Family gift giving around our house changed a few years ago.This was about the time the depression and anxiety started to become overbearing. Part of my husband's outlook on life, to battle the dark side, is always having something to look forward to like a goal, but it is an event. So instead of just buying our kids, and each other a gift "stuff" he tries to make it an experience. This practice started when our kids were 5 and 7. They are now 8 and 10.
Four our daughter's 5th birthday she wanted a sewing machine of her own. My husband liked this because she wouldn't be able to use the machine on her own for a while. So she would have experiences creating things with her mother until she could do things on her own.
Now our daughter is 8. For her birthday this year she was able to take the sewing class at JoAnn's Fabric and Crafts to sew her own summer dress. This was a lot of fun and we looked forward to this for a few years.
Our son has received scouting items, tickets to sporting events, gift cards to McDonalds because he wanted to pay.
It isn't a perfect system, but has helped in the past. Our next birthday isn't for four months and we need to start planning. We have so much to live for.
No comments:
Post a Comment