Last updated on November 28th, 2023 at 08:19 pm
Christmas at my house looks like a red and green colorful bomb has exploded. There are kids and presents everywhere. Wrapping paper, tissue paper and bows everywhere too! My four children have several Christmases. We do the traditional Christmas morning at home with all of the presents from Santa. Then we have a big Christmas Party with Grandma, Aunts, Uncles and Cousins. We start out orderly; passing out the presents until under the tree is bare. Sometimes the piles are so high that my twins are hidden behind their stack!
My brother likes to go around the room and have each person open up a present one at a time, while the others are patiently waiting their turn. This works fine for the adults and older kids, but for the eight and under crowd, they tear into their gifts like a pack of wild animals! While this method is fine and fun for the kids, we have had gifts gone missing: hockey tickets, store gift cards and even a gold charm. We think that they have gotten thrown out with all the wrapping and trimmings. We have learned from this and now all wrapping paper is screened and anything of value gets put up high on the mantle. But, the kids are excited and have been known to open a present, murmur thank you, put it down and move on to the next gift. I have made it my mission to make sure that no toy gets caste a side, that every relative is acknowledged with a hug and a genuine thank you. But it’s difficult. We do a few things in our house to make sure that every toy does get played with and every gift lasts beyond the first of the year! Here are my top tested tips:
Don’t Open Everything at Once
On Christmas morning there is always a race to open all the boxes, getting all the batteries in and everything up and running. Then your kid(s) will just play with one thing! Let them pick out one toy right away to hold or play with and save the rest for later. My daughter likes to display her gifts under the tree and show her Grandma and Aunts when the come over later that day. For relatives living out of town, it is nice to take a picture of your child(ren) with the gift and email it or send it with a quick thank you (or even post on Facebook!). By not tearing through all the boxes, you can get a nice picture of your child with the gift.
Be Prepared
If Santa is bringing a deluxe Polly Pocket set or a Lego Castle set that has 3,500 pieces, Santa might want to consider buying a special storage bag or bin for this toy too. Your child will be more likely to play with it if all the pieces are together and trust me it is not fun stepping on hard piece of plastic at 2 am with your bare foot! Same thing with toys that need batteries. If you have the correct size of batteries on hand, including replacement batteries, your child will be able to enjoy that item and enjoy it longer. If you are a kid it would really stink to be told, oh sorry you need to wait until tomorrow to play with your new cool lights and sounds toy because all of the stores are closed today!
Save It for a Rainy Day
I have four kids and we have a very large and generous extended family. Three of my four kids have birthdays in January. My kids receive a lot of gifts in a very short time period. On Christmas I do play “Mommie Dearest” and take some of their presents away. It is the best thing to be able to pull out a brand new toy or craft kit on a snow day in early February or a rainy day during April. Half the time my kids will forget they even received that item so it is something brand new to them and a sanity saver for me! I tend to do this more with the non-gender specific items that all my children can enjoy playing with like games, craft kids, Legos, etc.
Give a Gift That Creates a Memory
Memories last a lifetime. We love giving gifts that are experiences, instead of “things”. Gift certificates for a class like photography or cooking are great gifts! There are many classes out there that are family friendly or something that the kids can do with a grandparent. You can also give a voucher for spending the day together, a trip to the museum, park or the zoo. Be sure to bring a camera to capture those memories while you are making them! Handmade coupon books are great too! This is something that the kids can do, too. Get them involved and ask them what they would like to give and what they think would be fun to do. One year my son made a coupon book at school; my favorite coupon was the one for one “Free Bed Making”!
Re-Gifting
If it is something that you cannot return, use, or your children are not permitted to have, go on and pass it on. Sometimes you receive a gift and it just keeps on giving. This definitely applies to moon sand and Great Aunt Eliza’s fruit cake. Neither one you want to open in your house! When you re-gift, just be sure to remove the card from inside the box, or the little tag on the side of the gift bag!
Kathleen Tirella Ecker is a full-time stay at home mom, part-time blogger and part-time event planner. She and her husband Bart have been married for ten years and were blessed with four beautiful children in four years, including a surprise set of twins. They have two boys and two girls: Aidan (7), Campbell (5), Sean & Kate (3 year old twins). Kathleen lives with her family in Loudoun County, Virginia. They love exploring the local farms, cooking together, playing tennis and visiting the beach. Be sure to visit her blog Momof4 to see how she is surviving and thriving as a mom of 4 wonderful & crazy kids at: www.momof4va.blogspot.com and professional event planning website DC Event Planners at: www.dceventplanners.com
