With Christmas less than a month away, we've officially entered the season of gift giving. Any while I'm certainly a fan of taking the time to consider and purchase items for those closest to me, the season also acts as a reminder that often times spending money on experiences is the best gift that can be given.
For the last few years, my sister-in-law and I have decided to opt out of buying each other's kids Christmas gifts. While the kids are all fairly easy to buy for, even they have realized that spending the day together doing fun things is more exciting than opening another gift.
And so we began a tradition of taking the kids out on Boxing Day. We likely spend the same amount of money doing this - maybe even more - but it quickly became a tradition my children are keen to keep up. Since they don't live in the same town as their cousins, they certainly look forward to a full day together.
And while the kids play, the parents get to somewhat relax after a stretch of incredibly busy days.
Around holidays and birthdays, when my mom is stumped on what to buy the grand kids for gifts, I'm quick to recommend she pay for their baseball, soccer, gymnastics, track and field, or whatever other fees may be in season. My kids do appreciate the gesture, and do not seem to mind unwrapping one less toy.
The memories that are collected spending time with family, learning new skills, and building relationships and friendships are no doubt worth a lot more than a new set of LEGO, at any time of the year.
Of course, come Christmas, our tree will have a sufficient amount of gifts underneath, and the gifts are already slowly starting to fill up my closet as they stay hidden from curious eyes. But, each year I plan and limit myself. On Saturday, I took some time in the morning to run around town and I have now completely finished shopping for one family member.
My husband's requests are always very limited around Christmas, so he will also soon be crossed off the to-do list.
The countdown to Christmas is officially now on.
