Believe it or not, Christmas is almost here and that means its time to start thinking gifts. This is the time when you either prepare yourself for Black Friday (something that is not quite as big in Canada as it is in the U.S) to get that gift or whether you want a more low key Christmas. I on the other hand have a confession to make. Well it is not so much a confession as it is a statement. We have NEVER given our children a Christmas present. Yup, we have never bought a single thing, gift wrapped it in Christmas paper (I cannot even gift wrap, so why bother) and handed it to our kids and said, “Merry Christmas”.
Photo Credit: DollarPhoto Club/ Iordani
No we are not CRAZY even though a few people we know might think we are and they may be right but not in this instance. So before you mark me off as a Grinch let me state my case and then hopefully you will see my reasoning.
BUT being busy led us to think about a few things:
1) It made no sense to buy something expensive when all they would prefer to play with is the box that the gift came in. If you don’t believe me, give your toddler and preschooler a box and watch their imagination run wild! I have heard J say that they are in a cave, driving in a car and sleeping in bed. Now why would I want to stifle that creativity?
2) Let’s be honest, most toddlers and preschoolers probably won’t remember what they got for Christmas, let alone from who.
3) I do not want my kids to associate Christmas with simply receiving gifts. We are a Christian family and the reason for Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Christ and to be happy that God sent His ONLY son for us. As such,we celebrate that fact with friends and family.
4) In case you think STILL our kids were deprived, no worries- they still received tons of presents. They just weren’t from us.
So, am I a grinch or not? Let me know in the comments below.
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You may like the following posts on Christmas:
Easy Christmas Sanity Savers When You Have Preschoolers
Friday 9th of December 2016
[…] up with the chaos that Christmas may bring can be downright exhausting. We actually skipped giving gifts and putting up our tree one year. You want to keep your kids from being materialistic while you hope […]
Preschool Sensory Activities: DIY Christmas Cards
Tuesday 6th of December 2016
[…] year will be the FIRST that we will be doing any form of gift exchange (yes, we have never given our kids Christmas gifts)and we decide to be as frugal as possible and to go the route of customized […]
Nancherrow
Tuesday 25th of November 2014
While I certainly understand your reasoning, and don't think you're a Grinch, not giving our kids gift would steal a little joy from my own soul. My love language is gift giving and I thoroughly enjoy planning and choosing gifts to give for Christmas. We live pretty frugally during the year, so at Christmas we splurge a little. I think that when you do what works best for your personality and family, everyone wins. Thanks for sharing!
Alison Nancherrow
The Wellness Wife
Wednesday 19th of November 2014
I agree with you completely. We should never lose sight of "The Reason for the Season." I would love to not give any gifts, but my extended family hasn't jumped on board. However, my husband and I no longer exchange and now that my stepdaughter is in college, her gifts will be minimal.
michele
Wednesday 19th of November 2014
I think that whatever works for your family is good Christmas is not about gifts and what they got but many other things for many other people. In my family however we don't buy toys and what not any other part of the year except on birthdays just because we cant afford it so I like to go all out if possible depending on my budget. Gifts are just one thing though we do the tree at the same time every year and cookie making time is a fun family event plus there are of course the events like to the candle walk and the lights and displays and the ice sculptures it just makes it memorable that we can do things as a family when normally work, school, life can get in the way. Everyone has there own thing but I know that my kids look forward to all the things we do this time of year as a family and hopefully when they have kids they will look back and remember them with a smile and pass it on to there kids.