I feel so much pressure at the holidays to buy that one special gift Santa is suppose to bring. Maisey, like most kids who are five, and like most kids who watch Saturday morning cartoons, wants everything. Never mind the fact that she's had or has everything (as far as Chad and I can see), there is always more. She especially love infomercials with cheap, cheesy, and spendy toys. Back to my point, what do you think of parents like me who feel like they have to buy those special gifts? You can be honest you know. All Maisey wants this year are new dance shoes- tap and ballet. That is all she is asking Santa for. I will never forget how her request went down last year. We went to see Santa at the mall and I was building her wish list up. I told her not to ask for only one thing because he needs more ideas and he may not be able to deliver. I thought we had an understanding but I was wrong. She sat on his lap, and only gave him one request, a Cabbage Patch kid with glow in the dark hair. When she was finished I asked her why she didn't ask for more, and as sweet and polite as it may sound she said, "Mom, I didn't want to be greedy!" Things have changed this year and she longs for everything, but Santa is already done shopping. I don't know what to do... I KNOW she will be disappointed. Do you think she will still believe if he doesn't deliver? If you were five again what would you think?
4 years ago
4 comments:
Take a breathe sweetheart. Kids are resiliant. I think she will handle it better then you realize. Now might be a good time to do a family home evening on Charity and the true meaning of christmas.
Rachel, I think that it is important to teach kids that they don't need to have everything and also to let them experience disappointments at a young age, because if they are given everything they want when they are little and then they grow up and see that life is not like that, they will be in for a big shocker! Tell her Santa has lots of kids to buy presents for and one or two from him should be plenty. You also might want to talk to her beforehand and hint about this and also teach her briefly about money, and that with your family situation a ton of gifts just isn't feasible this year. As much as children love presents, they usually don't dwell on what they did/didn't get for too long. Kind of like how they play with the new toy for a few days, and then a few weeks or months later they forget all about it and it sits in the back of the closet. Sorry this post got so long....I guess I'm standing on my soapbox. :o)
Last year we did a lot more gifts and more expensive ones, and honestly the kids played with them for like a week! So, this year we said 4 a piece and 3 family board games. They didn't seem to care. Hopefully they won't resent me, but I agree that kids are pretty resiliant. I know you are just a good mom and want Maisey to be happy. :)
I totally relate. It's almost magical to see the excitement the kids have for christmas. We considered telling Hunter that everyone including Santa is going to be on a budget this year, but we ended up doing what we normally do-telling him that he can make his list but don't expect Santa to bring you everything on your list.
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