All I want for Christmas is…

Recession or no recession, Christmas is a time where I believe parents should start teaching their children about the art of gift giving. As soon as kids have their own money whether it’s from an allowance or birthday, they should start buying their own gifts for the family and not have mom and dad buying them. I would say the beginning of November or even October, explain to them how Christmas is not far away and if they want to give a gift to mom, dad, their brother, sister or friend, that they will have to start saving and budgeting. Remember that parenting is all about teaching.

Now you may say that is a lot of money for a kid but it doesn’t have to be. They might want to give Mom that $20.00 bracelet they love but may just have to settle for the $5.00 coffee mug. I don’t think parents should even contribute partially, lesson will not be learned (but you can give them an advance on their allowance). I know when my kids were little and even now that they are adults, it has always been the thought behind a gift…not the cost! What is important is that the child will learn and at the same time have a feeling of “I did it all by myself”. It will also help them with their creativity, with their selfishness of only thinking about what they want for the holidays and it is something they will need to know for the rest of their lives!

You can also teach them about compassion, especially in these very hard times where people are losing their jobs by the minute. Everyone, no matter what age, needs to know it’s not about the price tag.