Yes, its the most glorious time of the year! Time to dust off those tree toppers. Untangle the broken and burnt out lights and get that holiday cheer a spreading! Sounds devine, right? Nope. NOPE. and N. O. P. E!! I loathe this time of year. And not for the usual in-law drama and endless mom chores that come with it. Nope, I despise the holidays because of the gifts that infiltrate our already busting at the seems home.
Last year my husband and I made a choice (more like I presented it and he instantly got on board) that we will only buy the bare minimum for under our tree but do one big family gift that creates memories. It’s so hard to keep the gifts even, stress over the ONE gift no one can get, right?! Then you watch the items collect dust and get in the way for endless years to come. It was too much. Each holiday season I lost my mommy marbles more and more. And I’d hear the same from other moms. I had to stop the madness!
So I won’t lie, last year we went for the family memory mecca. We gifted the family a trip to Disney and nearly all the wrapped presents were connected to the trip. I wanted the big family gift to be to our kids from mommy and daddy.. ain’t no body but me getting credit for the massive undertaking a Disney trip is. To keep the spirit of Christmas alive, Santa knew ahead of time what our plan was and left things like gift cards in their stockings and princess outfits under the tree. It was TOTALLY successful!
This year we are (still paying off said vacation) going a little more low key. I still wanted something that created memories and have not been able to pick the one thing. The idea of doing a unique coupon book for each of our kids seemed perfect this year! They will each get a book with things like lunch and a movie with mommy and daddy, mani’s with mommy, you pick your fave restaurant for dinner. We have a big age gap between our oldest and youngest, so some will have to be tailored for age. I’m still working on some other options to put in there….and open for suggestions!!
So here are some things I thought all you Aunts, Uncles, dear friends and Grandparents may like to gift.
1) Find out if they have any memberships to zoos, museums, parks and buy towards a renewal. Or, buy them the first year and make it a tradition. This may seem like a pricey gift. But for families with multiple kids, it may actually be more cost effective. Our local museum has a family membership fee of $100, or $135 depending on what options you want. For a family with 3 kids, that’s less $40 per gift, and you’ve given them something they can do all year.
2) If the family has a fun vacation planned in the year, ask if there are any plans they have and get a gift card for a local attraction they plan on visiting. Sure they may buy a toy or stuffed animal, but chances are they would have anyway, so you’re not really adding to the clutter.
3) I’m really loving the year round coupon book idea and it could totally apply for any gift giver. like an adventure with just you. Kids don’t need crazy days at like amusement parks to have an adventure. A picnic, a free park date, a balloon fight… all low cost fun options that build memories to last a lifetime. (and as a parent these types of gifts just bought me some child free time, so you have double gifted my friend!)
4) This may be for the more crafty of givers. As a photographer, one of the things I love giving my kids are disposable cameras. They LOVE taking photos, and I love seeing the world from their view. You can give them a camera (www.adorama.com and Amazon is where I get mine) and a little photo album, or do an album together after it’s developed. We gift our kids cameras for every vacation we go on!
You have now be armed with some fresh ideas for the dreaded gift shopping. Hopefully I just gave the holidays a little more cheer!
