One of the most memorable toys I got was a barn my maternal grandmother made out of cardboard boxes. She only meant for it to be a fun way of wrapping the “real” gift, which was a couple of Breyer horses and some other small things, but I kept and played with it for years.

What I do remember best about Christmas was doing holiday craft projects with my mom (we’d do themed decorations for the tree each year), as well as making dozens and dozens of Christmas cookies to give as gifts and coming up with clever ways to package them. I also remember going over to my paternal grandmother’s house every year to help her decorate her tree–digging through all the tissue paper and finding favorite ornaments from years past and figuring out where on the tree they should go was a big deal.

I also remember my dad paying me to wrap presents because he was so lousy at it; only he and I knew what other people were getting, and I liked sharing that secret with him. I also helped my paternal grandmother wrap presents, and while she didn’t pay me I got the same thrill of being trusted with keeping a secret.

But 99% of the stuff I got for Christmas? Long forgotten. And even back then, if you’d asked me what I liked most about Christmas, I probably would have singled out the crafts, the baking, and helping my grandmother decorate her tree.

to me, this is a value I want to instil in him, not an idea that x-mas is a time for him to amass things he doesn’t need.

I also find that avoiding toy stores and tv works wonders as he has no unrealistic expectations set up from over-exposure to commercialism.

I know my parents always made a point to remind us that Santa Claus was not in the same league as Jesus and that Saint Nicholas only gave gifts on Christmas because the Magi gave gifts to the baby Jesus.

We have 12 big gift bags, and into each goes a gift for each of the kids and one for a parent/the family. It sounds like a lot, but there are dollar store items in there, as well as the gifts from family and Santa, and sometimes a toy that just wasn’t really noticed through the year. We also add a book and a ‘forgotten toy’ for each kid, so even if they got a shirt from Grandma, there’s a toy to play with.

New Year’s Eve is the 7 swans a-swimming, so we have a ‘beach party’ for a few friends. We turn up the heat, dress in beach wear, have fruit punch and play with balloons and stuff. It’s my favourite part of the year. :)

Its how you treat them and how you educate them about life that will set their character.

At home, my siblings and I make an elaborate Christmas Eve dinner. Again, this isn’t the cheapest thing going, but the three of us split the cost, and since we’re doing all the work, it’s not that bad.

Finally, I’ve started a pumpkin carving party tradition here in my new city, which is a fun mid-autumn ritual.

All of these activities are about togetherness and experience, not about stuff, which is definitely in the spirit of this post!

We love the family tradition of walking around the neighborhood to see the Christmas lights at night. We do it many times each Christmas. They are still young enough to think it is cool to walk at “night” and of course they love the lights!

I love to get them lots of things for Christmas. They get about two big gifts from “Santa” (like a board game or bicycle) and lots of stocking stuffers. Christmas and birthdays are basically the only times they get toys though.

When they began to notice all the fluff and hype about Santa Claus, and ask what it was about, we told them that Santa is a happy game people play at Christmas time. That way, we could enjoy Santa, stockings, etc. at a low-key level without having to lie now, confess later, and set the kids up for a big disillusionment. (We did caution them not to get into discussions with their friends who were “believers.”) Also, we made it clear that the Santa game involved only their stockings, and that the presents under the tree came from parents and other relatives.

There is a whole chapter dedicated to the corporate mindset when it comes to marketing toys to children, and the “nag effect.” Parents can establish “want from need” and want to only provide kids with “needs,” and maybe a few “wants.” Commercials now are geared at teaching children to nag parents and convince them that these toys are “needs,” and other tactics. It’s pretty intense! The video/book does a much better job at showing the power of the marketing, it’s worth a read or watch!

I think it was also a great suggestion that Xmas should be celebrated a bit later, and enjoyed through New Year’s. This teaches kids that Christmas isn’t over as soon as the gifts are opened, but rather, the presents are a perk, but family time is the focus.

Great post!

For a while, it was about gifts and presents, nothing more. Then, for a few years during college, it was about getting hammered-drunk with relatives and some free swag.

Now, it’s about enjoying the atmosphere and, to be honest, deriving a small, sick pleasure from watching the donkeys stress out about finding ‘the perfect gift’.