I usually dispense a meaningful gift at this time of year; I do not call it an x-mas gift. Rather, I offer it with wishes for a healthful new year (it is a new year on the civil calendar, of course).
I do this for several reasons: (1) it is no different than an end-of-the-year performance bonus, similar to what many employers offer; (2) most of the folks to whom we give these gifts are in service-oriented jobs that do not carry high-wages – a cash gift, or a gift card, or even a gift basket of food, can be well appreciated; (3) I do appreciate the folks to whom we offer these “new year” gifts – whether it is the super, or the cleaning lady, or the baby-sitter, these are folks who are good to us, caring for our apartment, our children, and keeping any eye out on our behalf year-round. Why would I not offer a token of appreciation? I acknowledge that the timing might be problematic, but that is why we usually offer it at Thanksgiving and explain that it is new year’s gift offered early in recognition of various seasonal expenses they might be facing.