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Filed under: Holidays
Ellie has recently shown an intense fascination with her own babyhood, so we spent a good chunk of this past weekend strolling down memory lane. We brought out the photo albums and videos and settled in to reminisce about days gone by. Many of the photos we looked at and videos we watched were taken at Christmases past and I was horrified by what I saw. No, it wasn't that shot of my backside in velour Santa pants that had me squirming. It was the enormous pile of presents I spied under each year's Christmas tree. Did we really go that far? What were we thinking?
I've gotten better about limiting the excess gift-giving at the holidays, but I've still got some work to do. I love to give gifts, especially to children. But no child really needs 20 presents to open on Christmas morning and in the past few years, Santa has become a lot more conservative. But this year, Santa is going all the way and stopping the gift-giving at one. Well, one big gift anyway. There will still be a few small trinkets here and there, but this year I am buying one gift that we can all enjoy together as a family.
I didn't just make this decision without running it by the person who will be most effected by the change - Ellie herself. Surprisingly, despite the fact that I set the Christmas gift bar so high in years past, she is totally cool with it. Of course, it helps that the big gift is something she has been begging for forever -- a Nintendo Wii.
Already this plan has taken a lot of the usual holiday stress off of me. I am saving money, time and lots of running around. But most importantly, I am lowering that bar back down where it should have been in the first place. What about you? Have you been guilty of excess gift-giving at the holidays? Are you ready to scale back?
I've gotten better about limiting the excess gift-giving at the holidays, but I've still got some work to do. I love to give gifts, especially to children. But no child really needs 20 presents to open on Christmas morning and in the past few years, Santa has become a lot more conservative. But this year, Santa is going all the way and stopping the gift-giving at one. Well, one big gift anyway. There will still be a few small trinkets here and there, but this year I am buying one gift that we can all enjoy together as a family.
I didn't just make this decision without running it by the person who will be most effected by the change - Ellie herself. Surprisingly, despite the fact that I set the Christmas gift bar so high in years past, she is totally cool with it. Of course, it helps that the big gift is something she has been begging for forever -- a Nintendo Wii.
Already this plan has taken a lot of the usual holiday stress off of me. I am saving money, time and lots of running around. But most importantly, I am lowering that bar back down where it should have been in the first place. What about you? Have you been guilty of excess gift-giving at the holidays? Are you ready to scale back?
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
11-11-2008 @ 11:17AM
Rob O. said...We're fighting desperately to reign in the excess for this, our son's first Christmas. It's just so much fun thinking about all of the gift ideas, but I keep trying to temper the excitement with a dash of common sense.
I really want to establish that Christmas is more a time for getting together with family & friends more than just a time for getting stuff. Certainly, my favorite holiday memories are those when we all gathered at my Granddad's and there were so many kids that the little house seemed like it would burst at the seams.
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11-11-2008 @ 12:42PM
c_rousseau05 said...Aw congrats on your sons first Christmas! This will be my daughters second and I know exactly what you mean by trying to be level headed when buying the gifts. We got her a few things, mostly clothes lol, and a couple of new toys to play with but really she just had fun playing with the bows and wrapping paper.
11-11-2008 @ 12:00PM
Karen said...When we decided to scale back, we decided to go with 4 gifts. Something they want, something they need, something silly and something to read.
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11-11-2008 @ 12:09PM
Jennifer said...I follow the same guidelines except that instead of "something silly" I do "something to wear."
11-11-2008 @ 12:44PM
c_rousseau05 said...As a kid my family wasn't very "well-to-do" if you know what I mean but we always had what we needed and were happy. At Christmas time my parents would ask us to make a list (once we could write) of ten things we wanted, with the thing we wanted most at the top. They would usually get us one "big" toy gift that was within their budget either to share or each from our lists. The rest were small things that we needed like clothes or pajamas, hairpins etc. We do the same with my daughter, even though it's hard to NOT splurge on her we manage to keep it under control. I think when it comes to Christmas gifts its most important that the child feels they got listened to, so buying at least one thing from their list is going to make them happy and even if it's the only thing they get for Christmas, it was what they wanted so they don't usually care if they get anything else.
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11-11-2008 @ 1:36PM
ame s said...For my first daughter's first Christmas, my (late) husband and I bought her 5 gifts. She was just shy of turning 1, so it wasn't expensive. My parents showed up with an armful of gifts. My brother came in the door with a large trash bag full of gifts. The child got tired of opening gifts that year.
As my daughters have gotten older they understand that the gifts they really want cost so much more, so there will be fewer gifts under the tree.
My current husband and I have budgeted carefully all year. We were able to get the Wii the girls have wanted for so long. Add a couple of games, a pair of jammies each, an outfit or two, and we're finished shopping.
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11-11-2008 @ 6:13PM
Sherry said...From their very first Christmas my kids have only gotten one present each from Santa. That is it. Any other presents are from me and my husband. I don't have to try to explain why last year Santa could bring a bus load full of presents then this year when the budget is tighter he only brings a few. I know parents who have blown insane amounts of money trying to keep the belief in Santa alive for one more year and avoid questions about him.
My kids get the one present each from Santa no matter what then the number of presents from Mommy and Daddy can change and if they question it I can explain money is tight this year.
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