Gift Giving

So speaking of my wonderful father...he's given me a brainstorm of his that I'm hoping to take on for a Christmas tradition.  I'm thinking that now is the time that we need to start staying within limits so that we don't find ourselves going out of control in this consumer-driven holiday market.  Plus, I want to instill some values in the girls in regards to presents.  I just think that it's oh-so-easy to get wrapped up in all the want-want-want as well as the massive-buying and I'm not interested.  So, dad suggested buying three gifts:  something you need, something you want and something that gives all year long. 

So that's what we're going to try to do and we'll give a stocking with things also.  At this point, the girls know that they can ask Santa for one thing and he gives one present...so  they've already started narrowing their wants down.  It's funny to watch Addison with this conversation.  You can ask her what she's going to ask Santa for and she'll start with a list, but when you remind her that you can only ask for one thing, she always requests a dress.  It's like she's making this mental list and then crossing things off for her number one gift. I love to think that this could help them really think and decide which thing is most important to them.  So we're not done yet, but we're looking at:
Addison:  dress and heels (and stocking of other princess related things)
Delilah: dinosaur toy and a zhu zhu pet which is her Santa request (a stocking of mixed toys)

Their gift that gives all year will be membership for the Strong Museum of Play. They are at the perfect age for it, so I'll just have to create something that looks pretty enticing to be wrapped.