Dear Eric: How does one politely suggest to an in-law’s relative that we don’t need to exchange Christmas gifts? My significant other and I are at the stage in life where we really do not need more “stuff” and would rather not deal with gifts that are generic at best and usually are re-gifted promptly via donation or gift-economy communities.

Perhaps I should suggest we only exchange consumables (gifts of homemade baked goods or gourmet food items), but that seems rather controlling.

This person has been nothing but kind to us in all our years of knowing them, but the awkward gift exchange is getting tiresome. I’m at a loss for how to deal with this and am hoping you have a delightful solution to this first-world problem. – Feeling Bah-humbug

Dear Feeling: It can be deceptively easy

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