Santa, you shouldn’t have. Really.
Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way!
I love the holiday season. I love everything about it. I love putting up our tree, decorating the house, burning holiday scented candles. I even love the cold weather and the shorter days. It all means Christmas is coming! Having kids has made Christmas so much more fun, but is also bringing up a few issues that I really never thought of when I was a kid.
One of the most important – How do I teach my kids not to expect tons of gifts for Christmas? How do I teach them that it is a day for family and everything else is secondary?
It doesn’t help when Santa is a bit too generous with his sack o’ loot.
By Santa, I mean us. And our parents. And the rest of our families. I love that people are thinking of the girls on the holidays. I truly do, but is there any way to politely ask for smaller gifts, or fewer gifts, or *gulp* the faux pas of all who preach holiday etiquette, gift cards? I don’t even mean for clothes or anything useful like that. Maybe for the fun indoor play areas around here? Or maybe a month of gymnastics lessons? Now THAT would be a great gift. It’s easy when someone actually asks for ideas. I gave my Mom a list of a couple things. I know she will come back to me and ask for more ideas. I’ve got none. That means you’re done shopping. Yay! It will not go over well with her.
It never fails. Our families spoil the girls. Totally done out of love. I understand that. They want them to have fun toys and cute clothes. They love these things. They could also do with less. I would love to know that a toy was donated to Toys for Tots instead of sitting, unused, in our ridiculously messy playroom. Or maybe a donation was made to a needy charity? The girls will never notice a couple fewer gifts.
We will follow our own rules this year. Fewer gifts for all. More family traditions. More fun nights decorating together. More appreciation for what we have. Sure, more toys to put away on December 26, but I can manage a few. I can’t manage finding room for a ToysRus aisle’s worth. Couple that with M’s December birthday, and I’m sure you can imagine…
Any suggestions on curbing the give giving?
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Posted by LZ on November 7, 2009
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November 7, 2009
Oh that’s a tough one. People just LOVE to but gifts for kids because it’s so much fun! My mother in law gives the WORST gifts. Flammable dayglow sweaters knit by gypsies in New Hampshire, toxic toys from China. You get the idea.
I told my mom to forget the gifts for my kids this year and just buy us round trip tickets to Europe. Not sure if that one’s gonna pan out…
Amanda´s last blog ..I’m A Dork
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November 7, 2009
It’s not easy to curb the gifts when they are arriving from other family members. My daughter is 3 1/2 and I know that now is the time to set her Christmas expectations, not try to scale back after years of abundance. My plan (and it’s only a plan) is to buy her one gift from her father and I, a couple small things from Santa including a small sock to open and then whatever relatives buy her. Luckily, there are only 3 or 4 who buy for her. Fingers crossed I don’t get caught up in the shopping frenzy and end up filling my cart with tons of toys for her!!
Menopausal New Mom´s last blog ..Let the Show Begin!
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November 7, 2009
We had to sit down and tell both sets of parents last year to knock it off… and they did pretty well. So did I. We seriously cut back gifts by half, which was fantastic. I also asked for experience gifts… my mom got each girl a magazine subscription, the gift that lasts all year… and this year my mom got each girl a season pass to Water Country- they will love it! Watch my blog in the next few days when I will do a post with these exact suggestions and then forward it to said grandparents, voila, easy peasy.
Oh, and Amanda, I am offended you did not like the dayglow sweater I knitted!
Michele´s last blog ..Family Fun Activities in New Hampshire November 6-8
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November 8, 2009
That IS a tough one. Thought about “homemade” kind of gifts…Yeah, guess that won’t work, either. BTW, I tagged on over at my blog socome check it out.
Theta Mom´s last blog ..What Makes You a Theta Mom?
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November 8, 2009
When I stopped using credit cards, the gifts became much more modest. The kids have grown accustomed to it and are ok with it now. They just get a few things. It’s really so much less stressful!
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November 9, 2009
It is hard to control what others give your kids, but you can. Also when I was little, we would go through our toys before Christmas and pick out things that were in good condition to donate to kids who might not get any. It always felt good to know that I was helping another girl have a nice Christmas too.
Kameron´s last blog ..Random Ramblings
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December 2, 2009
I know what you mean. J’s b-day is on Dec. 19th and last year was filled with way too many toys. This year, I’m taking half of the b-day gifts that he gets from his friends at his party and putting them under the tree. I can do this because a.) He’s only 3 and won’t notice and b.) we have to celebrate Christmas early as we go away for the holidays. I would LOVE it if someone offered to babysit him instead of giving him a gift!! Does Santa babysit???
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