Okay, so I was discussing Christmas plans with my hubby yesterday, when I mentioned the "3 gift per kid" thing that some of you do. He LOVED it! I'm fond of it, as it seems like it would relieve SO much of the stress that goes along with the planning... The stress that I worry about, however, stems from how to adjust DS #1 to the idea. I have no doubt that years down the road he would just think it was a normal thing, to get 3 gifts like Jesus... that he wouldn't remember getting gobs more before... unless he looked at pictures...

I guess I just want to hear about how those of you who do it--do it.

Pros--focus on Jesus, awesome; ease of managing minimal gifts; being able to purchase higher quality gifts;...

Cons--adjusting DS #1; explaining to others (extended family, in terms of asking them to only purchase 1 or 2 things??? They've ALWAYS outdone us... how do we undo that? Or do we?)

We don't set a limit on what others buy the kids. Their money, their stress. Although every year I keep telling my parents 2 gifts but...<<sigh>>

Our kiddos are young enough so we haven't hit any "snaffoo". The three gifts are: 1. an item they REALLY want 2. is an item they really NEED (coat/shoes/jeans...) and 3. is an item ALL the family can share in (DVD/crayons/game...) This will hopefully teach them about 1. self control & wants 2. what is most important to have and 3. to share your things with others. So basically...all the things Jesus preached about while here. ;)

Not sure if this helps but I'm positive the other ladies here will offer ya great advice and ideas! YEA!!! Blessings!!! ~Kerri

Ooooh, I love this idea! I think that your son may not even notice. It is still fun and exciting and I don't know if he'll even put together that he had more last year.

I used to buy my DD a ton of little things and then finally last year, I cut it down dramatically. I think she even had more fun because she wasn't so overwhelmed with so much stuff.

Thanks again for a great idea, I love the spiritual lesson behind it!

We do a need, a want and a suprise. (the suprise is sometimes a seperate suprise gift for each boy, and sometimes, something for all of them)


We don't worry about the other family members. We just explain to the kids that it makes the other people happy to give them all those things, and that if it makes them happy, it's good for them (by them, I mean the givers, not our kids)

We kinda lucked out, b/c with 7 kids, and 11 grandkids, and 3 greatgrand kids, dh's father and stepmother only do 1 gift per person, and they only do the grands and greats.

dh's mother is Jehovah's Witness, and therefore doesn't even celebrate Christmas.

and my parents, well, they've bought each of the boys a 5 foot stocking and fill it up every year. That's their business.

I wouldn't worry so much as to what the rest of the family does or doesn't do. Honestly, we don't want our parents intruding on what WE have chose to do with the boys, so we don't try to tell them what to do for the boys, as long as it doesn't contradict what we are teaching them about Jesus.

As for adjusting your older son, with him being only 4, I don't think he'll notice that much. and if he asks one of those, "is this it" type questions, instead of causing greif, use it as the window to explain WHY you're only doing 3 gifts.

We did 3 gifts for ds last year. Really liked it in terms of not freaking out with spending, spending and more spending!! We do not limit what others give ds. Although we purposely do not see anyone on Christmas Day. We told both families that we could see them before or after Christmas, but that the day is just a family day. That makes it much more relaxing and enjoyable too!

For our abundance that comes from family...we have the kids go through all their stuff and 'make room'. They give their old (yet still very usable) stuff away. They often give some of the new stuff away too as it's just stuff they don't play with. Just not their 'thang'.
We talk about how some kids aren't as fortunate as they are and how we know relatives tend to 'overdo' it on holidays...let's be generous..all that kind of stuff. They quite enjoy going through their stuff. Tossing out the ratty and broken things. Finding a long lost treasure. And gifting children not so 'blessed' as they. It really makes them happy. : )

We don't bother asking the fam to limit because it's just always been their thing to go crazy. And we've already done a LOT of things differently that they simply do not understand. This just really isn't worth it. We let the fam have their indulgence haha They never remember what they got the kids anyway. Yeah. That's sad. That's a sure sign you're not putting any effort and thought into it. IMO

Anywho..that's how we handle the fam

I really like the 3 gifts idea that Webster had - a need, a want, and something the family can share!
It's really interesting how your family backgrounds influence what you want to do in this area... My dad and his mom loved gifts, not even huge, expensive ones, just loved to give things. Christmas and birthdays, the gifts were important. Now that's important to me.
My husband on the other hand? His family didn't do much gifts, esp. as they got older. Holidays weren't a big deal to them.
So now we have kids, and guess what? Our gift philosophies clash, surprise.:)
We only give one gift for Christmas and one for birthday, and it's something fun that they'll really enjoy, something we wouldn't buy them anyhow. But I'm still hoping eventually Dh won't mind doing more...but I totally agree with the whole thing of not letting your spending get out of hand.
And yeah, we just let our families get whatever they want, if they want to. It's interesting... my husband's parents? even though they didn't give him many gifts, they get gifts for the grandkids! :)