gifts out. Mom made sure we all had stockings including the in-laws We were always excited knowing we weren’t getting much but it was for sure love.
My Aunt Rita had a snowing Xmas tree in the 60's.. 😂😂😂😂 one of my most favorite xmas memories... I love ridiculous, and ANYTHING that makes me smile and laugh... I'm so glad they still exist !!!
Thank you for doing that. I appreciate it. We just bought a bunch of cat food and litter to donate to a small rescue place that rescues cats/kittens. It's where we adopted our cat 3 years ago. I believe in giving if you can and I so appreciate you and your family for buying things to help these 2 families have a beautiful Christmas. Hugs from Canada xoxo
I appreciate your perspective, as one of five kids and the extended family 20+ for Christmas (spouses and nieces and nephews) my parents would give all the adult kids and their spouse each a set amount then gifts for the school age grandkids was what they wanted but within a smaller set about. I myself am about your age and don't have grandkids yet, but have told my kids when they marry and kids come along Grandma is not running around to find gifts, but I will have a sleepover where the grandkids will get new PJ's and we will bake Christmas cookies on Christmas they will get a monetary gift. God willing and if the money is not there it will be one homemade gift.
Thank you so much for allowing us to help you help those families. Even though I'm only a sub (not a member) I appreciate that you included all of us. I love the 🌲 and decorations. Enjoy your Thanksgiving with the family and God Bless ❤
I, myself, am strange and unusual (GenX here, too). You may not celebrate Merry Moosemas, but that's a perfect Merry Moosemas tree. You make me laugh and I appreciate your videos. I'm glad you were able to make Christmas a little brighter for some people.
I ask people to donate to a favorite charity of mine. Project Night Night gives homeless children a bag, a book, a stuffed friend, and a blanket. I feel so much better than getting a bunch of mystery gifts I don't need. FYI I have that Smashing Pumpkins shirt 😜
It snows AND plays music? I feel like I need this tree! 😍 You are a kind soul. I hope you continue to be blessed and that your channel quadruples by next year this time.
I twice did a Salvation Army Angel...it was so cool to help someone to give these poor children to have EVERYTHING ON THEIR LIST...I have NEVER told anyone...but the fact you took that TH-cam money and gave in your YT channel was awesome 😎... GOD bless you... total humility And Bible says it is more blessed to give than to receive. I learned that when our family did the Salvation Army Angel Tree
Our Bible Study group is paying off school lunches for several families who are behind financially. There are just so many ways to give in your community all year long 🙏
It is rough this year for alot of people unfortunately 😢 The prices are so very high! All any of us can do is our best. 😊 You are so kind to help these Families ❤❤
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Seeing as my name is Adriane and I am a middle child, I feel uniquely qualified to say this: My parents struggled with the equality of gifts each year you described. Now that I’m an adult (elder millennial, missed Gen X unfortunately) I can say that you can try and unburden yourself of that. The truth is, your kids are all going to need different things at different stages of their lives. It’s never ever going to be 100 percent exactly equal and that’s okay. Just love them all equally. The rest is all just stuff.
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As the oldest child and a millenial I am personally offended by this! Lol
I would add that often in the striving to make things financially equal it can oftentimes make things feel far more unequal. Or at least from my experience growing up and having a grandma that tried way to hard to make things perfectly equal between her grandchildren and ended up making things far worse.
I know that my parents have had some guilt about monetarily supporting my brother more than me-but they have supported me a LOT! They bought me a brand new furnace and AC unit last year!!
They occasionally mention worry that they’re not giving money equally, but my brother and I are the best of friends, and we are in very different situations. He has nearly constant migraines and struggles to work. It would be weird of them to give me, who has a husband working full time and who myself works part time, the same financial support as someone who has years upon years of chronic pain. Grown kids recognize equality vs. equity.
So I agree with absolving yourself of that guilt if at all you can. Or put two of your kids up for adoption so that you can totally focus on only one child.
Children need love and security. The older I get the more I appreciate each of my parents.
I just say no. We don't do any of it. It's expensive, it's stressful, it's temporary.
We order Chinese food and play board games.
Perfect!!!
Me too. Chinese food, pj's and a good film.
Hear, hear.
“No one ever became poor by giving”. You guys have a heart of gold. Thanks for all you do. Happy Thanksgiving, MMC family!
Tell that to someone who has been conned by a con artist.
@@cancandoit not the same concept. It’s more about generosity of spirit. Giving to those less fortunate. Not being duped outta your money by some bamboozler.
Years ago, my husband had surgery that did not go well, and instead of a cure we received a devastating diagnosis for him in early December. After visiting with us in the hospital after surgery, my brother-in-law went to my house with his teenage kids, found our Christmas decorations, and bought a tree and decorated it for us. They also did some cleaning and vacuuming, so that the atmosphere was nice and inviting. I'm sitting here crying right now with the memory of his kindness. He is not a church-going man. Probably the last person I would have expected to do something like that. But when faced with the knowledge that there was nothing he could do, - he did something - he created a small island of comfort and sanity for us. I hope this story inspires somebody in your audience, as your videos do, to do what they can to bring a little light where there's darkness. I know my brother-in-law's act of kindness helped my family live through that terrible time.
That was a beautiful act of caring
Your brother in law was such a good person for doing that.. my heart is touched right now at reading your story💜
It just goes to show that it's not if we go to church regularly that makes us good people, it's the kindness and love in our hearts💜
Absolutely awesome act of kindness! It doesn't have to be material items. Family (if you can put up with them) & love is all people need some times. We have offered prepared dinners or pantry staples (I just go through mine & get 2 bags together of things) for mates who were going through financial troubles or cancer treatment. A clean house and washing done or living room decorated for whatever season would be so lovely. I'm going to remember this!!
Thank you for posting this.
I particularly appreciated “… when faced with the knowledge there was nothing he could do, he did something … “ 💛
My mom was a war refugee from Europe from second world war. I am a boomer. She raised us in a European manner and was always echoing her feeling that we in North America began to celebrate every occasion "too much" starting around 1970's and it continued to grow. Christmas has become about over spending, over decorating and many other occasions seem to suffer from the same illness of over celebration. Weddings are often a financial burden to not only guests but to the poor wedding party; the "decade birthdays (20,30,40 50 60,70,80) have turned into cruises, a ton of people taking trips around the world etc. There are few people like MIdwest Magic who understand the basic meaning of celebration Kudos to you from Moose Country
@@debbysouthworth5606 Ok Debby... I've never seen any wedding recoup money before. They are all a waste of money. That doesn't mean people shouldn't get married. But keeping it under a thousand dollars would be much more prudent. City hall weddings and backyard receptions would be even smarter.
@@debbysouthworth5606They ARE a HUGE waste of money!!! I got married at the courthouse;my marriage is just as valid as someone who spent a ton of money on a wedding. Because it accomplishes the SAME,EXACT thing,it IS a total waste!
It seems to me that the Christmas holiday has become a contest and a race to see who can do the most and give the most. One hears the constant talk about "the holidays" being so stressful. Why? The only stress that makes any sense is that of parents struggling to stretch resources to get a few gifts for family and to put a decent meal on the table. That part should not be so hard
This comment so true! Everyone has to out do each other it is insane! I am trying my best to really impart to my child, "it is the season of giving not getting". It's so hard in such a crazy world of commercialism and consumerism!
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As a fellow Autist, I theorize that it’s our strong sense of justice/fairness that makes gift-giving difficult. We want everyone we love to get equal measures of PHYSICAL gifts…when it’s actually the MEMORIES that are the true gifts they’ll treasure, which thankfully ARE equal measure. You’re a great dad.
I have 3 children too. When you were speaking of tuition and equal gifts for all, I just nodded my head in agreement. What sucks eggs even more, one of my sons makes 3x more money than I do and wants for nothing. I am getting him silly gifts and baking his favorite cookies which are a pain in the ass to make, but will be made with love. If he doesn’t appreciate my efforts, spin kick to the throat.
I was a caregiver for disabled senior adults. One of my clients was a hoarder. After helping her for several weeks, I couldn’t continue. It would take me a couple days to emotionally recover after each visit. Thank you for your ministry to very needful people.
Mack, please don’t worry about trying to make videos for us….take care of yourself and Emily….we will still be here…praying for you all. Sending love to you all.❤
Good morning! I run a food bank and we offer hundreds of families Christmas baskets. Actually, not only families, single ppl too. Because ppl living alone also deserve a meal and a wrapped gift to open in Christmas morning. Consider giving a bit less to those around you that have everything, and giving to those who have nothing in their names. It does change lives.
Mack, you rock. I'm glad my sub has done good, even more than usually.
Happy Thanksgiving 🦃. I'm thankful for you!
I'd like to know how you FIND the people who have nothing, because even though I live in a poorer area, everybody around me seems to have things.
Lee Strobel wrote about families, in the U.S.A. no less, that were so poor that the children had only one jacket to split between the two of them when walking to school in the winter, so one child wore it halfway, and the other wore it the other half of the way. How do you find those people? I have no doubt that I could at least help some of those people. Even used clothing is better than nothing at all!
Many stores like Walmart have an Angel Tree where people put a gift wish on a Christmas tree and people who shop can buy a gift and give it to the store to deliver.
@@annep.1905 I'm sorry, I didn't reply right away. So, I'm Canadian, so maybe we have different social support networks. Here, with free healthcare we also have social care, so ppl who need help can start there. We are listed on an official registry too, so when ppl call 211 they can ask for info about their needs, like food banks, women's shelter, etc. But, as we, our charity, started as a private entity, not founded by the government, we simply went the Facebook way. We shared in groups about free stuff, support groups for single parents etc. What helped is I already had a banner of groups all across our province, with 300k members , that was based of free stuff. It's called (translation from french) "Do you have this?". Ppl who need let's say, a chair, come and ask for a chair. And ppl who have one just gives them. Ppl can also post stuff they offer. It works really well, cars were even given away. So I developed a huge network of ppl that really really needed everything. I was able to target the area, the demographics, and set up shop. And it's more than a food bank. We have a free store. Clothing and household items. And we do Christmas baskets but also summer break baskets and we have a back to school program where we give backpacks with all the items needed for the kids to start the year. So I'd say, ask around, find a charity you like, ask questions, like how much the administration gets paid and how. And if anything, start your own! ♥️ it's hard work but extremely rewarding
New to your videos. My current dirty pleasure. Super curious about what you mean by “ADHD house.” I was diagnosed within the last few years, as an adult, and brings so many things into perspective. But, I struggle with my house daily. I’ll keep watching and hopefully figure it out.
Anyway, commenting to say if you do hire someone (or I’d even volunteer) to give away your money next Christmas, pick me!! I love the idea and it would be a dream “job” ❤
Thanks for sharing what you share!
I do love watching you clean hoarder houses, but Mack I think most of us really like YOU, your family and your ability to make us all laugh. I don't expect you to put out a hoarder house every week. These chill videos are great! Great change of pace, and thank you for sharing a part of your world with us. Struggles, stresses, all of it. It totally helps some of us let go of some of our own stress by you sharing yours. Happy Thanksgiving~
Love him too. Like his energy and spirit of giving. Merry Christmas, hope your wife gets well soon. Nelly
What Stephanie said. Wishing the best for Emily!
This. All of this. Even though it’s not Christmas. ❤
Mack that's so sweet and generous. Some of my proudest moments in my life has been helping families at Christmas. One time we bought a bunch of toys for a single mom with 3 boys about 11yo and under. She sent pics of them opening and their smiles were priceless. And a couple years ago I sponsored a kiddo at a local elementary school and on his list he said "I'd like a bed, or a Lego set" and I nearly cried that a 7 year old boy didn't have a bed. Some people on my FB helped me track down a lead AND helped with money so we could go get him a bed PLUS we ordered him Legos and clothes and books. Because little kids shouldn't have to choose between a bed and Legos 😭
This idea of clearing the amazon Christmas wish list of 2 random families is phenomenal!!! You make such a difference!! 🌲🎅🏼
Actually, the whole story and how Mack describes it is making me cry that there are still good people in this world. Reading the comments reminds me of how wonderful humans can be.💙💙💙
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When I was really struggling, I had a public Amazon list and i had no idea there was this reddit thing where people found these public wish lists and bought stuff from it, one day just get a notification that ive got an amazon delivery and it was this silly soft toy that i could never justify to buy for myself, I still have no idea who it was that got it for me, but it lives in my heart rent free and I still have it till this day, just reminds me of this amazing little act of kindness of someone. (that year my christmas tree was a house plant because i couldnt afford a tree!).
To Mack,Emily,Filth,Thug, Daniel,Drew Frank,Beans Dusty and Dakota- Happy Thanksgiving and thanks to you all for creating such a wonderful channel-we love it and you. You help people every day,not just cleaning and making videos but also making us laugh. Take as much time as you need and want to gear up for the new year and enjoy- we love you and we aren't going anywhere!
What David said‼️ quadrupled‼️‼️‼️
Coming from a family of a stuggling single parent of 3. I can say that I never paid any attention to what my sisters got for Christmas. If they got more or less, then I never concerned me. The fact that we got anything was amazing to me, and I was great full. My fondest memory of Christmas was getting new pajamas. I loved that so much and continued that tradition with my daughter even though my financial situation was much better than it was for my mom. We love our new cozy jammies every year.
So many "Thank You's" to everyone who has donated to Mack's channel, and a big Thank You, Mack, for facilitating generous gift-giving to families in need. I LOVE that tree!! Happy Thanksgiving, Mack, Emily, and family. 🤍🦃🤍
Dear Mr Slim Shady. What you did, from us, is amazing and I admit I got all teary eyed. I am proud to know you, and very proud to support this channel. People like Musk and his ilk can try to ruin the internet, but people like you make it a wonderful place again.
Elon Musk is helping to preserve free speech, therefore freedom down the road.
Mack you’re seriously one of my favorite TH-camrs of all time. You don’t see people do stuff like this every day, and I wish we did. You made my day better, thank you.
I’m so glad you eventually told us what the umbrella was for - because I was nearly ready to call the police 😳
Well done channel supporters - that’s great Mack was able to help those 2 families 👏
This time of year can be so stressful.
I have 3 kids Mack and I told them as opportunities came up I’d make sure they took advantage of them. One year my daughter got the opportunity to go to Italy so off she went; a few years later my older son got to go on a school trip to New Zealand and my younger son also to NZ - so, you know, ‘swings and roundabouts’.
😂 Your comment the tree made me laugh. 😅
I stopped buying presents. For the most part. My presence is their present since their grown now. We do things together 🎉
That tree snowing on itself is priceless. You're the best in so many ways, thank you for just being you as you are. Hugs to you and your family for a wonderful holiday season, stress and all.
We decided after my mother died right before Christmas that time together was the most important gift. We started saving all year for a nice family trip at Christmas with the kids. They get 3 or 4 small gifts to open, as little kids, as the grew we got them vacation relevant small extras. Now as adults we've built a massive book of memories and great family stories. Last year their boyfriend and girlfriend were invited to come and it was like a passing of the torch. Now they can plan for their families. Gifts aren't missed at all. And because we take all year to save and plan it's pretty painless. You'd be surprised how much you can save not eating out and minimizing coffees.
Hi Mack, I have two adult kids, first and maybe only grandchild. I buy her stuff all the time, I babysit her every school day for free (child care is insane) but officially I only bought her two things for Christmas, Donkey Hodie and Purple Panda plushies. She will love them. She is the first baby in our family in thirty years, at 19 months she will enjoy this Christmas very much. The adults I am getting nothing other than a fabulous Christmas meal. When I used to buy gifts I always tried to make it equal between my two kids. You got that right about the financial worry starting mid November to tax time. The IRS always tell me I did my taxes wrong so I think they should do them then tell me how much I owe them. I live in Colorado so we get the Tabor money back so I am hoping that will pay my property taxes….another thing due in April. My little bungalow is now worth so much it’s absurd.
Good on you paying for the wish lists. When I can’t sleep I daydream about helping my family and my neighborhood. How grand you made that a reality for those families.😃Much success for you and your family and thank you for this video.🙂
I am ignoring the following post. I know it is not you.
the end of stress by giving to others is very real. i just bought a ladies small grocery haul when she saw how much i had and made a joke of it. so i took care of her bill. she kept telling me and the cashier NO and scooting her stuff apart from mine. i kept moving it in w/ mine. she was so nice and finally let me do what i wanted to do. God bless you sir.
Income taxes in April and Property taxes in December and April! triple gut punch.
I actually hired two ladies to help me clean during Thanksgiving. We all had pizza for lunch. They helped me clean for over a week. I needed to get my parents house ready to show and move to a new home.
That tree looks like it’s name is Zsa Zsa. 🎄Love it! That’s awesome you were able to help 2 families. I hope your channel continues to grow exponentially!
I'm a 'Boomer'. We get a bad rap. I'm a HUGE fan of yours. You make me laugh and appeal to my warped sense of humor. I hate what Christmas has become. Your suggestions are great! Enjoy your family.
Yes. I get all stressed out just from all the Christmas hype. It's so irritating.
Boomer here as well! I echo the thanks to Mack and the MMC family.
I'm a late Boomer, aka Generation Jones, and identify more with Gen X most of the time. These broad categories have a lot of variation.
@@Lorrainecats I worked for KMart from 1993-1997. I worked for 4 years during the holidays. Even now, I still can't deal with Christmas music. Drives me bonkers (how many renditions of "Jingle Bells" and "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" are there?).
Buying those Amazon wish lists was a wonderful thing for you to do. I remember when my kids were young, every single Christmas gift I had bought was stolen on Christmas Eve. Imagine waking up Christmas morning to every single wrapped gift just being gone. It was devastating. I was so panicked that I slammed my hand in my car door, broke my fingers, while talking to the police about the burglary. So a robbery AND broken hand. Our family and friends rallied around us, donated toys and helped us rebuy everything. Santa came a week late but it was okay. I’ll never forget the kindness people showed us that miserable Christmas. Love that you’re giving back when you can ❤
Next year, maybe you could do an Advent calender of the best bits from the year. Just really short clips, 1 a day for 24 days. All togged up with whatever extra decorations you like. Thanks Mack, Jonny the hoarder cleaner. Have a great time. 😄🎉
My two favourite things, being weird and spin kicking 😁
Great advice. Well done
Your tree is the nutiest Christmas decoration I've ever seen *snorts*. Thanks for helping those families out, you could have taken some of the financial stress off your own Christmas but chose to do a remarkably generous thing instead. That's really admirable. And please send Emily my best, the waiting must be so stressful for her x
I was kind of hoping in the last cameo of the tree he would let us hear the music! Oh well.
Lol!@@anointedcountrygirl I imagine it singing at the top of its lungs in a high pitched scream!
Maybe to keep cats off the tree.
This was just very heart warming. ❤️❤️
Thank you Mack and Emily for being a light in this crappy world.
Wishing you, Emily and your family the best!!
That is perhaps one of the coolest trees I’ve ever seen! At first I thought the umbrella at the bottom was to deter cats from climbing it - a tradition that never skips a year in our house. 😂
Here’s to a safe and speedy recovery for Emily 💕, and peace to the family✌️
I thought the umbrella was there to catch all the little green things that fall off the trees for easy clean up and I remember thinking how GENIUS that was and then once he explained how the tree worked and what it was really for, my mind. WHOA. Was totally blown! LOL! haha
It is more blessed to give than receive. It does something to us when we give. Not talking about giving when there isn 't the money to do that. It can be a smile, an encouraging word, helping someone, taking a meal to an elderly neighbor for someone who has list a loved one, etc. Kindness matters to others and ourselves.
I love llamas, hence my handle - I'm a llama too. 😂
Thank you for helping those families. That's what it's about, and I'm proud to be part of a group that gives generously. How awesome for that load to be taken off the parents. So many are really struggling.
Love the tree!! Do Frank and Beanz not try to play with it? I've had to pull our cat from the middle of ours, and that was without cool falling snow!
I had a pituitary adenoma removed this year too. Glad you guys are able to get that done, and I hope her recovery is smooth and easy!
That tree is so silly! I love it! What you did for those two families is amazing!
That's awesome! Thank you, Mack and Emily! 🎄🎁🎉
Thank you for being you, thank you for everything you do including the wisdom of the holiday spin kick, and a huge thank you to your wife for the Christmas tree. It is spectacular, ridiculous, and spectacularly ridiculous. I love it. Happy Thanksgiving.
That black tree IS ridiculous. Ridiculously cool, that is!
Yes it’s Merry Moose day for us Canadians eh? 😂 you are the best!!
I come from a family of eight children and we were extremely poor. I'm talking about no running water or indoor plumbing or telephone and purchasing our clothes at used clothing stores (the term "thrift shop" had not been invented yet) and holes in our shoes kind of poor. We grew up KNOWING that if JIM needed shoes, the rest of us need not expect that we would get ANYTHING because there simply wasn't the money for that. On the other hand, if John needed a new coat, JIM knew he wouldn't be getting something too. We all knew that the person in need would get what he needed and the rest of us would not get anything and we were okay with that. We were happy that there was at least enough money to purchase the item for whoever needed something the most.
When I went off to college (in 1965) my mom and dad pulled together all the money they could spare and they handed me the great amount of $7.00 (that SEVEN DOLLARS). My brother was driving me to Nashville where my college was located and on the way he asked me if dad gave me any money and I told him that dad gave me $7.00. Jim told me he didn't think that was enough and he gave me $10.00 more so I started school with no scholarship and with the princely sum of $17.00 in my pocket.
I went to Student Aide and told them my situation and they gave me a temporary loan which would have to paid by the end of the quarter or I would not be allowed to register for the following quarter. I immediately got a job and living primarily on peanut butter and crackers worked my way through school, getting a temporary loan at the beginning of every quarter and paying it off before the end of that quarter so I could attend the next quarter. I'm trying to say that I didn't even expect mom and dad to give me any more money because they simply didn't have it. During my four years of college they MAY have given me a hundred dollars total and the rest of it came from jobs I held.
My niece was telling me about having a birthday party for her son and she was talking about how expensive it was and she talked about the price of the cake and ice cream and she added that of course she would have to get a present for each of the children who came to his party because if HE got a present and they didn't they would be upset. I spoke to my older sister and I told her about the conversation I had with our niece about how she had to buy presents for every child who was coming to her son's party, and I said I didn't understand that because that certainly was not the way we were raised. The birthday boy or girl got a present and the rest of were happy for him or her. We were not raised to expect that we ALL would get a present on each other's birthdays. She said, "Yes, but we weren't jealous of each other. We were happy to see that someone was being given a gift on his or her special day.".
I think I'm trying to say that you should believe your children when they say they are fine with you financing your daughter's education and a year or two down the road maybe you can help another one to purchase a car or come up with the downpayment for a house and your daughter will not be expecting you to also give her a gift of equal value. After all, you've already helped her with her college. I speak from experience having watched gifts be given to my brothers and sisters on THEIR special days just as they watched a gift be given to ME on MY special day and we were all okay with that and I'm sure your children would also be okay with the child who has the greatest need have that need supplied without expecting that they all had to receive a gift of equal value!
So what my parents did with big life gifts like tuition, helping with car repairs, etc was not make that part of Christmas or birthdays, but gave it separately to each child when they needed it. I’m pretty sure they’re keeping track of about how much everyone has gotten for their estate planning, but I think we all would be fine if they didn’t do that. For Christmas, they do give roughly the same number/value of gift to each of us. Usually one bigger gift and a couple fun smaller ones.
You know, I’m a person that likes the norm and quickly sees the tacky in things😆but that tree is pretty cool👍
That tree is pretty cool! Thanks for the reminder about how stressful holiday season is for everyone. Be kind to each other and show grace.
OMG I NEED TO SEE THIS TREE IN ACTION [yaaay! thanks!] Our Christmas lasts from the last Sunday in November to Candlemas in early February [40 days after Christmas] so there is plenty of time to visit everyone - Stir-up Sunday [a kitchen party], St Nicholas Day [candles at night, reindeer snax, stories about hapless children, special dinner], Christmas Eve [presents, midnight mass & reveillon snax], Christmas Day [presents, snax all day, dinner], Boxing Day [a luncheon, walking] New Year's Eve [fireworks, TV, snax] and New Year's Day [another formal dinner], Epiphany [midnight mass, dinner], and Candlemas [candles, fancy bread] with Advent [more candle oriented rituals] and the Twelve Days [count-down to Epiphany] mixed in. It's always a huge leisurely mess with so many target dates that no-one gets possessive about any particular date and everybody gets as many parties and snax and visits as they want, with laik a potlatch-y balancing-out of everyone ends up throwing some kind of big meal and we all eat well for two+ months... not that it's a solution for everyone, but it's fun for us, and not stressful. [edit: I forgot the O antiphons leading up to Christmas, basically emails and TH-cam videos]
Wow! I want to be in your family! Are you French?
@@sarazimmerman713 just opportunistically Canadian... which, hey, you can be too, at least the opportunistic part :) [just came back from a St Nicholas night with someone who'd never done it before and I am happy to say they enjoyed it to bits. They promptly invited me to Christmas Eve for their family's German-style Christmas, and I'm throwing a full-on traditional 1960's Albertan-style Christmas Day for some Taiwanese friends]
My family adopted 3 families for Christmas. We have been doing this for over 25 years now and love it. Thank you and this channel for everything you do for families.
Love your kindness and compassion . We as a family here in Australia keep it very simple , some have money some don’t have money . Kris Kringle stops unwanted presents and less financial burden on those you do have the money . Takes the stress out of buying lots of gifts and receiving crap last minute gifts 🤭🐨🥰 Christmas 🎄 Christmas 🎅🏻
Im going on 44 this month and I remember growing up my mom struggling to make sure our 🎄 was amazing each year. Even tho my parents had very good jobs its not easy to support a family of 7. I only have one child and it was a struggle to fulfill his wish list when he was much younger so idk how my mom did it, but by the grace of God she did. I remember one Christmas where we thought we weren't getting any 🎁🎁🎁 bc there wasn't anything under the 🎄 the night b4 Xmas. When we woke up Christmas morning, not only were there a plethora of 🎁🎁🎁 under 🎄but coming up the staircase as well. It was like a Christmas Miracle. My mom spent all night wrapping
🎁🎁🎁 just to see the smile and joy on our 😮😮😮 when we ripped thru the wrapping paper to unveil our gifts. Thx mom! 🥰❤😘❤
So i share this childhood memory to remind everyone to remember the true meaning of Christmas and if ur one of the fortunate ones, to pay it forward and let the spirit of Christmas put a smile on a family or child's face this year. Trust me you will feel overjoyed 😊😊😊
God bless everyone and
Happy Holidays!
That tree is truly ridiculous! I think all that tiny styrofoam would make me MENTAL though! lol I can imagine my cats getting into it and me having to burn my house to the ground because it's everywhere. I'm not big on the holidays but as a mom, I do it for the kids. Things are often tough but I'm so lucky my kids aren't materialistic. A few gifts and some good food is all they look forward to. :)
Well done! Don't you feel like Santa Claus Johnny from San Jose? And let that weird light shine my dude 😎
You are the most beautiful person. Your empathy for everyone just makes me want to cry. Thank you!
The worst Christmas tree ever! 😂😂😂 I love it!
Just told my grown daughter, her dad used to get laid off around Christmas. 7 times!! I always worked hard as a mom to give my kids a happy Christmas ,but I would be so stressed. She said she never noticed.❤😊 Bless you for all you do.
I think the idea of gift equity is from our childhoods. I don't know how old you are but I'm a Gen Xer and we always felt slighted at Christmas time. Especially those of us with a December birthday. "This gift is for your birthday and Christmas". That used to make me insanely angry. Would they say that if my birthday was in July?? All 3 siblings were born in January and none of them had that told to them. I also remember being 8 years old and wrapping all the Xmas gifts and putting them under the tree so my parents could go galavanting to friends homes on Xmas Eve. So when I had kids I wanted to make sure everything was equal and they had Santa as long as they believed.
The tree in the umbrella is pretty cool. I like it. Prayers for Emily!
Ohhh man I would love a Llama for Christmas. That being said, how wonderful man. Thank you for helping a few families this year. That's awesome.
I love your tree; I pray your wifes surgery goes smoothly and she heals quickly
We used to have a little tree that snowed on itself. My husband thought it was the coolest thing! I wish i could get him one now. He's in a facility with Parkinson's and Dementia, but still loves me and Christmas!
In my family, my parents always made sure to gift us all a special experience together (depending on the year and financial situation, it ranged from movie, escape room, to a week long vacation) AND one thoughtful gift that showed us that our parents knew us and knew what we needed or wanted. The last thing your kids want is for you to be stressed out. Having honest and adult discussion about money helps out the whole family going forward and some years you could prioritize a family vacation, some years, maybe a renovation, and some years are for gifts. Its all going to be up and down in life.
As someone who grew up in a poorish family and have huge amounts of guilt and adhd, not spending money on presents is so so so hard. And i usually always get in trouble financially. I've learned that if i buy off wishlists or if i do last minute shopping, that helps me stop the spending. After i get something from each list i can ruthlessly yell "no" at myself everytime i get the urge to buy something. Its a work in progress.
I screamed with laughter at your mad tree. So glad you didn't inflict the music on us as well.
My very best wishes to you and your family, especially to Emily. I hope her surgery goes well and she is soon recovered. And thank you for your kindness to others; at a season of rampant commercialism and consumerism, you express the true meaning of Christmas.
I didn't think of the music! Thank goodness he doesn't add music to his videos 😊.
I remember your tree from last year. Yep, it sure is different. It is so nice of you to remember people who need help this Christmas. I have children but they decided not to buy gifts several years ago. It does take the stress off because I don't have to buy gifts. I am retired so financially it is a blessing. I have no money to spare. I just ordered a present for myself. A much needed cordless vacuum! I have mobility issues and trip over the cord on my vacuum. I hope you had a good Thanksgiving, and will have a nice family dinner this Saturday, and I wish you a Merry Christmas!
Mack the more you allow your audience to know you, we find out what an awesome individual you are! You put into words what most of us are feeling. Happy Holidays to you and your family ❤
Giving with the right motives always blesses the giver! Giving is AWESOME- so much fun!!
In Australia tax time is 30th of June, we don't have that stress at Christmas time. Happy Thanksgiving to you all.
Thank you this made me cry .We were poor when i was a child .
I LOVE that channel growth leads you to think about making a non-profit. You have a big heart. A lot of people just hoard money.
Also that tree is ridiculous. I love it! 😂❤
Best wishes to Emily. I hope she heals quickly. And you take good care of yourself, too.
I was rather old for my age to beleive in Santa. Not that we got a lot, but what we got I knew my parents couldn't afford. Our family was happy but struggling (50's, 60's). I found out later how my dad made most of that money by scraping. This year after receiving some money from my mother's estate, we're helping a couple of families out for Christmas, anonymously. Good thing you're doing. Oh, love the tree!
That tree is ridiculous, insane with a generous dollop of goth. And it has big balls. I just wanted to comment in order to say it had big balls. You understand.
Dude, you are so awesome to truly think of others right now with all you have on your plate. We are glad to be a part of it.
I'm technically Jewish so I dont do the tree thing. I tend to celebrate Yule instead. Have some decorations based on Scandinavian design (straw goat, tomtes doing ridiculous things). I do like Xmas lights, so I like to put those up. Right now I'm painting my bedroom. Trying to keep the pets out of the room while painting is my own small version of holiday stress. I have no family so I just have my roommate and pets to buy presents for. I always ask for a book as a present. Jolabokaflod is a tradition in Iceland where people get a book and then stay up all night reading it and drinking hot chocolate. To me, that is heaven.
I hope you have a mostly stress free holiday and relax as much as possible...which I guess for you would be only working 60 hours a week. Seriously, take some time to chill. I once worked my way to the ER 3x in one year by either having dangerously low blood sugar and having heart attack symptoms. Let me tell you, its not fun.
Give Emily a big ol hug & smooch and spin kick the kiddos for me. 🦃
I like to say if you are not a little weird that we can't be friends! Weird is wonderful! Be well from washington state USA ❤️
Please don't apologize for the lack of videos. You are doing enough!! We love you and will be looking forward to your videos whenever you put them out and whatever happens to be in them. Wishing you happy holidays and a speedy recovery to Emily ❤ Oh and I love that tree!!!
Thank you for helping those families, that is amazing ❤
Your tree is awesome, I’ve never seen anything like it!! Thank you for all you do for famines in need. If you don’t get a video up, don’t worry, we will be here waiting. Prayers for your wife.
THAT is a tree to BEHOLD!✴❄✴❄✴My daughter & I love it. Never saw one like it before. It's a great thing you did to relieve the stress of 2 families too. 🎅🤶 Giving & volunteering is so therapeutic when you're doing it for the right reasons (not virtue signalling for instance- UGH those people) I'm so glad your channel popped up. Bless all of your family. 🎇🎄✨
Some years, especially as the kids got older, we all forgo gifts and make more donations
Happy thanksgiving to everyone. Have a wonderful holiday season.
No worries of skipping to post a cleaning video. Those of us who get what you’re all about will still be here after the holidays and appreciate the part of your life that you do share with us.
Thank you for spreading generosity and love. God’s blessings to you all and I hope you have an awesome holiday season!
Thank you, Mack, for helping the MMC Christmas families! That’s beautiful news during a stressful time. And, yes, the tree’s name is Zsa Zsa. 😂
Thank you for the end remarks on gen X. Lol. Self effacing comments are like pulling ponytails. To me it’s a signal of self acceptance. Happy Thanksgiving and best to everyone there.
I normally spend way too much and try to carry my daughter and her family on holidays and bdays but this year I’m going through chemo for the third time for multiple myeloma blood cancer and preparing for a stem cell transplant. I’m in my 40’s and they made me take all of my teeth out for the transplant because it can cause infection to keep root canals or different things. Three chemo caused them to get pretty bad. Sooo about 8k for dental work and dentures on top if medical expenses . Something needs to change with healthcare .
Things are hard for a lot of people right now. I love what you are doing for families .
Appreciate any contact you put up Mack! Emily’s health is the priority- hope you had a great thanksgiving!!❤❤❤❤
We grew up very poor the company my Dad worked for gave gifts to kids 16 years and under, ten kids
Our neighbour was Santa he gave the gifts out. Mom made sure we all had stockings including the in-laws
We were always excited knowing we weren’t getting much but it was for sure love.
My Aunt Rita had a snowing Xmas tree in the 60's.. 😂😂😂😂 one of my most favorite xmas memories... I love ridiculous, and ANYTHING that makes me smile and laugh... I'm so glad they still exist !!!
Thank you Mac and Emily ❤ You are beautiful souls 🙏
Thank you for doing that. I appreciate it. We just bought a bunch of cat food and litter to donate to a small rescue place that rescues cats/kittens. It's where we adopted our cat 3 years ago. I believe in giving if you can and I so appreciate you and your family for buying things to help these 2 families have a beautiful Christmas. Hugs from Canada xoxo
Prayers for a safe surgery. We support you no matter how many videos you put out.
I appreciate your perspective, as one of five kids and the extended family 20+ for Christmas (spouses and nieces and nephews) my parents would give all the adult kids and their spouse each a set amount then gifts for the school age grandkids was what they wanted but within a smaller set about. I myself am about your age and don't have grandkids yet, but have told my kids when they marry and kids come along Grandma is not running around to find gifts, but I will have a sleepover where the grandkids will get new PJ's and we will bake Christmas cookies on Christmas they will get a monetary gift. God willing and if the money is not there it will be one homemade gift.
Tell Emily we're sending her the luck of the Irish for her surgery and a quick recovery from all her Irish friends ❤☘️🍀🇮🇪
Thank you so much for allowing us to help you help those families. Even though I'm only a sub (not a member) I appreciate that you included all of us. I love the 🌲 and decorations. Enjoy your Thanksgiving with the family and God Bless ❤
Thank you for doing that.had many a holiday in my youth with almost nothing. No special dinner. No family time.
I, myself, am strange and unusual (GenX here, too). You may not celebrate Merry Moosemas, but that's a perfect Merry Moosemas tree. You make me laugh and I appreciate your videos. I'm glad you were able to make Christmas a little brighter for some people.
I ask people to donate to a favorite charity of mine. Project Night Night gives homeless children a bag, a book, a stuffed friend, and a blanket. I feel so much better than getting a bunch of mystery gifts I don't need. FYI I have that Smashing Pumpkins shirt 😜
It snows AND plays music? I feel like I need this tree! 😍
You are a kind soul. I hope you continue to be blessed and that your channel quadruples by next year this time.
I twice did a Salvation Army Angel...it was so cool to help someone to give these poor children to have EVERYTHING ON THEIR LIST...I have NEVER told anyone...but the fact you took that TH-cam money and gave in your YT channel was awesome 😎...
GOD bless you... total humility
And Bible says it is more blessed to give than to receive. I learned that when our family did the Salvation Army Angel Tree
Our Bible Study group is paying off school lunches for several families who are behind financially. There are just so many ways to give in your community all year long 🙏
It is rough this year for alot of people unfortunately 😢 The prices are so very high! All any of us can do is our best. 😊 You are so kind to help these Families ❤❤
You are a gem, Johnny Wishlist Buyer from Wichita! Happy Gobble to you and your family!