This year my son is 18 months old, and I took a lot of time to decide whether to buy him a Christmas present or not. Ultimately I decided to not buy him one for several reasons, and I’d like to share those with you today.
Before you gasp at the horror of not bestowing gifts on my one and only child, take a moment to read through my small list of reasons and see if you agree or disagree with them. I love getting things for my son, but I have decided that this Christmas at least will be one where I don’t buy him any presents.
So with no further ado, here is my list of reasons why my son will get no presents from me this year:
1. He’ll get loads of presents from other family members.
In fact, he already gets loads of presents throughout the year from both sets of grandparents. My kiddo is treated to new and gently used clothes regularly from his Mamaw, and awesome blocks and toys from his Granny. He got a veritable shower of birthday presents when he turned one, and we regularly hear from someone asking what we need or want for him. I know some families don’t have the luxury of living near family, but we’re blessed to be close to both sets of grandparents. We’ve got aunts and uncles nearby, and we have plenty of people who want to shower our child in gifts.
2. He has tons of toys already.
My husband and I don’t make a lot of money right now. In fact, in a lot of ways, we’re scraping the barrel to make ends meet while my husband finishes school and moves into a full-time job. But despite our financial situation, my son has never wanted for anything, least of all toys.
My family members call or text me fairly often to share cute toys and things they’ve found for my son. On my side of the family, he’s the first grandchild, so of course, my parents have spoiled him. On my husband’s side of the family, he’s the youngest grandchild, so his parents also tend to find more great gizmos and gadgets for him.
But, you know the funny thing about toys? A lot of kids don’t even play with them more than a week! So I’m honestly not going to bother with trying to find him some new toy he’ll likely just toss aside in favor of some other item, whether toy or box or remote control. Instead, I’ll let my family enjoy getting him toys and clothes and whatever else they find.
3. We really can’t afford a Christmas present this year.
You might think I’m being selfish by not gifting my child a Christmas present or by letting my family pick up the slack. The truth is we have such a strict budget we really can’t go out and buy him a gift this year. And I’m okay with that.
My son does not go without in our home. He smiles and laughs and plays with toys or whatever other things he can find—usually something he isn’t supposed to be into! He doesn’t care about the next big toy craze (what is it this year? Fingerlings?) or whether he gets blocks instead of socks. He’ll be more interested in helping rip paper from boxes and pull things out of bags, which I’ll happily allow.
So even if we can’t make it the most magical, gift-filled Christmas, I’m okay with that because…
4. He’s really too young to notice too much about Christmas anyway.
I admit it: I didn’t get my son a Christmas gift last year when he was six months old either. I simply couldn’t see the reason for getting him a gift he wouldn’t care about or really need. It’s the same this year, too.
At 18 months old, he’s learned a lot, but the real excitement of Christmas for him right now is the lights on the Christmas tree, the pretty ornaments, sweet treats, and the brightly colored packages. He loves being with his family and playing with his grandparents, and he gets excited just spending time with all the people who love him. To me, the best gift for my son this year is giving him the opportunity to celebrate with people who love him.
So I won’t be buying a Christmas gift for my son this year, and while I know some people might disagree, I know he’ll have a fun Christmas anyway and enjoy celebrating with my family. Besides, there are always stockings, right?
Our girl turned 5 in October and we have chosen/been blessed to always get her gifts at Christmas. As an infant, it may have been more clothes than toys… but like you said, we’re also lucky to have 2 sets of grandparents that spoil her with more than enough for her birthday and Christmas (and sometimes in between). What we’re finding as she gets older however, is that “less is more” for her. We are starting to now focus on getting her just a few things that she REALLY wants and she seems to love them and use them more, than inundating her with things “just cause”. That’s what’s working for us, anyway. Thanks for this great post, Rachel!