Danny Henley: Don’t forget a gift for your favorite uncle

For many, the official start of the holiday shopping season doesn’t arrive for another couple of weeks when countless Americans try to work off their Thanksgiving overindulgence on Black Friday.

At the Henley home, my bride, Nancy, is an early bird Christmas shopper. No climbing out of the sack at 4 a.m. to battle other bargain-crazed shoppers for my gal (or me).

Of course, before any Christmas shopping can begin some important preliminaries must first occur. Determinations must be made regarding who will receive gifts, how much will be spent on gifts, and what gifts will be bought.

For Nancy and me, like in most households, there are regulars who appear on the annual gift-giving list, such as our children. But the purchase of gifts for our four grown “kids” -- Caleb, Jacob, Amanda and Amber -- has become more of a challenge. Long gone are the days when handing out paper and pencils, and then tossing the Christmas catalogue in the midst of them was sufficient to come up with a lengthy list of ideas. Now we must frequently cajole our older children for ideas as to what they would like.

Even Anna, who is now 13 years old, has become more of a gift challenge. While little pleading is required to ascertain what she would like to find under the Christmas tree, Anna has yet to fully come to grips with the concept that when Mom and Dad are operating with a beer-and-pretzel budget, asking for champagne and caviar-priced items rarely pays off. I guess by asking she’s hopeful that Christmas miracles still occur.

A few years ago, Nancy’s Mom and Dad took a different approach to Christmas gift-giving. Instead of battling shoppers in crowded stores, this 70s-something couple began issuing generous checks to their children and their spouses. Nancy’s Mom, Glenda, is always apologetic about their adopted approach to gift-giving, but I’ve always felt her regrets were misplaced.

Maybe there are those who do not view cold, hard cash as a heart-warming holiday gift, but don’t count me in that group. I’ve squirreled away past Christmas checks from my in-laws and then used them to purchase photo equipment that I couldn’t have afforded to buy otherwise without landing in serious dutch with the family bookkeeper.

I’m sure there are others who would love to receive a check in the mail this holiday season.

Among that crowd is at least one uncle - Uncle Sam.

With the national debt at $7.6 trillion and growing every single day, the U.S. Treasury Department has made it known it is not the least bit shy about accepting cash gifts.

While the notion may have you laughing hysterically, note that not everyone considers the request a laughing matter. According to a spokesman with the Treasury Department, people do send in checks. In fact, last fiscal year those checks totaled up to a little over $3 million, which was the highest total since 1996.

Who would do such a generous (crazy) thing? According to notes included with the checks, some folks do it out of a sense of patriotism. Immigrants are big givers as a way of saying “thanks” to the U.S. for giving them an opportunity.

If you’re interested in tossing some money into the black hole known as the national debt, make your check payable to the Bureau of the Public Debt. The mailing address is Department G, P.O. Box 2188, Parkersburg, W.V., 26106-2188. Instead of writing “happy holidays” in the memo section, note that your gift is to reduce the national debt.

Maybe enough people will give to erase the nation’s debt. That really would be a Christmas miracle.

Danny Henley writes for the Hannibal Courier-Post in Hannibal, Mo.