Preventing Gift Overwhelm

Christmas 2011 - Also known as the year we hit the reset button on the holiday.

Christmas is the season of giving and receiving between friends, families, and coworkers, but from the perspective of a little one, it’s all about the ‘getting’.  

The way they give back to us, through their smiles, hugs, and joy filled moments, isn't processed (yet) as a ‘gift’ by their sweet little hearts.

Fold in the emotions of the season: expectation, anticipation, all the wants, wishes, and hopes. 

Until the day finally comes to unwrap their gifts.

They rip them open, one after the other, after the other, until the last present has been revealed.

And then, a new feeling takes hold, completion, let-down, sometimes even disappointment because it’s over. 

Over time, this cumulative effect can cause a disruption in the balance of giving and receiving. 

In 2011, as the holiday approached, I realized at 6 and 8 years old the girls had become a little too comfortable, a little too conditioned to the idea that they expected to get everything they wanted. Even a little entitled, thinking that just because it had been

• written on a magical list, then...
• sent to a magical pole, to...
• a magical man, that it was already theirs. 

I listened in on their excited conversations. 

“When I get my American Girl doll…” and “When I get my 100 piece painting set…”, and realized it was time to reset what Christmas really, truly meant. 

In that moment, it meant I had to give less stuff, while giving more of us: more connection, more time, more intentionally curated experiences.

I needed to (re)teach them that the holiday was more about time spent with family making connected, loving core memories than about the actual gifts under the tree. 

And so I got to work and made Santa's my scapegoat.

I went out to the barn and grabbed one of their sleds, wrapped it to look like a sleigh and filled it with family centric gifts. 

• Board games and card games we could all play together. 
• Read Aloud books that we could share as a family. 
• Tickets to the local nature museum and matching family pajamas, because, why not? 

Of course, they each got us a few small things that were just theirs.

And yes, they were a bit disappointed in the big Guy when they read his note, but do you know what we all remember about that Christmas now?

How we all laughed so hard we nearly cried playing our new family game, Awkward Family Photos.

I invited Lisa Garcia to the show to help us prevent gift overwhelm and embrace the true spirit of the season. In this episode we talk about how to create a magical holiday for your children without amassing a whole bunch more stuff. 

Cara Tyrrell, M.Ed is mom to three girls, a Vermont based Early Childhood Educator, Collaborative Parenting Coach, and the founder of Core4Parenting. She is the passionate mastermind behind the Collaborative Parenting Methodology™, a birth-to-five, soul and science based framework that empowers toddler parents and educators  to turn tantrums into teachable moments. Through keynotes, teacher training, and her top-ranking podcast, Transforming the Toddler Years, she’s teaching the 5 Executive Functioning Skills kids need to navigate our ever-changing world.