In my attempts to be financially fit this year I'm already thinking about Christmas 2012(!!!) and birthdays throughout the year. I saw so many handmade items that would have been wonderful and cost effective had I allowed myself the time.
With our attempts to limit the number of gifts the past few years, it still seems like they get a lot of plastic that gets assembled and set aside. This plastic is what they asked for, of course, but even they agree it is a short lived "high" and maybe they didn't need this or that.
My friend Valerie mentioned a tradition of limiting kids to four gifts:
Something they want, something they need,
something to wear and something to read.
I love it! I did a web search and this practice comes up a lot. How did I miss this until now? What I like about it is the single "want" gift. It will make them think and be more selective in choosing. It will certainly help organize the shopping process.
If you think this seems Scrooge-like, trust me, the kids are not for want;) Christmas is for fun and the element of surprise.
