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I am very pleased with how our Christmas turned out. Thank you to everyone who posted on this thread. We spent $50 total on the gifts for our two children (4 and 10.) We gave the children each three gifts, just like Jesus received at Christmas from the wise men. My 10-year-old has been very grateful this Christmas and has acted mature beyond her years. We made sure to spend time in prayer prior to opening presents to thank God for them. We moved our time to read the Bible's account of the Christmas story to after lunch, when everyone would be more likely to listen. My four-year-old has shown me that it would not matter what he would have received- he would still want more. He got a Hot Wheels race track from his aunt at Thanksgiving- now he says he wants to give it back and get a bigger better one. This actually (in a strange way) makes me feel relieved. I now know beyond a shadow of a doubt that whether he received 1 or 20 presents on Christmas morning- he'd always want something else. Therefore I can keep my modest budget and not feel guilty about it! We obviously need to work on the issue of materialism with him, but we don't have to feel like we have deprived him of anything. We plan to keep our "simple Christmas" plan from now on- to keep the focus on Jesus- which is good for everyone in the family.
Thanks for posting an update. I'm glad your family had such a nice Christmas together .
Our Christmas was great. We save up money over the entire year and pay CASH (or debit) for everything so we don't have "Holiday Remorse". I have a 7 year old and a 22 month old. All the 7 year old asked from Santa was a BFC doll (retail $24.99). She got that from Santa and my youngest got a large stuffed dog from Santa (which was purchased at Toys R Us for $5.99 if you spent more than $50 at the store). The 7 year old got a Loving Family Doll House and accessories (that was the expensive gift), books, and the games Life, Twister and Uno. The youngest got a ride-on (the red one with the yellow top that you stick your legs through and push yourself around) Sports Coupe (the expensive gift), books, and 2 Fisher Price play sets (the farm and the schoolhouse). From other family members, they got slippers, WebKinz, books, a journal, clothes, and money that we put towards this year's vacation.
On Christmas Eve, we went to church (a 7:00 service) and then we opened up our pajamas to wear that night and for Christmas morning. We DON'T do matching sets...my husband and I get pajamas we'll actually wear and the girls get fleece pjs. For Christmas Eve Dinner, I made heavy appetizers (meatballs, a chicken-filled "wreath" made from crescent rolls, cheese balls, dips, veggie tray, etc) instead of the labor-intensive traditional Christmas Dinner. We also read Twas the Night Before Christmas and The Christmas Story. That night, I made 2 breakfast dishes for the following morning that baked for 1 hour at the same temperature so all I had to do in the morning was stick them in the oven.
On Christmas morning, we set the alarm for 6:30, got ready as quietly as we could, then went downstairs to start breakfast. At 7:00, I turned on the CD player (that's hooked to the home theater system so it is REALLY loud) and blasted Jingle Bells at top volume to wake up the girls. We all waited at the bottom of the stairs (husband, me and grandparents) to shout "Merry Christmas!" when they appeared and looked over the banister to see all of the gifts under the tree, plus their Santa presents. We let them open their Santa gift first and play with those until breakfast. Then we sat down and ate breakfast, then returned to open the rest.
It was a great Christmas...didn't go overboard with presents, chose presents that the girls really wanted and play with non-stop every day (the youngest sits in her coupe to watch Dora), started some fun traditions (the pajamas on Christmas Eve and reading of stories) and was sad when the 26th of December rolled around. And, I went to Target on the 27th and bought my Christmas cards, 4 rolls of gift wrap, pajama boxes, gift tags and 2 large Christmas serving trays for next year at steep discounts (the whole bill was $20.79). I just put a sticky note on the November calendar page to remind me I don't have to buy any of those things.
A friend of mine keeps a running list all year and gets items when she sees them so at xmas she is not spending a fortune on crappy stuff. I guess it is a matter of listening, then the kid forgets, and is pleasantly surprised on christmas that mom or santa got it.
I, too, buy gifts for people throughout the year instead of leaving it to the end. I keep a few sticky notes on the calendar (on the November page) and keep a running list of what I've already purchased and where I stored the gift. My father-in-law is a big cowboy fan and so it seemed more logical to buy his gift when we went on vacation to Durango, CO rather than trying to find a gift for him at a mall. Same for many other gifts. I know who I buy presents for every year so when I go somewhere unique (on vacation or a crafts fair for example), I specifically look for things I can buy for people for Christmas. That way, when the holidays roll around, all I have to get is a few gifts from Toys R Us and order a few things on-line to be shipped to the recipient. The true trick of it is to remember who you already purchased a gift for and where in the world you put it. Sticky Notes and an unused corner in our basement helps me immensely.
I am very pleased with how our Christmas turned out. Thank you to everyone who posted on this thread. We spent $50 total on the gifts for our two children (4 and 10.) We gave the children each three gifts, just like Jesus received at Christmas from the wise men. My 10-year-old has been very grateful this Christmas and has acted mature beyond her years. We made sure to spend time in prayer prior to opening presents to thank God for them. We moved our time to read the Bible's account of the Christmas story to after lunch, when everyone would be more likely to listen. My four-year-old has shown me that it would not matter what he would have received- he would still want more. He got a Hot Wheels race track from his aunt at Thanksgiving- now he says he wants to give it back and get a bigger better one. This actually (in a strange way) makes me feel relieved. I now know beyond a shadow of a doubt that whether he received 1 or 20 presents on Christmas morning- he'd always want something else. Therefore I can keep my modest budget and not feel guilty about it! We obviously need to work on the issue of materialism with him, but we don't have to feel like we have deprived him of anything. We plan to keep our "simple Christmas" plan from now on- to keep the focus on Jesus- which is good for everyone in the family.
Good for you. I have a theory that we try and stick with for everything from Birthday parties to Christmas. If you don't go overboard on things, your kids won't expect it. Kids whose parents always buy them a few books, some pajamas and one or two other small gifts aren't going to come to the Christmas tree expecting a Wii, IPod and $150 sneakers. It's about downsizing kids expectations from the beginning so they appreciate what they DID get and not what they didn't. I think it's harder for kids whose parents went overboard on gifts for years and then suddenly have to face reality and have a much smaller, humble Christmas. For our family, the amount we spend on gifts isn't going to change because we put the same amount of money into the Christmas Fund every month. When the kids ask for an IPod (or whatever electronic gadget is the rage when they get older), they will understand that if that's what they TRULY want, that's what they can get, but there won't be anything else for them under the tree. When they get older, they'll understand that money only goes so far so they will have to chose between having one really special gift versus many smaller gifts. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. By then, the Santa story will be out of the bag anyway and they will understand that their gifts are being bought by their parents.
I love hearing these stories about families having sensible but meaningful Christmases... thank you all so much for sharing and I'm giving you all reps!
I especially love to hear how these kids aren't being spoiled with all the latest and greatest gadgets and "hot" gifts. I think that stuff ruins it. It's just setting the stage for next Christmas, and every year the kids will expect more and more, bigger and better. Not a good thing at all. So much better to go with what's heartfelt and meaningful, and to keep things simple and not allow the holiday to get too carried away. Better for our financial security, too. Makes me sad thinking about all the families who charge and take themselves into debt for Christmas... that just really breaks my heart.
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