10 Weeks Till Christmas: Start (or finish!) Your Gift Shopping

Here's another great post from one of my favorite blogs: Simple Mom. It's hard to believe that Christmas is only 10 weeks away. And, those ten weeks are going to fly by-as usual. Before you read the article (which I hope you do-great stuff), I thought I'd share what we decided to do a couple of years ago concerning Christmas presents.

Each family is certainly different and this is not intended to make you feel bad about what you do, or make it seem that we have the best plan. This is what works for us and if it can encourage anyone out there wondering how to purge the lists and decrees the stress, I'm more than happy to share.

Two major problems come with Christmas and Christians. In the hub-bub of gift-giving we a) miss out on the true meaning of Christmas and b) add more stuff to already full houses. I can even add a third. We feed our kids and ourselves with the never-ending desire to have more. The ugly, "ALL ABOUT ME" disease rears its ugly head in the weeks, days and morning of Christmas.

First, let me paint a picture of our family situation. I live next door to my husband's brother and family and next to them is Doug's parents. My mom lived with us up until a few days ago. But, she didn't go far-only two houses down to live with Mom and Dad. We truly are a compound and I love it!! My sister and her family live only 30 minutes away. Depending on the year, we get to celebrate with Doug's sister who lives two hours away. With all this family around, we could potentially be buying gifts for 28 people! Assuming we spend $20 per gift, that's $560! AND, that means we've only purchased one gift per kid and doesn't include any friends.

I don't need to tell you that the family budget can go out the window during Christmas and I'm sure you have your own dilemma when trying to figure out what to buy and whom to buy for.

We have gone from drawing names, to buying for adults only, to homemade gifts only and the last, buying for our immediate families only. This has proven to work great in the last few years. Not only is it easier on the budget, but we can control what our kids own. And, the most important is that we can make much of Christ. When we finish opening gifts at our own home, our kids know we are heading to Grammy and Big Papa's, not to open more gifts, but to celebrate the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. My desire is that our kids see the truth that God became flesh to redeem a people for His name. We felt we could do this much easier if we decreased the amount of gifts our kids received.

I will say this wasn't easy at first for some real gift-givers in our family. The solution: shower your love on birthdays. Christmas is about Jesus. Let's focus on Him. Birthdays are a day to thank God for life, so give away. For our kids, we ask that they receive no toys, only educational gifts. My kids have never been disappointed in receiving new crayons and a coloring book. Obviously, this is age-dependent, but the idea is to give them things that encourage their hobbies and talents-not fill their toy boxes.

One last thing. We also do a major purge before I even think about shopping for my kids. If they haven't played with the dollhouse, it's gone. If they are into their dolls, I'll perhaps add to their doll wardrobe. I want to teach my kids how to de-clutter and be charitable with what God had given.

Okay, to the article. I love the practical tips she provides leading up to Christmas.

Enjoy!


10 Weeks Till Christmas: Start (or finish!) Your Gift Shopping

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