Wednesday 28 October 2009

Gift-giving

My son and I are going to a 1st birthday party today. There are quite a number of first birthdays around this time, due to the friends I've made with similarly aged babies to my son. Then there's Christmas not so far away......  Choosing gifts for children can be difficult or maybe it's just my own inexperience. With such a bewildering array of toys for children, it can be hard to pick out something.

I recently read an article called 'Economically Shopping for Christmas Toys' and have provided the link at the end of this post for you to read. A couple of points stood out for me:

- Kids can only soak in so much fun before it gets overwhelming and you are wasting your money. It seems many parents want their children to have lots of gifts to open so the fun never ends but maybe the parents/grandparents are the ones having more fun watching the gifts being opened, rather than the child appreciating all the new toys.

- Resist the urge to wrap a bunch of cheap toys just for the impact. Buying a few quality toys that will last for years is much more economical. Quality, not quantity is definitely a good adage to follow and it's nice to have toys that siblings or other friends and family can continue to enjoy.

When I think of some of the best presents given for our son, the hand-made gifts certainly stand out. Some of our family and friends gave us hand-made blankets, a rug, hand-knitted jumpers and a mix CD for the baby and us to enjoy. Every time we use these things we think of the people who gave them to us. There's a great deal of value in the kindness and thought behind these gifts.

Are there particular gifts that you and your children have really appreciated and enjoyed? I'd also be interested to hear how do you do gift-giving in your family.

Read the article, 'Economically Shopping for Christmas Toys' here.
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2 comments:

  1. Nice blog :) I am into giving handmade things for gifts when I can...I always prefer it on my bday or mother's day when I receive something the kids have made rather than something that comes from the shop in a ten minute rush job! As a result I have a couple of massive plastic boxes full of these little treasures that I love and am very attached to!

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  2. That's a good point and I think something made by your kids is really special and thoughtful.

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