Gabrielle Blair is a designer, mother of five and founder of 
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A few days before Christmas I start running through my gift lists for my kids, both mentally and on paper. I try to envision the pile that will be waiting for them under the tree on Christmas morning. Will there be enough? Is at least one of the gifts going to knock their socks off? Do I have enough stuff to fill the stockings? There's a part of me that starts to panic as the holiday draws closer and closer. I'm tempted to run to Target and buy extravagant gifts that we don't need and can't afford, just to make a bigger impact during gift opening. Luckily, I can usually ward off the panic by sticking to the wise gift-giving guideline taught to me by my sister-in-law Traci. The guideline: Santa brings each child at our house 3 gifts. Something to read, something to wear and something to play with.* If that seems like it's not quite enough to make for an exciting Christmas morning, I then remind myself that Grandma Blair and Grandpa Mac both sent gifts. That Uncle Josh is sending a package. That my kids made gifts for each other. That the neighbors dropped by some goodies... That even if Santa brought no gifts, there would still be lots of stuff under the tree. The 3 gift guideline is only a guideline. And we stretch and adapt it as needed. Sometimes the "something to read" is the whole Narnia series. Sometimes the "something to wear" is socks and underwear, plus a cool new hoodie. Sometimes the "something to play with" expands to an active toy, like a skateboard, plus a thinking toy like a chess board. But even with the adaptations, the guideline does a good job of keeping me from going overboard with the gifts. And with the spending. On Christmas Eve, I inevitably find I've bought a bit too much. So I edit things down, keeping the guideline in mind. And I save the rest for upcoming birthdays or future gift-giving. My oldest is 11. My youngest is 2. And so far I've had no complaints. *Santa also fills my kids stockings with practical sorts of things-- usually art supplies, bubble bath and cans of olives. My kids really like olives.
Posted by: Danielle | December 22, 2008 at 04:15 PM I have a 4-gift guideline: Something to wear, This still seems really extravagant to me, what with all the additional gifts my daughter gets from grandparents, aunts and uncles, doting friends, etc. Thanks for the tips -- happy holidays! We do the same. Santa brings 3 gifts from their list. Reminiscent of the Three Wise men bringing gifts to Baby Jesus. The stockings have fun things like lip gloss and a rubics cube. They usually end up getting most of the things on their list from Aunts/Uncles and Grandparents. As parents we get them so fun/cool books and something to wear. My son is 2 and this is my first year doing Christmas so this just the information that I need! I wish you'd posted this sooner... And it's official that your design mom blog is my new favorite blog. Thanks so much for doing all you do! I have been thinking about your rule all season. I failed and overbought as usual, but I was much better than last year! So, thank you for that! My kids are both pretty young (4 and 17 months) so I have been trying to think of ways to keep holiday gifts in check without seeming like a Scrooge. This is a pragmatic approach and I think it will work very well for us in the future, too. Thanks! Gab- this is BRILL. I love the idea of the three things...I love traditions and as my boys get older I may steal this idea. I steal so many of yrs anyway- why not one more right? You inspire and guide me in my parenting love! thank you! xo xo we have a similar rule- my kids are allowed to ask for: something I want it's always fun to see how clever they can be! I think this is a great rule of thumb. Next year I'm definitely trying it out! I may a bit of more of Scrooge but my daughters get ONE GIFT TO SHARE from Santa. Friends are a little bewildered than amazed when my girls don't seem to know what Santa is bringing. They just know it will be magical in its own way. It is normally a doozy. We bought a big inflatable bounce house and set it up in the dining room one year. The top of the inflatable pushed against our 12 feet ceilings and the girls jumped the next two weeks away inside the house until we finally convinced them that it was an outdoor toy. This year it is a Wii with DDR ( I know, technically that is 2 but they asked for dance mats, not the Wii). Santa is the guy that shows up with something magical in our house. It also means I don't have a long list from either of them of lots of toys that will fall by the wayside when THE present is opened. As you mentioned, relatives still spoil the girls and I tucked away a few pairs of blue jeans and fresh underwear under the treee for the upcoming year. They are 5 & 8 this year. I have heard them whispering together what they think Santa will bring. Will it be a microphone or a guitar? A dance mat or a telescope? They know it will only be one but it is bound to blow their socks off! (Which is ok because a new pair is always tucked in the bottom of their stockings. ) Great post! Let me suggest a fourth type of gift for kids: a charitable donation made in a friend's name. A nonprofit website, http://www.ChangingThePresent.org, offers thousands of tangible donation opportunities: preserve an acre of the rain forest, books for kids, meals for the hungry, etc. You can even send a personalized greeting card with a photo and description of the gift. It's a great way to do good and teach your children about helping others. |
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I really like this post. I generally try to stick to the same guidelines, though not consciously. And you're totally right that I don't have to fill the whole Family Room with gifts from Santa given that others will be sending gifts as well.
The Dollar Store and Five Below are GREAT places for stocking stuffers.
I actually wrapped a few of my older daughter's old toys (that had been stored in our basement over a year after we moved to our new house) and gave them to our younger daughter for her 1st Christmas. No one was the wiser and my youngest daughter had age-appropriate toys that I didn't have to spend more money on!