Comments (2)

By Mom Unplugged, December 15, 2007 9:52 pm

I had a fun post planned on ideas for Christmas stocking presents, but alas, it shall have to wait. I have just realized that I have spent so much time advising others on how to prepare for the Holidays, that I am not prepared myself!

Although I feel like simply collapsing into bed with a cup of tea and a warm dog or two, I shall have to do a bit of online shopping .

I’ll try and get that post out before it is entirely too late to be useful. But for now, if you want some ideas for nice, “tried and true” (by me) gifts that will fit in a stocking, I refer you to my stocking stuffer category.

Hope it’s useful!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

(Read all the Christmas/Holidays Unplugged posts here.)

Comments (15)

By Mom Unplugged, December 10, 2007 11:41 pm

So how do you reduce the sheer VOLUME of gifts? Giving fewer gifts to the children is a great start (Dawn had a good idea: Jesus only got three presents on his birthday, so kids shouldn’t get more than that either).

Whatever your reasons or rationalizations, the sooner you start with fewer presents the better. If kids have been having 20 Christmas presents a piece their whole lives and you suddenly cut them back to 3 at age 12 or 13, you had better have some REALLY GOOD REASONS. So remember: Get your gift quantity issues settled sooner rather than later.

How to cut down on other family gift excesses and commercialism? Here are some ideas, a few thanks to Unplug the Christmas Machine: A Complete Guide to Putting Love and Joy Back into the Season , but most thanks to me!

** Agree to no adult gifts.

** Give (or request) a family gift instead of individual gifts (for example: a game, puzzle or craft that everyone can do together)

** Agree to an all handmade Christmas. Either make simple gifts for each other, or buy only homemade gifts from local craft fairs or Etsy.

** Decide to do only funny gifts. For example I know a family who spends all year checking garage sales and thrifting for those little shell covered animals to give each other as a joke. Each has to cost less than $2. They all have a good laugh (priceless, right?) and display them proudly on a shelf in their home. It is quite funny!

** Do a lottery: Each family member picks a name and finds a gift for that person only. My best friend growing up was from a very large family and that is what they did. This is a very good solution for big families.

** Give coupons as gifts. I know that the most precious gift that anyone could give me would be a few hours of babysitting. Think about your talents. Do you knit? How about a coupon for a sweater. Do you cook? A dinner for two, or four or six. You get the idea.

** Christmas ornaments? How about having adults exchange only ornaments, either handmade or store bought. That way, each year when the ornaments come out, you will think of the family member who gave it to you.

** Books only. Each person makes a gift of the book that they enjoyed the most during the past year.

** A recipe exchange? Everyone gives their favorite recipe of the year.

** Christmas Stockings only? Honestly my favorite part of Christmas giving is the stocking. I love the challenge of finding presents that are small enough to fit in a stocking, but that the person would genuinely like to receive! A bunch of small, little things can be really fun.

** Give all living gifts: Plants only (indoor or outdoor depending on what your climate is like in December). Every time someone sees the plant that you gave, they will think of you.

** Do all charity gifts. Make gifts to a charity in a family member’s name. Usually you get a certificate or something tangible to present to that person.

** A family “Wildlife Christmas” - Ideas: gifts of donations to wildlife charities, bird feeders, bird houses or bird baths (especially heated ones if you live in a cold climate), live butterfly kits (if you live in a climate mild enough to release them in winter, otherwise wait until spring to order the larvae), ladybug or bee houses, bat houses, or butterfly houses.

** “Pick a Charity Christmas” where everyone agrees on a particular charity or cause that they would like to support. Everyone tries to be creative in giving gifts related to that cause: shopping from a specific charity’s website, buying crafts from a particular country to benefit local craftspeople if that is related to the cause, donating in someone’s name, agreeing to donate a certain amount of time for that cause (in the form of a coupon?), etc. etc. etc.

** How about for an elderly neighbor: A coupon good for a fall leaf raking, a lawn mowing or a driveway shovel, or a batch of cookies made by the kids?

Any other ideas??

(Read all the Christmas/Holidays Unplugged posts here.)

Comments (8)

By Mom Unplugged, December 8, 2007 11:28 pm

I still remember growing up and seeing TV ads with Barbie looking gorgeous and twirling around by herself and thinking that if I had that particular Barbie, she would dance around like that and be like a best friend to me instead of a plastic doll, and my life would be perfect. Well, Santa did occasionally bless me with that wonderously miraculous gift of the moment, but the wonderous gift never did what it seemed to in the ads, and it never changed my life.

How do we explain to kids that what is in the ads they see, is not what would come in the package under the tree? The easiest way is to have no TV, so they see no ads.

Barring that more radical approach, the book Unplug the Christmas Machinehas some good suggestions for how to teach your kids about TV commercials:

According to this book, studies have shown that children under the age of 5 cannot distinguish TV commercials from actual programs. (Thanks for the link Dana!)

The authors suggest that parents watch at least one hour of TV with children, in order to discuss commercials.

+ Have young children call out “commercial” whenever an ad appears.
+ Talk to children (especially older children) about what is being advertised and how the product is made to seem appealing.
+ Have older kids count the number of commercials in one hour, or even have them time the length of each commercial.

Here are some ideas that grabbed me from the website PBS Parents: Children and Media:

+ For Grade Schoolers:

“When watching TV with your child, question the commercials.Voice your skepticism by posing questions such as these: Who do you think created this ad? What do you think the message is? What might the advertiser not be telling us? Do you think you can believe what you see? Start with obvious targets—ads promoting high-fat foods, for example—then move on to more subtle ads, such as those promoting a cool or attractive lifestyle. Explain how advertisements are often meant to make people feel that something is missing from their lives. “

+ For Pre-Teens:

Try muting an ad and have your child tell you what he or she thinks the ad is saying. Or…have your child close their eyes and tell you what he or she thinks it is showing.

There are so many more wonderful ideas grouped by age at PBS Parents: Children and Media, that I shall just have to link to them by age here:

Preschoolers
Grade Schoolers
Pre-Teens
Teens

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Quote of the Day:

“Adolescents, youths, and even children, are easy victims of the corruption of love. Deceived by unscrupulous adults, who, lying to themselves and to them, draw them into the dead-end streets of consumerism.”

- Pope Benedict XVI, quoted today while talking about Christmas (heard on tonight’s NPR All Things Considered)

Sorry this is so “heavy.” I am not Catholic, nor do I usually get into religion on my blog, but I did think this was a quote worth thinking about, no matter what one’s beliefs.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Read all the Christmas/Holidays Unplugged posts here.

Comments (11)

By Mom Unplugged, December 3, 2007 7:52 pm

I have already written my “making a list” post, but that was not about a “kid kind of list.” I have not discussed what to do about kids’ lists because I always take the lame way out and DON’T ASK my kids what they want for Christmas, and have never told them that they could even write to Santa and ask for things. “Don’t ask, don’t tell,” right? If it works for the military, it works for me.

Without TV, kids don’t necessarily know about these lists and “cool toys,” but they do pick up an amazing amount of information on the playground, so I think the Christmas list issue might come up soon.

I honestly had not thought about the whole Christmas list dilemma until I read this post at Outside the (Toy) Box. What do you do when your kids want Sponge Bob Cyber-Slime 3D-Goggles and a Disney Jasmine Nail Glitter and Flavored Lip Gloss Set for Christmas? How do you give a child that magic “…moment where the clouds part and the angels sing when she looks under the tree…” and still be true to your (and hopefully ultimately their) values?

I think “Mom” is BRILLIANT!!! She has come up with the ideal solution in my mind. She suspects that rather than “Genius,” she might be a “Mistress of Manipulation” or a “Spineless Sell-Out,” but I vote for “Genius.”

For her four year-old she created a poster with cutouts of different toys that her daughter could request from Santa. Please read her very funny post.

To expand on her idea, I suppose you could choose catalogs that contain 100% toys that you approve of and let kids pick from those. Of course perhaps you still ought to edit a bit. Like those $200 wooden play stands? Just cut them out with scissors if you want! Any queries from the small fry regarding the holes in the pages? Well…maybe Santa has some things that are “out of stock” too. After all, magic only goes so far.

There are some great stores out there that do offer print catalogs. I would suggest:

Back to Basics Toys
Rosie Hippos
Nova Natural
Chinaberry (WONDERFUL catalog, but mostly books, so good to give to readers for picking gifts, but there are a few toys and games too)
Callie’s Corner
Culture for Kids (lots of books but videos, music and other items too)
For Small Hands
Montessori N’Such
Palumba
The Wooden Wagon

Good luck!

Photo thanks to morguefile.com and photographer Mike Rash.

Comments (5)

By Mom Unplugged, December 1, 2007 12:14 pm

My last few posts have been all about Holiday shopping. If you really want to pare down your Holidays and return to the basic spirit of it all, you could consider giving to a charity in someone’s name rather than buying a gift.

Jules at Andamom.com recently wrote a really great post, Donating is the True Spirit of the Season, listing links to 37 worthy organizations and a brief description of what that charity does. Please read her list. I can also add a few from my left sidebar:
_________________________________________________

Darfur Stoves (provides more efficient stoves for Darfur refugees thereby dramatically reducing the frequency of women’s dangerous excursions outside the camp to collect firewood)
_________________________________________________

Best Friends Animal Society (No-kill shelter and permanent Utah sanctuary for stray, unadoptable and rescued animals of all kinds)

Also: Sponsor a specific Best Friends shelter pet as a holiday gift:

____________________________________________________

Half the Sky Foundation (Donations provide full-time nannies for infants in Chinese orphanages, help build preschools in Chinese orphanages and train preschool teachers, provide educational opportunities for older orphans to enable them to make their way in the world, and Family Villages where children with medical and developmental issues can live in a real home with permanent, loving families)
____________________________________________________

Humane Society of the United States (or your local Humane Society or ASPCA)

Or shop for gifts at the HSUS online store:

Or the ASPCA online store.

____________________________________________________

My Stuff Bags Foundation (Provide bags containing stuffed animals, blankets, and other comfort items for children displaced by abuse, neglect, or natural disaster)

____________________________________________________

National Wildlife Federation (protecting wildlife and the environment)

____________________________________________________

A children’s hospital such as Phoenix Children’s or St. Jude’s.

____________________________________________________

Make-A-Wish Foundation (Grants wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses)

- I personally know a family whose little boy with terminal cancer was given a trip to Hawaii via Make-A-Wish. An amazing organization. There are local chapters to donate to also.
____________________________________________________

It is impossible to list every charity. I can think of many others and I am sure you can too. But if you wish, feel free to add any in the comments that are not on Andamom’s list, or in this post.

My best advice is to think of a cause that really means something to you or your intended recipient, then Google for related charities. I am sure you’ll find several to choose from!

Read all the Christmas/Holidays Unplugged posts here.