Kids and Gift Giving

Our daughter is still a bit too young to understand that Christmas is right around the corner. But, as a preschooler, our son is well aware of the holiday.

I didn't want the entire month of December to be filled with questions about what toys he would receive and when. Being pregnant my patience is running a bit lower these days. And I knew that my memory was not up for keeping track of an ever-changing Christmas list. So I tried a few different ways to keep our son's focus off of the gifts he will receive this year.

First, around Thanksgiving I asked our son to write an actual list of what gifts he wanted for Christmas. Afterwards I asked him to also brainstorm a list for his sister. His list for his sister was much better than my own, and helped me immensely with my Christmas shopping. Thankfully he hasn't edited either list much.

Next, as we've done before, our son helped make a few homemade gifts and treats for relatives and teachers to enjoy. It's fun to see him get a bit more involved in the process – deciding which sweet treats to make and helping me find the ingredients at the store.

Many of our relatives live far away, so I did most of our Christmas shopping online. While convenient, I decided not to involve our son with online shopping this year. Instead, we kept it simple and took him to a couple of stores to hand-pick a few gifts for relatives coming to visit us.

Finally, I added a new tradition this year. I asked our son to choose 3 organizations for our family to donate to this holiday season. I loved chatting with him about his choices throughout the month. I hope we can keep this new tradition going year after year.

How are you helping your kids focus less on the gifts they will receive this holiday season?