Finding appropriate gifts for children is not easy. If you are fortunate to be asked by thoughtful relatives what your children would like for Christmas, don't make the mistake of saying, "Anything you buy will be fine." It won't, and you'll have tears or derision on Christmas morning to deal with. Send a list in advance. Gift certificates can be a great gift for children who are old enough to appreciate the value of money and also old enough to go to the mall themselves. For kids under 10, this means extra work for Mom and Dad. You may also be faced with something such as the plaintive cry of Eva's son Jonathan at age 6: "Why did Uncle Ronnie give me a piece of paper?" If you do receive money for a Christmas gift (check the cards as they come in to avoid Christmas morning shocks), it's a good idea to buy something "real" for them to open on Christmas morning. However, once the kids are older you can take them out to purchase ill-advised, badly made, overpriced toys for themselves and "really make those dollars stretch by convincing them to wait until Boxing Day sales," says Eva. "The only hitch -- you have to take them!" (Check out, Gift ideas for the hard-to-shop-for.)
So you've shopped until you've dropped every dime in your wallet -- and Christmas morning has arrived. In order to keep the mayhem and whining at a minimum, insist that only stockings can be opened until everyone is downstairs. In our house, where ages range from 2-13, "morning" is a relative term, stretching from 4 a.m. to noon. Opening one present at a time and assigning a child to be Santa (to hand out the gifts) can slow things down and allow for the necessary coffee and other artificial stimulants to kick in. The Santa gifts will be the most anticipated. If you have been unable to secure the #1 gift, make sure you've given advance notice to the child to avoid a major trauma (therapy is so expensive). I've actually bought the gift first and then convinced the child that they really want it through subliminal and in-your-face strategies ("Aren't those Spiderman scooters the coolest thing...").
Santa can be practical and stuff stockings with socks, underwear, pencils and other usually boring items, made less pedestrian by splurging on items which carry a character or brand the kids really like. Susan Michalek of Toronto, mother to six-year-old Thomas and three-year-old twins Richard and Lauren, says "My Mom taught me that Santa doesn't just make toys -- he also has a deal with the Dentist and the Doctor and people at the crayon and school supplies stores." Smart woman. "The other key thing she taught me was never ever use the same wrapping paper that Santa uses!" I learned this one the hard way when my bright little five-year-old daughter caught this amateur mistake. I'm still not sure if she believed that we both shop at the same dollar store.
Other quick tips:
• If you leave cookies and milk out for Santa, make sure there are crumbs left on the plate, the milk is drunk, and that they don't see the half eaten cookie in the garbage can the next morning. Ditto on the carrot for the reindeer.
• If you send letters to Santa at Canada Post (North Pole, H0H 0H0 or e-mail him) for more than one child, hold on to the responses as they come in to ensure everyone gets one back. You may have to pen one yourself to avoid abandonment issues, and again, more expensive therapy.
• Try to keep to regular nap and bedtime schedules if possible, yours, as well as the kids. Cranky is as cranky does.
• If you have older children who are "in on Santa," make them keep the magic alive for their younger siblings by involving them in the Santa shopping, or disposing of the cookies and milk when the little ones are in bed. Children between the ages of 12 and 18 apparently know everything anyway.
Not everything has to be perfect -- the tree is a little Charlie Brown, the decorations have been hung all within a 4-1/2 inch space by the two-year-old, the turkey is a bit overdone, and the 13-year-old wasn't sincere enough in her thanks for the green nylon turtleneck from Granny -- just remember you'll have next year to get it all right again.
Page 2 of 2Kathy Buckworth is a Mississauga-based freelance writer with four children aged 3-13. She has managed to survive many Christmases through deception, manipulation and bribery. Her first book, The Secret Life of Supermom was published by Sourcebooks Inc., in May 2005.
