Christmas is coming! Which means choosing gifts for loved ones is also coming. So during November I’ll be sharing a few tips and tricks I’ve learned over the years.
We also have a sale in November for our book, The Feminist EarthMother PartyGirl, for those who love buying books as gifts or just want to have something entertaining and uplifting to read while the rest of life gets busy. Australian paperback readers get a saving of $5 through our secure website store, and eBook readers get 25% off globally.
This week I’m going to start the ball rolling with tips about buying presents for kids.
Small shops shopping: Little kids are easy, because there’s such a variety of toys you can buy. But if this is your first Christmas as parents, prepare to be a little daunted. All that variety can make choosing what is best hard to wrap your head around. And you want it to be special. And the juggle of new parenthood and less sleep has made the cognitive load even harder.We were lucky – a friend gave us a catalogue for a specialist toy store, and we spent two hours there buying not only for our own sweet baby but also for our baby’s cousins, and even some of our adult family. And they had a great train-set set up to keep our toddling baby occupied, too. I highly recommend checking out smaller stores for first-Christmas parents.
The second year I was a lot more organised – or so I thought. I’d been buying up on specials as I saw them, especially on products associated with tv shows that we’d watched together. A few days before Christmas I got the haul out and was horrified to find there wasn’t much educational about the toys I had bought. Off we went back to the specialist toy store on Christmas eve. Trying to navigate a big commercial store with an inquisitive toddler on that manic shopping day would have been out of the question, but the little store again suited us perfectly and everyone was happy.
Educational toys: I can’t stress enough how important educational toys are for children. Wooden jigsaws, model dinosaurs, marble races, little animal sets, fun drawing stuff, as well as magnifying glasses, little instruments and board books are all fun presents that also help your little one develop.
The Five: Once kids get out of that toddler phase, buying presents can be more challenging. You now have a clearer idea of their interests, but finding a balance can be difficult. This was where a dear friend of mine gave me a winning formula: she chose five categories for her kids. I chose reading, music, art, sport and a DVD. This has been so helpful! Within this structure I was able to think broadly – for example the music might have been a CD, some sheet music, or even a little instrument. I added useful things as needed, like a fun t shirt, a funny mug, special socks or nice pyjamas. As they got older clothes were always well-received, and board and card games were brilliant, so we could spend some family time together.
Technology: Tech crept in, of course, which gave us some lovely moments of happy surprise. Buying tech that will last is important for your hip pocket as well as valuing Earth’s finite resources. Choose games that are in line with your values, especially early on – there are plenty of non-violent fun games on all the tech platforms. This is such a huge area that doing some investigating before I entered the shops was a must for my sanity!
Christmas Eve: We have another tradition which has been marvellous – the Christmas Eve present. Because Christmas eve can be a lo-o-o-o-ng time for little kids, we instigated a Christmas Eve Family Present when our youngest was a toddler. This sometimes was a very small thing, like a card game, a middling thing like some inexpensive building sets, or a large thing like a little play-gym or a trampoline. The good thing was that if anything needed setting up (as a trampoline does, my goodness me!) it was done on Christmas Eve before the stress of the Big Day and, more importantly, it was available to play on during Christmas Day. And it slowed things down, gave us a little family time before the crazy.
Rest: Which brings me to my last point. You need a day off! For us this is Boxing Day, the day after Christmas, when many Aussies love to watch the Boxing Day cricket test. We don’t agree to any social events on this day, attend none of those post-Christmas sales, and we spend the day relaxing and playing with our games, reading our books, playing our music. And watching the cricket. It’s important to set aside some time just to be.
I hope there has been some useful kick-starter hints here that you can adjust for your situation, your values, and your family. I’ll post more on Mondays during November.
Let the silly season begin!
Joni Page 