I realize that Christmas day is getting way too close for the amount of shopping I have completed this year. I am also having difficulty wanting to choose individual gifts for some of my children whom I have had a difficult time with this year. One of my readers mentioned family gifts and Cindy Bodie did a blog on family gifts recently as well. Because over the years, we have parented nearly 100 children, we practically own every toy, book, and gadget known to modern children already. Not to mention that if they really need something, like a pair of boots, I certainly won’t wait until Christmas to buy them. This makes it difficult to purchase original items that are practical and that they will enjoy and use. Therefore, I am going to buy into the family gift idea and just give each child one or two individual gifts.

One big mistake I made this year was buying the Wii in July and giving it to them then. If you have purchased one, then you already know that the console with four controllers, four nunchuks, and a game adds up to about 600. However, I can still purchase additional games for the system as family gifts. One of the children, I believe it was the one we call “Not Me,” broke the VCR. While we are accumulating DVDs, we still have many old favorites on VHS so I bought a new combo player as a family gift. I found a teeter-totter for a reasonable price that holds up to 300 pounds. That means that every person in our home with the exception of my 18-year-old son can teeter together on it, making it a great family gift as well.

Well, at least that makes me feel better about the approaching holiday. I was beginning to get quite depressed over the whole thing. Thank you so much for the great idea. I believe that this will make everyone happy.

Photo Credit Julia Fuller 2006