Christmas is fast approaching, together with the traditional panics that are associated with this time of year.
In our house, that means that we’re starting to worry about what gifts we should buy. We’re thinking carefully about what to choose for our own family members, as well as for friends.
Buying presents can be great fun and many people clearly take just as much pleasure from giving a gift as they do from receiving one. But that doesn’t mean that the buying process is necessarily easy!
Choosing personal gifts
We try to buy gifts that are really personal. We don’t like selecting generic items. Although we feel that this approach is likely to be popular with recipients, we also know that it makes the task a lot harder. We end up putting a lot of thought into finding the right presents.
Selecting presents for our kids is a central part of what Christmas is all about. As well as our own choices, we’re also starting to get inquiries from family members and friends. They want to know what they should buy for our children.
It’s nice of them to ask, just as it’s nice of them to buy presents for our kids at all. Given that our children already have masses of toys, they want to make sure that they don’t end up buying duplicates. In some cases, they’re keen to buy alternative gifts too. They want to choose something truly original.
Fun presents for kids
From our point of view, we’re always happy to see the kids unwrapping clothes. These are always useful. But we know that they aren’t always a big hit with the children. They’re simply not exciting enough!
So, when we’re advising others what to buy for them, we do try and keep in mind those presents that are likely to get the best reaction.
This year, we’ve had a couple of people asking about whether we would mind if they buy our children items of food. That’s an interesting question for us. We try to be fairly relaxed (we think!) about various aspects of parenting, but it’s fair to say that we are cautious about some food items.
We don’t want the kids to be exposed to too much junk food. Although they love to receive chocolates and tasty treats, we do try to ensure that everything is in moderation.
So we’ve been trying to convince people to choose healthier options where possible!
That doesn’t mean that we’re insisting solely on fruit and vegetables, but it does mean that we’re trying to suggest that any food hamper could include some healthy treats, as well as the chocolates!
It’s a difficult balancing act, as we know that people are being incredibly kind. We don’t want to dictate what they can and can’t buy for our children. At the same time, we have to think about the kids.
It’s important to us that Christmas should be fun. But we don’t want to build bad eating habits.
It’ll be interesting to see what appears once they start unwrapping their presents on Christmas morning. We’ll soon see how healthy their food gifts really are!
What are your thoughts?
How do you approach the issue of food at Christmas? Are you happy for your children to eat just about anything at this time of year?
I’d be interested in hearing how you deal with the situation.
Simon Barnett is a parent and writes about a wide range of subjects, including food. This year, he’s trying to persuade others to give his kids healthier gift hampers where possible.
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