Gifts for Kids = Potential for Clutter
This can be a touchy subject for some households so bare with me here folks:
Remember at Christmas time last year when Grandpa walked into the birthday party with a box the size of the coffee table? That heart drop feeling because you know you don’t have anywhere for this MASSIVE present to live in your home?
We’re going to dive a little deeper into how to avoid this situation today.
Now I want to start off by saying that we are not wanting to deprive our family and friends from the joy that is gift giving. Nor do we want our kids to feel left out by never receiving physical items as gifts – be that toys or otherwise. But is here is a way to give the kids that excitement and wonderful experience while at the same time not just accumulating more stuff.
When the question is posed: “what does Lily want for her birthday?” it is well within your right as parents to politely request gifts that are items that she might actually need such as a new backpack for school or activities for rainy days or an “Experience Gift” instead of toys or clothing. An example of an Experience Gift would be a set of passes to the movie theatre or science world, or a magazine subscription that features something they are into - which can also be recycled at the end of the month!
This way the gift giver knows exactly what would be a great gift idea, the parents can at least have the hope that they wont wind up with an oversized toy and the kids can still experience the joy of opening the present on their birthday.
And although these requests and conversations can be slightly awkward at first, it can also be very much worth it. Now there are always going to be friends and family members that get our kids physical gifts and that’s all good. But having them understand the intention behind what your goal here is to not just keep stuff for the sake of owning more stuff to inevitably clean up over and over again.
And the best part of all that is that when your child gets an experience style present you as a family get to spend more time together doing something fun or educational. These experiences are memories made and stronger bonds formed as a unit. It will force you to “use” these gifts and have a reason to get out and try something that maybe ordinarily you may not have thought to do or didn’t have the budget for.
It will help ease the amount of clutter brought into your home from the get go and the benefit of spending more time with your kids to enjoy these experience gifts - rather than having them play with a new toy for 10 minutes only to be more interested in doing a craft with the cardboard box it came in.
Below is a little email or text you can send to friends or family when asked the questions about what your kids or even yourself would like for a special occasion. This will help you maintain your organizational systems and control a bit of the clutter right from the get go.
For questions or comments please write them below and I’ll reply from one, diligently organized mom, to another.
- Jaime Bergman, Professional Home Organizer in Vancouver Canada
Dear Beloved Friends and Family,
We love you and so does _______. This parenting thing really takes a village and we are thrilled you are in ours! As you know, we try very hard to be mindful of our time and our possessions. So with that being said, in order to keep our home organized and our family thriving, with can't accept every single toy or gift that can come with kids.
We don't want to take away the joy of gift giving and receiving from you or for _______. If possible, gifts of experiences are so wonderful, passes to science world, movie theatre tickets, swimming classes or day passes to the aquarium are such a big help and help to build a lasting memory.
Or if buying something really is important I can send a small list of things she needs for this season or school/daycare (ex. new shoes, lunch kit, bike helmet, books, Polly Pocket, molding clay kit etc)
We love you and appreciate your support of our family
We love you to bits,
_________________
