Alternatives to Overindulging Your Child
Get can’t-miss family activities sent to you!
Get the Best Kid-Friendly Activities
Sent to You Weekly!
Try making the present an educational process. If a child requests a guitar, one gift can be a book about guitars, another can be a research trip to a guitar store, a third can be a movie or play about guitars, a fourth can be a journal where the child can write about learning the instrument — and the final gift is the guitar. By giving one larger gift and other supporting gifts, you are teaching your child while highlighting the special quality of the larger gift.
Ask your children: “What are some ways we can give to others during this time?” Together, you can bring toys to sick children or donate them to a local shelter. Besides spending time as a family, you are encouraging your children to think about others.
Explain to your children the difference between “gifts” and “things,” and between “needing” and “wanting.” Help them understand that going to the park or reading a book together is a kind of gift. Most important, remind your children that the true gifts in life are being with family and friends.
TAMMY GOLD is the founder of Gold Parent Coaching (recently featured in Redbook, Pregnancy and Forbes) and one of the first to pioneer the trend of parent coaching. Certified in both life and parent coaching, she is also a licensed psychotherapist. Tammy graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University.