As Other Half and I try to keep the focus of Christmas where it belongs, one thing we've done is limit the number of Christmas gifts. Why? Well, up until this Christmas, Mugger and Bug were the only grandkids on both sides of the family and we were a little concerned about the effects of excess...
So, the rule we've come up with (and tried to share with the grandparents) is that they'll receive only 3 Christmas presents from us-- they think the stocking is from Santa and being that they're only 5 and 3, we're willing to play along.
So why 3? Well, as we've explained to the Kiddos, if 3 is good enough for Baby Jesus (gold, frankincense, and myrrh), then it's certainly good enough for them!
Now I know we're not the first ones to think of this, but it's been a novel idea to enough of my friends that I thought I'd share it with the rest of you. It works for us! I'd love to hear any thoughts (via the comments) of other ways that have worked for your family.
For more Works for Me Wednesday tips, head on over to Rocks in my Dryer...
It does get to be too much. We have slowly weaned down to less and less each year. It started with limiting grandparents to one gift per child. A few years later (this year) we aren't giving gifts to the kids. They will only get a stocking (which they know come from Mom and Dad). I'm having fun getting them little stocking stuffers and it's fun to slowly remove the stocking contents and see what fun things everyone got. Lisa~
ReplyDeleteGood idea! We actually aren't giving our kids any presents this year. They have millions of toys and don't need any clothes because they get millions of hand-me-downs. Instead we (my entire family) are going skiing together in Colorado. We live in 3 different states and this will be the perfect time for us to spend 4 wonderful days and nights together. All of the kids are goign to ski school together and we are all going to hit the slopes. We are really looking forward to it. The kids were bummed at first of course, but now they are warming to the idea. We are focusing much more on giving (plus we have more to give since we aren't spending it all on the kids) to charities and missions.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I am also a former Spanish teacher and MOPS leader. Isn't that ironic?
I think we are going to do this - this year, too.
ReplyDeletesounds like a good idea and a good way to save money
ReplyDeleteWell I never thought of that. But it is a good idea. Merry Christmas!
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