F.... Keeping up with the Jones's

[mheisig]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

Gift giving isn't a huge deal in my family. Not to be too sappy, but really it's about spending time together and creating new memories. My mom has been instrumental in driving home that point.

Don't get me wrong, we all exchange gifts. But they're simple gifts. Especially for the adults. My 1-year old niece will get showered with gifts of course.

This year, I'm getting all noble. My gift is my sig, and last Friday I braved the elements and spent the evening volunteering at a kids museum

Nothing against how your family does things in the least bit, but my wife and I decided this year that we were putting a $20 limit on what we get for our 18-month old daughter.

She already gets mountains of clothes and toys from grandparents and aunts and uncles, we just decided we'd get her a few small things and stuff her stocking and whatnot with empty boxes to rip paper off of.

When it comes down to it, she'll have just as much fun shredding wrapping paper as she will playing with some new whizbang toy which she won't remember and will be shelved in two months anyway.

I think equally as criminal as the parents who blow the money on themselves without saving for college are the parents who rack up debt buying their kids toys and clothes. There seem to be parents who define their identity on how much they spend on their kid's entertainment, as if it's virtuous to go into debt to buy your kid an Xbox 360...