This seems to be how I feel every year:
At first I'm just excited and buy buy buy....then I start worrying about making it all "even" and buy even more. Then I stop and realize how much crap I have purchased. The kids start opening their presents, faster and faster, after opening a gift saying "thank you" "what's next" Uh, excuse me? I feel like when they receive so many presents they value nothing. Plus, if you could only see my basement...there are a bazillion toys down there that they don't even care to play with. So this year, I am only buying a few simple things and stopping then. Plus, with our current job (crap) situation there isn't really a choice. Maybe it's a blessing. Maybe we should all just get together and trade toys. Anyway...
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Christmas....
Anyone else feel like this?
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Jen-ben
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18 comments:
I have started thinking about Christmas, and more than once, I've been thankful that Kaylee's too little to understand the whole presents thing this year. We're just getting her a couple small things this year since she'll never know the difference anyway. It's hard not to buy a lot though. I hope the kids are gracious to you and understand that it's okay to get fewer presents. I think you're doing a good thing. :)
I am really struggling with this. We are going smaller and smaller every year. BUT this year the kids want lap tops and I for one think it would be a good idea. I am always needing my computer and they are needing to do their homework. But I don't want to spend the money. So I don't know what to do.
It seems to get harder the older they get. m
I couldn't agree more! I think the gifts get out of control. I am thinking of 50 things to buy Burklie, when really she will be bored of them in a day. I need to start little why she is young that way she wont expect it when she gets older ha ha!
Last year I felt like we just went to the store, looked around, and just bought stuff that was so meaningless, which made Christmas really meaningless for us. This year we're trying to think more and make the gifts a little more heart felt, and maybe a little more home-made.
Maybe instead of the usual gifts, this year we should all just say it with carbohydrates.
I struggle with this ever year too. After we've opened the gifts on Christmas morning I always ask myself "are we raising ungrateful children?"
I have a friend who buys her children 3 gifts...like the wise men did for Jesus. Another friend gives 5 gifts: 1-something they want 2-something they need 3-something to wear 4-something to read...and I can't remember the 5th thing (sorry). Let me know if you become inspired and have any great ideas!
Definitely feel that way this year & am taking advantage of the fact that they are still young and are happy with anything.-well kinda. Heck the dollar store might be are only stop this year.hehe:) I'm up for trading toys too!
This happens to me way too often as well. So this year, I decided it would stop. I've been prepping my kids for the past 3 months that christmas is going to be "simpler" this year. That we're NOT going to buy as many presents and we're going to focus more on what christmas is really about instead. In my head, they'll get ONE main gift from Santa, one gift from dad & mom, and then one gift from ONE of their siblings. Usually they want to buy for all of their sibs, but this year i'm going to have them draw names so they will only give to one - unless they want to make stuff for the others. Of course they get pjs & books on christmas eve. I was also thinking of doing something different this year to help us focus more on the true meaning. I'm either going to hang up an extra stocking or have something by the tree. I will have an FHE on service or something & then the goal will be that any time someone in the family does something nice for another person in the family or at school or anywhere, they get to write it down & put it in the stocking or box or whatever. These will be our "gifts" for Christ. I'm thinking I'll have us open them all & read them on Christmas morning - although i haven't figured out quite when yet - should i do it BEFORE we open all of our presents, or AFTER - or maybe on Christmas Eve? This is all still in my head & i haven't figured it all out yet. But I'm sick of all the toys laying around my house too - they have so much they care for nothing & I'm tired of it. I want them to WANT things in life like I did growing up. It's GOOD for kids to not get everything they want. It makes them appreciate what they do get, it makes them realize things take work, etc. Anyways, good luck with your quest. It's always easier said (or in my case thought of) then done. But i think today's economy & employement situations for many of us will help us actually stick with it this year.
I struggle with this SO much. I LOVE giving presents, but like you I end up feeling like I'm drowning in junk. So usually in November I make the kids go through all of their toys & get rid of the ones they don't play with anymore to make room for the new ones they'll get at Christmas. We tell the kids that there are kids who do not have toys & we're going to donate our toys to them. I HOPE that this teaches them to share their toys & also it helps me feel good to get rid of some of the toys they don't play with anymore (clean house=happy Sarah).
I struggle with this every year too. Luckily, my kids are still young enough that they don't "expect" a certain number of gifts so if I want to do it a little different every year, that is absolutely fine! In my house growing up, Christmas was a HUGE deal. I loved waking up to see a Christmas tree with tons of presents (at least it seemed like "tons" to me). So, I think I have that expectation. I want it to "look" like Christmas under the tree.
The past couple of years, I've tried to spend some of our Christmas money toward a Christmas experience - The Polar Express at the Heber Valley Railroad, a special concert, etc. That has been fun because we get to keep the memory forever. I also include a letter to each of my kids in their stocking. I know they don't appreciate it now, but hopefully they will treasure them one day. Every year, I wrap a book (or two) and put it by their bed. They don't have to wait to open this present. That way, they have something to look at and work on (a lot of times I include an activity book) until it is time to open presents. I don't get nearly the whining and begging. This year, I decided to make all of their Christmas candy instead of buy it. I'm just trying to add a personal touch to Christmas. Even if the kids don't notice, I will.
I actually really believe in cousin present exchanges and sibling present exchanges and Sub-for-Santas because I think it's important to take the kids to the toy store with the SOLE purpose being to buy something for someone else. They are inundated at Christmas time with the "I want" attitude, that it is nice to get them out of that for a while.
I don't know. I LOVE the toy swap idea. I also love hearing what works for other people. Maybe, by the time our kids are 18, we'll figure something out that really works for us!
We have never had money for christmas spending. We buy a few things and that is it! Last year our kids each got 1 present from us. (I had a baby Dec 3rd...) They LOVED them and played with them all day long!
We have decided that we will probably start doing the whol-
- Something you want
- Something you need
- Something to wear
- Something to read
it just seems logical, avoids excess, keeps things even, and keeps the toy overcrowding at bay;)
I love all of your ideas...I'll definitely have to implement some of them!!
Oh honey. We only do one present from mom and dad (PJ's) and one present from Santa. That is it. Opening presents is very quick, but I have found that the kids really cherish that special gift and enjoy it so much more. Simplifying our holiday in this way has been such a de-stressing and enjoyable thing. I have yet to find any negatives to it all. Yay!
Oh yeah. If the kids get a new present they have to donate an old toy. It is an exchange. I find they are pretty motivated to donate because they are not allowed to enjoy the new until they have said goodbye to the old.
As I said on a post on my blog- we are trying to do the same thing. I'm sick of the massive amount of presents on Christmas morning. This year there won't be quite as many since Spence's birthmom, Debbie, has passed away. She spoiled them rotten. The past few years they've had to "take breaks" from unwrapping because there were so many. Ridiculous! I think I'll just do one or two major toys they want along with a few things they need. It's hard with Nathan being older because his gifts are more expensive. It's hard for me to just have one gift under the tree for him, but oh well.
When I was growing up my parents always went overboard for Christmas. Credit card debt was huge. Spence and I have never put Christmas on credit cards. We only use cash. Makes it so nice.
Like you I am still thinking of something service oriented to do. We went through the toys and will donate some to the nursery at church. Still seems like there's a ton of them though. Let me know what you do!
I will be doing a post similar to this on my blog sometime soon....
A friend of mine told me about this and we are going to start it this year and hopefully keep the tradition:
Something they want, something they need, something to share and something to read.
Just to keep it simple. They always get so much from grandparents, etc and it still should make for a good holiday :)
Money is tight this year since my Christmas savings got eaten up my tuition for a late class my husband registered for. I explained all this to the kids. Explained how we didn't really even need any more toys since we were drowning in the ones we have. They made up perfect little lists that were so easy. I was so happy. And here, it's not even Thanksgiving and I'm already finding myself splurge beyond the list. And then I panic that I've over bought for one kid and need to buy more for the other. At least we agreed that for our 9 month old we'll just wrap up toys we already own and give them to him. :)
One year we told the boys we were not going to do much for Christmas. They said everyone needed something, even if it was socks and underwear. So, that is what I did. We did brother exchanges and I think we might have bought a movie. They got things from grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles and each other and they were very happy. We had actually purchased a trampoline that was outside and they had no idea. They were happy with what they had and then were really excited when they went on the Santa treasure hunt and found the trampoline. We are doing something similar this year. the whole family is getting a WII. I spread out the spending over the year so it is not so bad all in one month. I also think the baby should count as a gift!
Good for you, we give 6 presents per child - 3 from santa (which includes a dvd) and 3 from us (which always includes at least one book) and we always set a dollar amount. That way, they know they are all even and not to expect any more.
It was so good to see you last night - LOVE my pics
Smooches...
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