Too Many Christmas Presents?

Posted by Judith Zwolak Nov 27, 2006

Eleven months out of the year, I have a common retort to my children’s request for toys and gadgets: “You’ll have to wait until Christmas or your birthday.” Birthdays in December and February mean my two kids must pine for the latest cd or Thomas the Tank Engine train for months.

While it tames “the gimmies” throughout the spring, summer and fall, my strategy backfires come December when the kids can cash in on their mother’s promises. I try to keep the holiday season as free of rampant greed as much as possible. My 5-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter and I bake cookies together and deliver them to neighbors, we take part in church festivities and spend a lot of evenings driving through town admiring the light displays. But it’s obvious my kids’ favorite part of the season is the presents they have waited for all year.

Within reason, they usually get everything they want. I can’t go back on my word and expect my children to keep their promises. Together with two sets of generous grandparents and a couple of aunts and uncles, the kids score presents galore on December 25th. Christmas morning finds us all happy and a little overwhelmed--our living room a minefield of wrapping paper and toys. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Showering kids with presents only on Christmas also brings with it other benefits throughout the year. My children know that if they want to buy something during the rest of the year, they will have to earn it themselves. Or, if they choose to wait for Christmas or their birthday, time may have tempered their fierce desire for some sparkly doodad, much to my relief.

This Christmas, as always, will welcome piles of new toys into our household. I only hope they will keep my kids occupied for the next 12 months.