Okay my American friends I have done all I can to Respect the Turkey but our Thanksgiving was a long ass time ago and so I am feeling the need to talk about Christmas. Your Thanksgiving is less than a week away anyways so I'm not breaking the rules by too much right? Besides our Santa Clause parade was tonight, radio stations are playing Holiday music and I am currently watching a Holiday movie.
What???? You don't decorate your tree with soccer balls?
This year I have started to look at the holidays differently. As an adult it was never about the gift receiving for me. I do love giving gifts and seeing people's reaction as they open them. This year I am trying to make it even less about presents and more about traditions and memories. I don't think B gets Christmas but that doesn't mean that we can't start to instill in him that the holidays are about family, having fun and giving back.
When it comes to presents we are looking for something in particular and are looking to buy it used. Yep, the big gift for B under the tree will not be something new from a store. It will be something that another child has loved and then outgrown. I do draw the line at buying used toys for anyone other than B because I am not sure what the reaction would be and honestly I don't want to upset anyone.
There are lots of benefits to buying used toys including:
* Extending the life of toys to prevent them from ending up in the landfill.
* Hello cash monies savings!
* Less natural resources being used up in producing new toys.
* No waste from packaging.
I'm excited for the holidays this year! Over the next month I will be sharing with you the new traditions we are starting that will help to make our holidays as green as possible.
Have you ever bought second hand toys for the holidays? What about other gifts?
Related Posts - Check them Out
Christmas Roundup
Kids Toys
Hand Me Downs
I think second hand toys are a great idea! :)
ReplyDeleteI gave my children toys I got as hand me downs from neigbors last year! Please thought I was crazy and cheap but I loved it. After the holiday, we had no "holiday" packaging trash on the side of the road my my neighbors where loaded. I felt so sad for them!
ReplyDeleteI am a new follower and look forward to your posts! I am a Dietitian who writes about child nutrition (picky eating, famliy recipes, homemade baby food and much more). Best, Clancy http://healthybabybeans.blogspot.com/
I am also on FB at healthy lifestyle, strong family!