simple gift giving

I ordered a set of these “official” letters to Santa from Groopdealz yesterday. Aren’t they darling? They also sell at the Chickabug shop on Etsy.

I was sewing with friends today and we were talking about buying gifts for our kids. It seems everyone is looking to simplify and remember the true meaning of Christmas. Right now Ella is easy to shop for, she pretty much wants everything!

When our older ones were younger, we did something that really worked well for us. I mentioned it years ago in a talk I gave in Sacrament meeting and to this day there are still many families in our ward who have added it to their own list of traditions and talk to me about it.

We had the children give us list that included the following items: something you want, something you need, something to wear and something to read. Then we got them a gift from Santa. Lynn and I did it too. It was so fun and made shopping so much simpler. Most of all it made the kids really think about wants versus needs.

I knew it was working when seven year old Kate came to us and said, “I’ve really been thinking hard and I have everything I need. I know there are kids who don’t, so can I buy something for one of them instead?” Hello! Of course. Kate chose a name from the Giving Tree and we outfitted a five year old boy with his entire Christmas—clothes, shoes, toys. It was a lot of fun.