Last night I was reading a post at Pursuing Titus 2 about having too many toys and how gift giving can create a lot of clutter in out homes. Her husband suggested giving experiences instead of more toys. I thought "Wow! This is a great idea!"
We all know the drill...it's Christmas time or birthday time or any other gift giving time and you get "that" call. It's your mother, mother in law, sister, sister in law, friend, etc.
"Hi, I was just calling to see what (enter your child's name here) would like for (enter gift giving occasion here)"
Ugh...what is there to get? More dolls, more toy cars? More Lego's, more tea sets? More stuff???
If one child gets one gift from 2 sets of grandparents, 2 aunts and uncles, a couple of friends, and of course mom and dad you've already got 8 - 10 toys coming into your house.
Now, how many children do you have? I have 4 so that would mean 32 - 40 new toys!
Now, here is how I propose to use other's money wisely. Does you child really need that many toys or would they benefit from making memories with you?
There are so many activities my kids would love to do but we don't because of the cost. We just don't have lots of extra money for all the fun things in our area.
What if your relatives gave gift cards to do the fun things you all want to do instead of getting more things? They are going to spend X amount of $$ no matter what you tell them your child wants. Why not ask them to spend it on an activity for your child?
I came up with a list of things we love to do that would make GREAT gift ideas.
- Chuck E Cheese
- Frankies Fun Park
- Gatti Town
- Children's Little Theater
- Monkey Joe's
- Roller Skating
- Bowling
- The Zoo
- Movies
Be sure to take lots of pictures and share them with the gift giver and let them know what a great time your family had thanks to their generosity!
What do you think about this idea? Would it go over well at your house? Do you have any ideas to add to the list? I'd love to hear them.
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Love love this idea. Love it. You could consider tweaking it a bit: ask those relatives to TAKE your child to those places! I love when my kids get out and about with people besides us. And it gives that child some special time alone without siblings, out with special relatives. My sister lives nearby; this would be a great thing for her to do. I'm going to e-mail her right now! Thanks so much for the great idea (and the nice comment on my blog).
Great idea. Question: Would you put this on an invitation or just tell those that call and ask?
I personally don't have "kids" parties. With 4 of my own kids, plus nieces and nephews we have plenty of kids ;-) It's just too expensive for us to haev "kid" parties for all our kids so we just don't.
I don't send out invitations either. Since it's just family, I give them a call. My family usually asks what they want for their birthdays and Christmas, so for us, it's an easy suggestion to make.
Could you put it on an invitation? I don't know. I guess it would depend on how well you know the person you are sending the invitation to. If it's just a casual friend from church or school, probably not. If it's a close friend or family, I'd say go for it!