Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Getting over the Gimmes

The phone lines lit up today as you offered suggestions for making kids get over the gimmes (the gimme-every-toy-at-Target-sickness) this holiday season! I about fell off my chair when my own hubby called in and accused me of being guilty of the gimmes! (I really want a new Mac computer for Christmas since mine is on its last leg). If you'd like to join the "Campaign for Catherine's Computer" just contact me and I'll forward you my husband's email address! :)
Thanks to Diann for emailing me a great idea of having kids sift through the toy sale fliers, cutting out the main items they enjoy and gluing them onto construction paper for her to have as a keepsake. She writes, "We stapled them together like a book...I have saved them, and it's nice to look back at them now that they're grown."
Amy from Peoria writes that she involves her kids in making unique gifts for others to encourage a giving spirit. For a great teacher gift idea, she suggests decorating little Christmas trees with items they love. For example, one teacher was crazy about basketball, so she decorated a Christmas tree with school colors and basketballs. Brilliant idea!

1 comment:

Steve said...

I can't really speak from experience on this topic, but my wife and I have discussed a plan for when our children are old enough to get the Gimmies. One of our friends has done this with success, and we want to do this to. Kids get lots of toys for Christmas from all different places. When it's all over with or maybe even after each major Christmas event, have the child choose a few of the toys they really want to keep, and then return the rest so we can put the money into a savings account. This not only teaches them how to handle money responsibly, but also keeps them from getting too focused on things.

Another thing we want to try is this kids get to choose from the presents they've received and pick which ones they want to donate so a child in need can have something.