Limiting christmas gifts to your children how do you do it?

[rpmom]

Hi,

I have wondered how people limit the christmas gifts to children. I know some people only do 3 gifts to repsent the 3 gifts the wise men brought baby Jesus. But how does that relate to santa? like is the stocking filled and then santa leaves 2 gifts and then one from the parents?

DS recieved an overabudunance and truly does not really appreciate all of his toys.

I was just wondering how yar do it
thank you for any advice.

[PrincessPerky]

Well you might not appreciate mine, there is no Santa Clause, he is a fictitious character, kind of like Dr. Seuss' monsters, so he is in books, fun to mention, not real.

If you must lie to your kids, tell them Santa needs to make sure all te kids get toys and if he spent hours putting out fifty billion toys at your house he wouldn't have enough time to get to everyone else, magic isn’t everything.

In all likelihood I am alone in my opinion about lying to kids at Christmas time, so someone else here prolly has a better method.

[terry1156]

When too many toys were in our house, we implemented a rule that the children could only get as many gifts from santa as they were willing to give to others in need. Since these toys had to be in good shape (no missing pieces) our children learned to keep thier toys in good shape (if they didn't, they couldn't get a new toy in exchange) plus we tried to instill the generosity and joy of giving gifts to others. This worked well for us keeping closets from overflowing.

[Rasha]

Well, it's getting close to Christmas time again. Each year it seems like Christmas sneaks up faster than it did the year before. Although the saying is usually true that "Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year", for many of us it is also the most costly.
As we all know, this can be an extremely stressful time. If you are one of those scraping by each month just to pay your bills, the added pressure to earn extra money for Christmas can be a little much to handle.
Making extra money is something a lot of us are worried about this time of year. With a combination of the economy, and job instability... you may be among the many searching for ways to make money this holiday season.

[bjl584]

Super old post, but I'll chime in.

Christmas gifts can be budgeted for just like anything else. Figure out what works for your budget, then put away X amount each month. In December, go shopping with the money that you saved up over the year.

[photo]

Originally Posted by rpmom

DS recieved an overabudunance and truly does not really appreciate all of his toys.

Christmas isn't my holiday, so I don't have any personal advice. However, I seriously think that parents should begin a Xmas Revolution. Fight against the huge advertisements that encourage you to go into credit card debt to provide your children with their own toy store rooms of gift. Get every parent you know to buy no more than 2 gifts for each child. Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt, and Uncle receive the gift of no extra expenses. If everyone seriously made a pledge to do this, it would make everyone's lives much better. Kids wouldn't return to school talking about the deluge of gifts while others feel bad that they only received 1 or 2 gifts.

Consumers have allowed Santa to dominate the season. It is a religious holiday, and perhaps if people focused more on that aspect, the rampant consumerism, which isn't healthy for anyone except for merchants and stockholders, would die down, and what is supposed to be such a wonderful holiday will actually turn into one.

[Redraidernurse]

This will only be our 3rd year having Christmas with a child. I prefer to get the child one "big" gift that is practical as opposed to many little gifts. Our DS gets small little toys throughout the year so I don't see Christmas time as a reason to suddenly buy lots of toys. However, this year he needs bigger clothes so we will be purchasing those.

[snafu]

When our DKs were small Christmas was very much an extended family event. As the hype and marketing ramped up, we ignored it and stayed away from the mall as much as possible. Santa brought them each one or two age appropriate toys, family draw tried to give something as home made as possible, craft supplies, or tickets to an event, we parents bought something needed [apparel or sports equipment] & grandparents gave money to be added to college investment fund.

Once school age we did our best to buy the most preferred toy; both boys preferred sports equipment and were fine with quality equipment from the sport equipment exchange. The major gift had to be chosen in advance and even tried on to fit. The best gift for all the kids was tickets to a professional event.

[dawnwes]

Nope, you aren't alone. We have never done Santa. My kids know we have XX amount and not an unlimited fund for Christmas.

Dawn

Originally Posted by PrincessPerky

Well you might not appreciate mine, there is no Santa Clause, he is a fictitious character, kind of like Dr. Seuss' monsters, so he is in books, fun to mention, not real.

If you must lie to your kids, tell them Santa needs to make sure all te kids get toys and if he spent hours putting out fifty billion toys at your house he wouldn't have enough time to get to everyone else, magic isn’t everything.

In all likelihood I am alone in my opinion about lying to kids at Christmas time, so someone else here prolly has a better method.

[LuckyRobin]

Each year my kids get a price limit based on our overall Christmas budget. They know they only get X amount of dollars towards Christmas (same with birthdays). It is up to them what they want to spend it on (unless it is something age inappropriate). Once they have decided we go pick it up. There is no surprise, no one getting what they don't want, and it's amazing how often they will go used to get more things (books, video games). They each get a stocking filled with little surprises, things like a new flashlight, batteries, cashews, tangerines, natural candy, a book, a bouncy ball, gel pens, stickers, a bracelet or a watch (just little things they might want). We don't do Santa Claus, either, though we have talked about him being a representative of the idea of giving, and they did have pictures taken with him when little, but we never told them he was real or that he brought any of the presents.

[snafu]

rpmom: If DS has an over abundance of toys, why not divy them in thirds, 1st group of played with regularly/preferred. 2nd group possibly not quite age appropriate, might like them changed out bit-by-bit with 1st group. Last third boring, not living up to expectations, not interesting for your particular child. These can be re-gifted to other youngsters in your extended family, neighbors, sold or donated. If DS can understand the concepts, great to have his participation.

[scotland]

Our little dears have flown the nest but we still get them all a christmas present each. Its usually aftershave and socks for the boys and accessories for the girls. Maybe there will be grandchildren in a few years, but this year we will cope.

[nick__45]

Originally Posted by Rasha

Well, it's getting close to Christmas time again. Each year it seems like Christmas sneaks up faster than it did the year before.

That's because we're getting older and possibly busier.

Originally Posted by Rasha

Although the saying is usually true that "Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year", for many of us it is also the most costly.
As we all know, this can be an extremely stressful time. If you are one of those scraping by each month just to pay your bills, the added pressure to earn extra money for Christmas can be a little much to handle.
Making extra money is something a lot of us are worried about this time of year. With a combination of the economy, and job instability... you may be among the many searching for ways to make money this holiday season.

You don't have to spend money for Christmas gifts to have fun. ALthough with gas price the way it is, it maybe cheaper to just buy the gifts then to drive around window shopping. Fortunately, my older kid doesn't care or need toys or clothes or anything. My younger one always want to buy everything but I learn that's what Walmart and toy stores are for; let them play with it for a few hours and put it back. I learned that after seeing how quickly kids got tire of their new toys; sometime as little as 1 day.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by nick__45

I learn that's what Walmart and toy stores are for; let them play with it for a few hours and put it back. I learned that after seeing how quickly kids got tire of their new toys; sometime as little as 1 day.

This is so true, and is a great teaching point for parents. Teach your kids that commercials can be very deceptive and make a product look far better than it actually is in real life. Think about not just how cool an item is but if it will still be fun a few days or weeks after you get it. Does it have replay ability or will it quickly get boring even though it is a lot of fun at first. That's one of the reasons that in the couple of years I've had my iPhone, I have purchased exactly one app. All of the others were free because I have yet to find anything compelling enough to fork over money for, even $.99.

[Frugal]

I would simply make some really nice homemade gifts. Examples include home-baked cookies or loaf cakes, or something like homemade bath salts for teenagers, or even homemade little cosmetics like lip gloss and lotion with aromatic oils. There are lots of books out there at just about everyone's local libraries on how to make small, inexpensive, yet thoughtful homemade Cmas gifts for children and teens. They are honestly easier to make gifts for than some pickier adults! Lol