Four Gifts for Christmas

Last year, during the holidays I was reading this blog post and was very inspired by the "Four Gifts" idea.

I told Andrew about it, and we agreed that we would adopt this approach to giving Christmas gifts to Liam.  

Let's face it.  We live in a world that is consumed by "stuff".  As a parent, I think it would be very easy to fall into the trap of over-buying for your children.  I'm grateful that I came upon this idea when Liam was only a year old so we can organically make this our way, without having to get him on board. 

Here's the idea:

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Instead of giving an overabundance of presents, the child receives four meaningful gifts:

Something he or she wants
Something to wear
Something he or she needs
Something to read

I really love this idea.  I love the simplicity.  I love the focus on making the gifts meaningful. I love that it will teach Liam to be grateful for the gifts he receives.

I will say this isn't easy for me, because I love to give gifts.  An unexpected surprise, however, is that it has made me more intentional in what gifts I choose for him.  Rather than just buying because I think he's going to like it, I find myself being much more selective.

As he gets older, I would like to incorporate these four actions into the mix as well:

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My hope is that by starting these traditions, Liam will grow up understanding the true spirit of Christmas, which isn't about receiving but about giving.