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Why Santa Shouldn’t Bring Your Kids’ Best Christmas Gift

November 9, 2023 | Leave a Comment

Picture of the moon with the shadow of Santa, his sleigh, and the reindeers going across it.

My kids are all teens now—19, 15, and 13—but if I could go back in time, starting when my youngest was born, I’d make sure Santa only bought my kids lower-cost, boring gifts. Why? I have several reasons why Santa shouldn’t bring the best gift. If your children are young, hear me out and see if you agree.

When our kids were young, we didn’t have much money. We tended to get our kids practical gifts, and Santa got one big, fun, expensive gift for each child. We thought we were smart by having Santa bring only one present (we got the rest), but we erred when we had Santa bring the most expensive gift. Here’s what we learned.

Why Santa Shouldn’t Bring Your Kids Best Christmas Gift

If Santa brings the best, most expensive present every year, your kids, like ours did, may develop unrealistic impressions.

Kids Think Santa Doesn’t Have a Budget

Most kids think Santa brings them what they want, regardless of price. For instance, when my daughter was eight, she wanted a sewing machine. That was out of our price range for a present, but thanks to a Black Friday sale, I got the sewing machine she wanted at 50 percent off. Who gave her the gift? Santa. Boy, was that a big mistake.

While she understood her dad and I had a Christmas budget, she thought Santa didn’t, and in future years, she asked Santa for expensive presents, sure he could deliver. However, each year going forward, she was disappointed because she thought Santa brought her an expensive present one year, so he should be able to every Christmas.

You Should Get Credit for the Nice Presents

Besides creating unrealistic expectations by giving her that gift from Santa, her dad and I lost out on the credit for the best present she ever received. Yes, she now knows the truth about Santa, but when it comes to that gift, she still talks about how Santa gave her the best gift ever.

Kids May Feel Santa Is Unfair

Finally, if you can give expensive gifts from Santa, other kids at school who receive smaller, less costly presents from Santa may feel that Santa likes other kids better. Having Santa bring smaller gifts helps other kids avoid disappointment. Some parents even go so far as to say that Santa usually brings smaller gifts because he needs to fit so many in his sleigh.

Final Thoughts

If your kids are young now, consider the rituals you establish around gift-giving. If Santa brings the nicest present, that’s what your kids will expect year after year after year. However, if you buy all the nice gifts and Santa buys something like a $20 board game, that’s what your kids will expect. If I could do it over again with my kids, I would buy nice presents for my kids and let Santa buy the smaller ones.

Read More

Three Lessons I Learned Buying Christmas Gifts for Teens

What to Do When You’re Overspending at Christmas

Three Things You Can Do to Make Money for Christmas

Melissa Batai
Melissa Batai

Melissa is a writer and virtual assistant. She earned her Master’s from Southern Illinois University, and her Bachelor’s in English from the University of Michigan. When she’s not working, you can find her homeschooling her kids, reading a good book, or cooking. She resides in Arizona where she dislikes the summer heat but loves the natural beauty of the area.

Filed Under: Gifts Received Tagged With: Christmas gifts, Santa, Santa Claus

Keeping Santa Alive

December 17, 2012 | 2 Comments

Santa Key

Source: A Thrifty Mom

With Christmas fast approaching, choosing to introduce Santa is a choice parents will have to make soon! While my husband and I will be partaking in the traditions involving the jolly old man, I have friends who have chosen to forego the Santa tradition entirely. My opinion is that in today’s world of violence and technological advancements, the innocence of things like Santa are needed to keep our children grounded; almost forcing a sense of enchantment and mystery, things that have seemingly been lost entirely.

How a family introduces Santa will vary between families, cultures and across continents. Here are a  few ideas on how to help keep the magic alive in your house:

Santa’s Key

Santa’s Key is something you can make yourself or chose to buy. The story goes that leaving the key will help answer questions about how the big fat man makes it into your house if you don’t have a chimney or just a skeptical kid.

Santa’s Footprints

A large pair of boots, some flour and a little glitter (for magic) is all you need. Leave the flour footprints by the front door or fireplace for kids to find when they wake in the morning to see if he actually came!

A Letter

Writing a letter early on in your child’s life about how you want the memories of Santa to be remembered might be a good idea. You can choose how you want Santa to be perceived in your house; is he a physical man or more of a giving characteristic found in all of us? Does he bring many gifts or just one? Does he have any rules-like being good all year? Write a letter to your child, when they reach an age of understanding, and explain what or who Santa really is.

Cotton Ball Beard?

I’ve heard of friends parents using pulled cotton balls and putting a few ‘Santa beard whisps’ in the tree, where his beard gets caught when bending down to put the gifts under the tree.

NORAD Santa Tracker

In today’s world of computers and i-everything, kids have great fun following Santa second-by-second on NORAD’s Santa Tracker. NORAD goes into great detail about exactly how the Santa tracking works, it’s a lot of fun.

Whatever your chose to do, make sure your kids are excited about it. Let them enjoy the mysteries behind it and indulge in their questions, be creative and do your best to keep Santa alive as long as you can!

Do you have any special tips or tricks you like to use to keep the spirit of Santa alive in your house?

Catherine
Catherine

Catherine is a first time momma to a rambunctious toddler. When she isn’t soaking up all that motherhood has to offer, you can find her blogging over at Plunged in Debt where she chronicles her and her husbands journey out of debt. You can also follow her on Twitter.

plungedindebt.com

Filed Under: Holidays, Stuff to Do Tagged With: Christmas, Santa

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Basic Principles Of Good Parenting

Here some basic principles for good parenting:

  1. What You Do Matters: Your kids are watching you. So, be purposeful about what you want to accomplish.
  2. You Can’t be Too Loving: Don’t replace love with material possessions, lowered expectations or leniency.
  3. Be Involved Your Kids Life: Arrange your priorities to focus on what your kid’s needs. Be there mentally and physically.
  4. Adapt Your Parenting: Children grow quickly, so keep pace with your child’s development.
  5. Establish and Set Rules: The rules you set for children will establish the rules they set for themselves later.  Avoid harsh discipline and be consistent.
  6. Explain Your Decisions: What is obvious to you may not be evident to your child. They don’t have the experience you do.
  7. Be Respectful To Your Child: How you treat your child is how they will treat others.  Be polite, respectful and make an effort to pay attention.
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