Being a mom can sometimes be challenging, especially when it comes to gift giving. If your kids are anything like mine, they receive a good deal of gifts on their birthdays, holidays, or just-because from grandparents, aunts and uncles, and other relatives that may live near or far.
Gift giving has become more of a routine than an art lately. We rush out to the store to buy the latest and greatest toy, electronic, movie, or whatever in anticipation for a huge surprise. The child opens the gift and loves it…for about 10 minutes then the gift is added to the amount of “stuff” in our kids have.
Fortunately (or is it unfortunately), many of today’s kids live in abundance. They have more “stuff” than they could ever need—toys they don’t play with and electronics that they spend far too much time on. Did you know that the average American family has 90 DVDs or videos, 139 toys, 212 CDs and 438 books/magazines? That is A LOT of stuff!
I have to confess I’m concerned about the message that the influx of “things” send to kids who have more than enough “stuff” that inhibits our quality of life versus enhancing it—and I’m not alone in this feeling. Some parents have even gone so far as celebrating Non-Toy Holidays and Birthdays to encourage their children to show gratitude and joy for receiving gifts—all types of gifts— as well as decrease the amount of “stuff” their kids are surrounded by.
Elissa Griesser, a Sydney Morning Herald blogger, explains in a recent article, the reason her family is having a toy-less Christmas is because her children already have plenty of toys. “We have toys that have been relegated to the toy box, toys that have been broken and toys that weren’t as big a hit as we’d hoped (not in the long run anyway)”.
I have to admit, the thought of not having to wrap a ton of overpriced, cheaply made (let’s face it, toy manufactures don’t make toys the way that they use to) toys made my heart flutter. Don’t get me wrong, I love my kids more than anything. I want their holidays and birthdays to be filled with joy and anticipation of gifts that I didn’t have growing up. But, isn’t that what we all want—to give our kids more than we ever had?
But with so much “stuff” and the instant gratification of receiving it, it makes you wonder about the future generations. Will our kids have an appreciation of the art of gift giving as a thoughtful and heart-felt gesture meant to please the recipient, or will be a forced art form out of expectation for reciprocation?
HERE are some great non-toy gift ideas for your children and for the whole family.