Christmas shopping!!
It is something that is on many people’s minds right now. You might be thinking, “How am I going to budget and get all of the things they want?” Or you might be thinking that your kids want so much and it is time to get back to the season of “Giving” and not getting.
For my family it was a little bit of both. As the kids got older, their “wants” got more and more expensive. And there was always something new and exciting that caught their eye. Then after Christmas, they would love and play with their gifts. But soon the novelty would wear off and we would be back to the beginning...wanting more.
We spilled the beans!
We told them the TRUTH about Christmas and got back to the reason for the season. Having them say, “I’ll just ask for it from Santa, then it will be free.” was over. And do you know what, it was so much harder on me than it was on them. They were ready to hear that Santa is a feeling of giving and sharing with others.
As we talked to our kids, we found that their favorite part of Christmas was visiting family and playing with their cousins. It wasn’t even about the presents at all. It was about the memories that they were creating.
We know they still liked the presents part, but it wasn’t what they remembered most or what they looked forward to the most.
So we made a change.
We decided that as a family we were going to focus on the good parts of Christmas and be purposeful with the gifts we asked for. We decided to only get 4 gifts under the tree each year. We did decide that we would all get a bonus Santa gift too. But everything was less.
The four gifts were put in specific categories and they are read, need, wear, want and Santa. Each of us gets one gift from each category.
Last year was our first year doing this and it was a big hit. So we are doing it again. Everyone needs to spend time and really think about what they want, since there will only be one gift from each category. I have them write their list early, so I can really budget and plan for the holiday.
If you want to start this tradition and help budget your holiday spending without losing the magic check out the Christmas List that I use for my kids. They love it. My Christmas List.pdf
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