Many parents have admitted to buying gifts for their youngsters that, sensibly speaking, they can’t afford, and others have bought more goodies as Christmas draws nearer because the present stash doesn’t look impressive enough. If you want to manage the Christmas list and ensure that your little ones appreciate the true value of Christmas, something needs to change.
Commercial influences are all around us, with advertising campaigns and media marketing playing a huge role in what your children add to their must-have lists. You can’t sit through one television programme on the kids’ channels without seeing advertisements and, while they can be a huge help, they can also be a burden when it comes to the purse.
- Help your child to understand that Christmas isn’t all about their pile of presents and ensure that, whatever they receive on the day, they show appreciation and gratitude.
- Help them to realize that, even if their Christmas wish list is a mile long, they won’t be getting everything on the list. It’s there to inspire Santa Claus, their parents and family members.
- Resist the temptation that the toy shelves at your local store provide. You don’t need to buy everything that you know your child will love; such as the Say Please Tea Set, is just as good as buying the whole range.
- Encourage them to save their own pocket money if they want things on the list that they don’t get for Christmas. Use Christmas money, birthday money and cash earned from chores to treat themselves, thus learning the value of money.
- Help them to understand why they can’t have something. For example, a new scooter, when they already have one, would cost the same as taking them out to the cinema for the afternoon.
- Ask them why they want what they’ve put on their list. If they have a genuine reason, rather than “I saw it on the telly”, add that to the “possibly buy” pile. As it gets closer to Christmas, whittle the list down to the toys you plan to buy them.
You shouldn’t feel like you should ‘keep up with the Joneses’ – Christmas will be special, regardless of what you give and what they get.
* Disclaimer: This guest post was written in collaboration with Kira Browdy
