Giving the Gift of Less at Christmas

Written by Roz Heintzman of www.echoage.com

I’d like to share two Christmas Shopping Parables:

Parable 1

Jimmy loves to play with blocks and Lego, but after seeing the ads for the $150.00 Roboraptor he pleads with his Mom to buy it. Being the ‘hot’ toy of the season, she spends two weeks searching and finally ends up driving to Buffalo. He plays with it for 20 minutes on Christmas Day. For the next year it sits on his shelf gathering dust. The next Christmas she buys him popsicle sticks and a glue gun.

Lesson: Fulfill need not want.

Parable 2

The parents of two young boys decide they will spoil them a little this Christmas. At the end of Christmas morning the two kids are almost buried in books and toys and clothes and hockey equipment. They spend the rest of the day happily sword fighting with the cardboard tubes leftover from the wrapping paper.

Lesson: Less is more.

For those of us who spend this time of year giving and receiving gifts, it takes a certain amount of self control to not let things get out of hand. Usually it is not until after all the presents have been opened, after all the money has been spent that we realize, we have gone a little bit overboard…again.

When we are out there in the stores, looking for all the perfect gifts for our kids, we forget that they will be receiving gifts from others too, grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, special friends, the list is endless.

After opening too many gifts, a child feels overwhelmed and loses track of who gave what gift and who needs to be thanked.

To put things into perspective, giving a child so many new, amazing things in such a short time is comparable to a buffet of food at your favorite restaurant. You held back at breakfast and lunch to enjoy the buffet, but by the time you leave the buffet the only thing you feel is sick and sad for overindulging.

Similarly, a child on Christmas morning is really just wanting to explore and spend time with the first couple of toys that he opens, anything more than that is overwhelming. For the younger kids, think about holding gifts back to be opened on the days following Christmas.

If you are going somewhere special for the holidays – that is a gift for everyone. It’s important for kids to appreciate that the expensive holiday is the major Christmas gift this year, limit additional gifts to just one gift from Santa. Your gift to your kids is the trip. Trust me, the wonderful memories from that family holiday will be with your children forever, that is the best gift you can give them.

If you are staying home this year, when opening presents, take your time, let the morning linger.  Let your excited child open her stocking when she first gets up, but have her wait until everyone is up before the gifts under the tree get opened. Once the kids start to get over stimulated (you know they do), suggest a breakfast break for all. They spend all year waiting for this day to come, make it last long enough for everyone to really enjoy it.

For those of us in this fortunate position of being able to give too much to our kids, it is important to show some restraint for Christmas is not about getting or giving the “best present ever” it is about love, family, kindness and good spirit. Make this your “best Christmas ever” by giving the gift of less.

Roz Heintzman is the Chief Ambassador at ECHOage a charity-driven, eco-friendly, online birthday party service where children learn the value of giving and receiving while celebrating. Roz is the mother of 2 great kids and she lives in Toronto, Canada.