Want. Need. Wear. Read.



There has been a lot of interest in the tradition we started last year of reducing the children's Christmas gifts. You can read the specifics of how it all started here. As far as the result on Christmas morning, I am happy to report that the children couldn't have been more pleased. Simplifying gift giving was the perfect solution to keeping our holiday celebrating more meaningful. To give you an idea of how it all went down, I'll review the list of things my son Easton found under the tree.

Want: New razor scooter
Need: Reading lamp [may sound boring for some children, but I'm pretty sure this was the thing he was most excited about. Easton's a huge reader and since he shares a bedroom with a younger brother, a reading lamp is a necessity.]
Wear: New pajamas [opened Christmas Eve, another tradition]
Read: Any book would have made him smile, but this is the one he opened.
Easton also got this from Santa, and a handmade gift from his siblings. [I'll post about handmade children's gifts later.]

All in all, I can't believe that we ever survived the holidays without this method. Are you thinking about making this a tradition in your home too? If so, I know where you can find the perfect gift tags. I listed a few sets in the shop just for you! 
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Posted by on Thursday, October 16, 2008

30 comments:

  1. Danyelle, that is a great tradition, and a wonderful way to bring things down, and make things simple. I love it.
    And are you getting your pretty boots? Because you totally should.

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  2. That is such a good idea! Way to keep things simple. I might have to steal your little tradition!

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  3. We started this tradition last year, too! Those tags are adorable- I just may have to order some.

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  4. I told my husband about this idea and we decided we are definitely starting a new tradition. A fabulous idea !!

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  5. i really love this. this is a fabulous post! i really appreciate it.

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  7. We have been doing something similar but with three gifts - want, wear, read. I like the need idea too. It's nice to have a system so it's not about overloading with gifts.

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  8. We are doing it this year. The kids are already so excited to make their list of wants, needs, wears, and reads. (I know that made no sense grammatically, but I like it anyway :)

    They have also agreed that they will make something for each other this year. I am so excited to begin this whole new tradition, I can hardly wait for Christmas morning!

    Thank you again for sharing this fabulous idea Danyelle!

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  9. Donald and I are excited about starting this tradition and I can't wait for my tags to arrive :)

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  10. I still remember when Molly mentioned this at Bunco last year. I thought it would be a great thing to implement but it was already so close to Christmas that I had most of my buying done. I am impressed you were able to limit the "read" gift to one book...I really don't know if I could do it! I need to be better.

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  11. what a wonderful idea. I'll have to remember that one.

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  12. Such a great idea! Having it spelled out this way makes it so doable!

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  13. I am definitely taking your lead! What a simple, lovely way to celebrate the holidays. Thanks for sharing. I linked to this from my blog--hope that's ok!

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  14. I love this idea and plan to implement it with our family this year! Thank you for sharing this!!

    Would you mind if we borrowed this for our blog?

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  15. I am soooo doing this this year. It's the perfect way to cut back. But I absolutely cannot do it without your gift tags.

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  16. what a great idea. we are always trying to prevent too much *stuff* from entering our house. this would certainly help.... beautiful pictures, thanks.

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  17. I received my Happy Mail yesterday ... what fun! I am so excited about the tags. We have been trying to simplify the past couple of holidays and this is the perfect tangible way to do it! It will be a fun new tradition to start. Thanks so much for the tags and GREAT idea! :)

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  18. what a lovely idea! this is the answer i have been looking for. my is question is, did you tell your children that santa would be bringing only these items? from what i can tell- you also have small children. how did you explain this to them. my kids seem to think santa can bring anything because "he doesn't have to pay for it" the elves just make whatever they ask for. thanks for the great suggestions!

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  19. Terrific idea. I'm adopting it next year. (Too late for this year, I've already overshopped!)

    But next year I'm all over it.

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  20. I really love this suggestion! I talked to my husband about it and he loves it too (phew!). Although he said that due to our budget, he thinks this year we should do Read. and skip the other three. . .

    Thanks for this!

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  21. Hi. A friend sent me your link to this post and I absolutely love it! I have already made plans to do my Christmas shopping this way this year.

    Would you mind if I borrowed the picture and put a link to your post? I wanted to share it with my friends if that is ok with you.☺

    Leave me a post on "meg's blog" ok?!

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  22. I know this is a post from last year, but I'm so glad to have found it! Can't wait to do it this year with my family.

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  23. I plan to link to your post--what a brilliant idea! Thanks for sharing!

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  24. i love it. what a wonderful tradition.
    thank you for sharing.
    xo

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  25. I just came across this idea and LOVE it! My children can so easily lose the meaning of celebrations (christmas, birthday, etc) that this will help them determine what really matters!

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  26. I love the tags. We're on board, too. So simple and concrete for kids to understand. Merry Christmas!

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  28. Love this idea. My kids are little ( 2 1/2 and 8 months) so perhaps starting this tradition while they are still young is a good way to curb the more more more attitude.

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  29. While I see nothing wrong with giving kids a day when their toy dreams come true, I also think the process of gift buying can be overwhelming. Where to start? And, perhaps more importantly, when to stop?? As a parent, I want to give my kids everything on their list. But, as a fiscally responsible adult I simply cannot do that.

    Just wrote about how much I like this idea!

    http://www.homemademothering.com/2010/12/want-need-wear-read.html

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  30. Really great post, Thank you for sharing.The idea was too good.

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