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Christmas Gifts for Kids: Is Less More?

At the risk of alienating my new following, I’m going to broach the subject of kids’ Christmas presents. Now, I love all things Christmas: I love the smells, decorating the house, having family and friends round, and most of all the magic and excitement that ensues for those of us with young children. However, in the process of clearing out, recycling and donating old toys and clothes in preparation for the mass of new stuff that is soon to pop down the chimney, I found so many toys with bits missing or broken. I started wondering is less more and am I brave enough to choose quality over quantity?

Originally, with my first child I thought I would purposefully choose gifts that were enjoyable, educational and long-lasting. However, over the years, and another two kids later, I’ve found that come Christmas Eve there are so many gifts that the floor is barely visible. It is wonderful, of course, on Christmas morning to see the joy on our kids’ faces as they rip open their presents. But is it healthy for our children to live in such a disposable society where everything is replaceable?

My instinct is that I’m not teaching them to value the things that they have – after aforementioned clear out, none of them even noticed that some of their toys were missing. But then the worry wort kicks in … Would the kids notice if there were less gifts than last year? We wouldn’t want them to be disappointed or are we really just over-thinking it …?

My aim this year is to focus on good quality, long-lasting products (depending on what budget allows) but will I be strong enough to stick to it? No doubt by Christmas Eve I’ll have buckled and a mountain of gifts will appear by the tree again, destined for the charity shop before Christmas 2014!

Logging onto blogging …

To anyone who happens to find themselves on this page, first of all – thank you! I’m new to blogging, so please be patient with me…! I am a freelance editor and writer but, by far, my most challenging job is raising three boys (let’s call them: Tennant (after Dr Who not the drink; this is a health-related page, after all…), Spider and Choo Choo. Apologies for the lack of imagination, but dinner preparation is looming, and originality is escaping me….

We are a family of five living in Scotland, yes that’s the ‘fat man of Europe’ and like most parents we’re doing our best to raise healthy, considerate and reasonably (!) intelligent boys (she says as one child intermittently turns the lights on and off!). With health statistics here in Scotland following the US, I want, like most parents, to do the best by my kids: in terms of feeding them healthy food, keeping them active and, very importantly, making them feel secure. Being on the cuddly side myself, I am in no way working for the food police; I’d be a hypocrite. My aim is to write, hopefully sometimes humorous, posts about my experiences raising my kids and how to keep them healthy and happy, as well as recipes and product reviews. Wish me luck! Karen x