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I would like to start a tradition of gifts and am looking for ideas. My oldest daughter is turning 7 and now has a good memory about things we did the year prior for Christmas.
This economy has required us to "tighten our belts" and it would be a smart thing to start a tradition that can endure whether the economy is good or not. We'd like to keep the gifts under $250 per child. This is easy when the kids are younger, but as parents of teenagers know...if they start expecting things like Wiis, IPods, etc...$250 doesn't go far at all. That's why I want to start a tradition NOW.
I'm specifically looking for gift ideas...we already have traditions like Christmas morning pancakes and reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas".
My family does put an emphasis on being together and enjoying each other's company. What I would like to do is something fun that they can expect a variation on the gift (but basically the same gift) every year. My best friend's family, for example, takes a ski vacation for Christmas every year. They usually get something to wear on the slopes, but the actual gift is the vacation itself. We can't do that because of our work schedule, but it's just an idea.
Tell them what the budget is and pick one large item or several smaller ones to fit within.
1. Homemade gifts - be they grown such as a plant or made such as a clay vase or scarf. Have them make things for each other. I like this as it really makes them think about the other person.
2. I buy one or two ornaments - or have the children make them now that they are older 7 and 4 - that represent something that happened that year. Every year when we decorate our tree, each homemade or "representative" ornament is discussed and remembered. I cannot wait until we have 20 or so years of these to review.
How about a family membership somewhere you all like to go? We have memberships to a couple of places, including our local zoo, and it's great because you can go for just brief vists and not have to worry about "getting your money's worth" out of each visit.
You could give other individual gifts too, of course, but a membership lasts all year and gives you a good reason to go places together as a family. Most memberships start at fairly affordable prices ($100 or less for a family membership) and then go up from there, with various additional benefits for each additional level. (not to mention that you're helping support a good cause) Or, for another family experience category, maybe season tickets to a local theater? You could change the venue each year, or even if you didn't, the offerings themselves would of course vary.
I think $250 is a pretty generous budget, really. I know it's not if you start factoring in electronics, but I think you're smart to set a budget.
We don't spend anywhere near that much, even for the older ones who are now young adults. What we do, however, is put the focus on one larger gift than the others and then have many smaller gifts that tie in.
For instance when my son was 4, soon to be 5, he got a new bicycle. It was red and to begin to tie it together the helmet/pads were red, but also had the Disney Cars theme (which he adores). Then to expand on that he got various packages that had Cars items, like some die cast cars, a shirt, piggy bank, etc.
The same Christmas my third daughter was 9 soon to be 11, and she also got a new bike and we followed a similar route, though hers took us through lots of science related things.
So, basically we 'theme' our gift giving each year to each individual child. One got all things UT Longhorns for a couple of years since that was where she was going to college.
We buy season tickets to the local water park, which doesn't work too well for Christmas themes, however season tickets to the zoo like mentioned could work. Then you add things they can wear or bring to the zoo, like t-shirts, hats, or lunch boxes decorated with a zoo theme of some sort. Get toys that relate as well, like binoculars, insect catchers, or Hungry Hungry Hippo.
The high ticket items simply don't come at Christmas for us. If we do anything like that it comes at birthdays, as Christmas is not the time we want the focus to be on $$.
How about one of those giant 10,000 piece jigsaw puzzles. You can work on it together all year, with the promise that it must be finished before next Christmas. Every year, you have a new piece of art you all worked on together to hang in the house.
I love the Christmas ornament idea. My mom started buying me a new ornament every year, starting when I was a baby. The Christmas after I got married, she gave them all to me as a gift. It was so special and my tree is now filled with all the memories of my childhood. My husband and I have started buying each other ornaments and I cannot wait to do this with my kids.
I love the family membership idea. We used to do this as a family because we lived near orlando. My parents would buy the whole family season passes to a different theme park including the parking fee on one of the tickets. We would go throughout the year and had so much fun. Most places allow you to take food and water in so we used to take packed lunches and picnic. Usually the only expenses for the day was ice cream and gas.
250.00 per child seems like a real lot to spend on gifts. After we stoped believing in Santa we had the choice to get lots of little gifts or a gift as a bike etc., You also could have them pick out gifts that
don't cost lots for there siblings as the secret Santa. Even visit a nursing home with small gifts for
the residents there as a plant, cookies etc., Ornaments are nice to give and Hallmark does have nice ones. We always got to open a gift the night B4 had had new PJ's to wear when we had our picture taken.
250.00 per child seems like a real lot to spend on gifts.
I was worried about posting that amount because I thought people may think it's a lot of money and hardly "belt tightening." We set that budget for everyone...my husband and I included. Last year, we bought our oldest a bike ($95 after taxes and assembly)...that was nearly 1/2 the budget. For my husband and I, a nice winter coat or a pair of boots can do the same thing. If we set that budget and our daughter asked for a Wii, that would be the entire budget. My goal was to try and spend LESS than $250 but still give something that becomes a tradition.
So far, we give gifts from the family members and then Santa brings the "Big" gift (last year's bike).
I do like the membership thing, though we already have a membership to the zoo...we spend the money that our parents send to us on that...it's great: The gift that continues throughout the year.
I have a daughter that will turn 7 in November. As far as traditions we go out as a family and choose the Christmas tree about 2 weeks before Christmas and decorate it as a family. We drive past houses that have lots of lights in the weeks before Christmas. We watch DVD's we have or tv programs related to Christmas. We read Christmas stories to the kids on Christmas Eve before bed, including The Night Before Christmas. We leave out cookies and milk for Santa and we step outside the front door in the cold and look to the skies to see if we can see Santa and his reindeer. On Christmas morning we have a Christmas pickle ornament. It is hidden within the tree the night before and the first child to see it gets to open the first gift. We always have stockings and that is the first thing they go through. We have the kids each open a gift one at a time so everyone can enjoy what they all have received instead of a free for all. Of course we have a nice ham Christmas dinner later in the day.
As far as maybe starting some special traditions with your daughter that are more giftlike, maybe start a charm bracelet and buy her a new charm that maybe speaks of that year in her life for her. You might also start a ornament gift which she receives but is then packed away for when she moves out and has her own tree one day.
We like to give kits. One we are giving this year is a paint your own pottery kit. We as a family love those paint your own pottery places, and the last time we were there we saw that they had these kits you can buy. It has everything you need within them, you paint your project and then bring it up to the store for them to glaze and fire it. You can even customize a kit. We are doing cereal bowls this year. Next year I might do mugs or plates... one for each of us.
I've also given roll-your-own beeswax candles kits (check magic cabin) and tie-dye t-shirts kits and gingerbread house making kits... Magic Cabin has a ton of really fun gift items for all ages. I go nuts there around the holidays!
We also like to go to those paint your own pottery places to paint holiday decorations to give as gifts. The decorations only cost around $5 - $7 at the place we go, so they are very affordable. My guys love to do that, it's become part of our holiday traditions.
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