The Best Gifts For Kids To Make Them Love You More Than Santa Claus
Who else are more excited than the children and kids when it comes to Christmas? The excitement comes alive with the Christmas spirit, looking out the frost covered windows, watching the snow blanket cover the ground, pine needle smells and sheer anticipation of the Santa and stockings of gifts and presents. With Christmas and winter signifying time for caring and sharing, giving and living, adults simply cannot help but truly enjoy shopping with these children and kids for the Christmas!
Despite the fact that shopping for kids and children during Christmas festival can be enjoyable and joyful, there are a lot of attention for details and considerations that need to be taken into account when it comes to selection of gifts and toys for the kids. The choice of toys is a very important component of your shopping process because the toys must appeal to your children or kids current developmental stage. Specifically the focus of concerns should be in the aspects of whether the toys are age appropriate, general fit of the toys to the living environment and concept, acceptability and appeal of the toys to the children and kids in general.
First of all, careful selection of toys must involve careful attention to the age appropriateness of the toys for the particular kid and child for the particular age group. Safety of the children must always come first. It is highly advisable that you exercise judgment as to the suitability of the toys using the age range recommendation by the suppliers on the toy packaging as a guideline in your selection process. Due to possible hazards caused by choking as the small children and kids have tendency to put and chew stuffs in their mouths, therefore, toys that are designated for play for the older kids are generally smaller in sizes and contain more loose and removable parts. While toys and games like this are suitable for play for older kids, they can be hazardous to the toddlers, babies and younger kids. It is equally important in the process of choosing toys to make sure that they are well made, of high quality and can handle lots of wear and tear. The fact that age designation toys are designed such that they are specially suitable for the children and kids of their ages specified because the complicated toys for the older children which can be too difficult to play and manage by the younger children easily frustrate them. On the other hand, simplistic baby games may get too dull for the growing or older children and would not stimulate their interest and fun at all.
Consideration of the living condition of the family as well as the childrens parents is also essential when evaluating the Christmas gift for kids. The specifics of the living environment that encompass the size of the living room, availability of empty space and garden size as well as the surrounding neighbourhood are few of those considerations to be accounted for. Toys can be tried out to see whether the noise level is appropriate for the child and whether it will affect the harmony of the neighbours particularly if one is living in an apartment. Large toys can be problematic when there is inadequate space at home to store it and indoor products such as foosball table can equally give similar headache with the spacing and storing problem. As a rule of thumb, smaller items which produce minimal noise level are the better gift ideas for your Christmas shopping for kids.
Other than the age appropriateness factor, personal beliefs and acceptability represent another dimension in shopping for the most appropriate Christmas gifts for the children for the season. Different multitudes of acceptability of the types and nature of toys and games by the parents can be seen from the consent given to their children and the childrens access to that particular toy and game. Ethical beliefs of parents and adults are important because they may find toys such as large guns and violent video games unacceptable and offensive because they believe that the presence of the violence element in these toys and games may lead their children astray in their upraising. The safest choice for the gift for these children where you cannot be certain of the beliefs and the feelings of their parents would be to avoid purchasing such items.
What is important in your decision making process during your Christmas shopping for the kids and children would be to involve their parents in the process. You will discover that your whole shopping would be a lot easier and relaxed than would be should you be doing the shopping all by yourself. Consulting the parents of the child can give you feedback regarding the interests and the types of toys that would engage their child. They may even know and tell you the exact type of toy from the childs wish list for the Christmas. By this, you will reap the benefit of getting the child what he or she wants best and not buying something that he or she already has or uninterested in at all.
Thomas Bronson
http://www.articlesbase.com/advice-articles/the-best-gifts-for-kids-to-make-them-love-you-more-than-santa-claus-121595.html
Stuck in the Middle Ages March 17th, 2009, 7:55 am
If you grew up Jewish, did you have Santa Claus?
My wife and I are not very observant. We come from different religious backgrounds and now belong to a temple where more than half the families are interfaith. Our daughter is being raised Jewish. At regular school, she is the only Jewish child in her class, though there are many in the area. She has become very sensitive to being the only child to not get gifts from Santa and feels sad that she's different from everyone else in her 2nd grade class. She also is extremely imaginative and I think she wants to believe in the idea of Santa–the nice fat man flying all over the world with gifts for children. (My daughter loves believing in "magic" like Santa Claus. When she found out the tooth fairy wasn't real, she cried for about two hours.)
Did you grow up Jewish and have Santa Claus? If so, how was that done?
Any suggestions as to helping my daughter deal with not having Santa? I thought she could make or decorate a menorah. I also thought that a Hanukkah party for her friends might be nice. The kids could enjoy junk food and games and leave with little trinkets. What kid doesn't like that?
Thanks for your responses.
jamtheman31–thanks for the stereotype. We get our daughter gifts for Hanukkah; this question has more to do with her feelings and making her feel like she's part of the community while holding on to our values as well. But I guess you didn't get that. At all.
ANTI-DISNEY CHANNEL March 17th, 2009, 12:57 pm
i smacked santa in the face and he turned red
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hunternationh March 17th, 2009, 12:59 pm
There is no proof that Jesus was born on Christmas. It talks about Shepards tending their flocks which would not have been in the winter.
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LadyDPak March 17th, 2009, 1:01 pm
I am Christian, and I also don't want to have my kids believe in Santa because he is not real, and because I remember how much it broke my trust in my parents when I realized they had lied to me all those years. Technically it is a lie.
However, is there a reason you cannot exchange gifts amongst your family, even if they are inexpensive, homemade, or personal gifts? Is it because you don't believe that Jesus was the Christ, so there is no reason to celebrate Christmas?
What I would like to tell my kids, who will hopefully also be very imaginative, is that even though Santa is not real, we can pretend he is real, the parents can pretend to be santa - just like kids pretend to be someone else on Halloween. Pretending is fun, and I see no harm in pretending. As long as they know the truth and don't feel you have betrayed their trust. For me, my kids will know the real reason we give gifts is to represent God's gift of Jesus, and his gift of paying for our sins. But stay true to what you believe, and don't be pressured by the world around you.
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marcuss March 17th, 2009, 1:03 pm
Teach you daughter that Santa is not real AND that he is a fictional character associated with Christians, not with Jews. Since she is in the 2nd grade she should have been learning about her own religion in Sunday School for a few years now.
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Kosher Jewish Spy™ JPA March 17th, 2009, 1:05 pm
It was always a small American tradition to introduce Santa Clause with Christmas (No way though of religiously but instead was just a day to exchange presents and have fun) and I stopped believing in Santa when I was 3.
I'm serious I knew Santa wasn't real when I was three, I even remembered what I was thinking back then.
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moo March 17th, 2009, 1:07 pm
I was raised orthodox, so perhaps I can give you my personal take on this. For one, there was never a Santa Claus in our home growing up.
Intertwining the two holidays can cause confusion, because Hanukkah has absolutely nothing to do with Christmas. The two holidays just happen to be around the same time.
It is customary to give gifts, charity and presents during this time of year, so try to remember that when celebrating it as well.
Menorah lighting is a great way to share time with your family. Every night you will have one main candle, which is referred to as the Shamash, along with the number of days into the holiday that should be lit.
Keep in mind, that you light the shamash first, and then USE it to light the other candles. Candles are also lit from left to right, and placed in right to left with the appropriate blessings.
Secondly, try making latkes and sufganiyot with your daughter
(I'll leave some recipe links below)!
Oil was a key aspect in the Hanukkah story, so oily/sweet foods are symbolic! Blintzes, donuts (sufganiyot), cake, and cheese.. also work.
Chanukkah gelt and dreidels :
If you don't have any gelt (money/chocolate coins) or dreidels, you should definitely get some!
Learn and teach your daughter how to play dreidel, and explain the story and symbolism behind it!
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If you don't know the story:
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The traditional Chanukah dreidel (spinning top) is a throwback to the times when the Greek armies of King Antiochus controlled the Holy Land, before the Maccabees defeated them and sent them packing.
The powerful regime passed a series of laws outlawing the study of Torah and many of the mitzvot. The Jews were compelled to take their Torah learning "underground," for they knew that a Jew without Torah is like a fish out of water.
Jewish children resorted to learning Torah in outlying areas and forests. Even this plan was not foolproof, for the enemy had many patrols. The children therefore brought along small tops that they would quickly pull out and play with after secreting away their texts, so that they could pretend to be merely playing games.
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Teach your daughter about charity, and why it is just as important to help others around her, instead of just constantly receiving.
I REALLY think it is important to stress the main reason for the holiday itself is to be PROUD of the fact that one is Jewish!
Hanukkah symbolizes the strength of the Jewish people; regardless of the many different belief systems and assimilation that happened around the world.
When you think about this aspect: It seems kind of odd to celebrate Santa, doesn't it?
People are taking pride in their heritage, family and belief structures during this time. Family values are very important and key to such holidays, so all distractions should be shut off (television, radio, telephone etc..).
Explain to her that being Jewish is not something to feel isolated from, but proud of. Hanukkah is a very special time of year, and definitely doesn't have to be dull!
Check the links below for more information about the holiday and good luck!
Chag Samaech (Happy holidays)!
References :
Latkes recipe:
http://www.chabad.org/theJewishWoman/article_cdo/aid/773110/jewish/Low-Fat-Potato-Latkes-I.htm
Donut recipe:
http://www.chabad.org/theJewishWoman/article_cdo/aid/776909/jewish/Sufganiyot.htm
Hanukkah Information:
http://www.chabad.org/holidays/chanukah/default_cdo/jewish/Hanukkah.htm
http://www.aish.com/holidays/Chanukah/
Cher March 17th, 2009, 1:09 pm
Oh, my nieces have the same upsets. The oldest has Santa envy & inspite of adult comments decided Santa is real & helps Christian children celebrate their holiday. You ruined my suggestion…she subbed her Santa envy with complete toothfairy & fairys in general obsession. She writes a note to the toothfairy after every tooth lost & continues the corespondence for a while (with her mom obviously).
A party would be great. Inviting a close Christian friend to celebrate a Hanukah night with you helped her too. Then she goes there for Christmas. At the party they can all make menorahs. There's recipes out of clay & putting bottle caps onto wood boards & a dozen other ways for kids to make real usable ones. Some of them actually look nice (& were done by 4 year olds). If you put them in the middle of the table you can light all of them at once. That'd be memorable. If they all get gifts for Hanuakah, she'll been less worried about not getting from Santa. Most Christian kids wind up saying it's not fair that Jewish kids get for EIGHT nights, so pointing that out?
You can't really grown up Jewish with a Santa, but are there any other fanatsy folks she can believe in? Hanuakah is magical itself with the story of a miracle. Maybe with some research you can get her engaged that way. We decorated their house to the hilt. I'll star & see if others have good ideas.
It's hard & your experience is definitely not alone. My younger niece at 5 said repeatedly that "it's not fair" that there's so much for Christimas & so little for Hanuakah out there. Sigh.
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EDIT:
We decorated with Hanuakh themes. We didn't use sparking light or trees, just menorahs & drawings on the wall & banners from the Judaica shop. And dreidels & made latkes.
I'd read Mo's answer & figured she'd covered the spiritual side very well. I want to emphasize that I'm in agreement with that. Even with explaining what Hanuakh means, my nieces are bothered about Santa so I know what you mean. They will come to appreciate it. I can see see the joy & amazement on my older niece's face on her first Hanukah as she watched the candles get lit. She understood the miracle it seemed. I hope you find ways to bring that into your children's lives. Good luck :).
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mama_pajama_1 March 17th, 2009, 1:11 pm
I am a Reform Jew, raised Reform, and often the only Jewish child in my class growing up, but there were a half-dozen other Jewish children my age. I am married to a non-Jew, but not Christian, who has Christian family. My son has had the experience of being the only Jewish child in his school (not just classroom) until last year when another Jewish child transferred there…out of 750 students. Now there is one Jewish boy and one Jewish girl in that whole school.
Neither of us had Santa Claus, but he did and does get gifts from Christian family members and share in exchanging Christmas gifts from other children and classmates. We also exchange presents with several friends who celebrate Christmas. I suppose that it is all in how you present it. My parents did a good job with me apparently because I don't remember feeling left out without Santa..they made me feel special because I did not have to go through the shock of learning that they lied to me about the existence of a man flying all over the world and discovering it was really them. I did impress upon my son that he could NOT be the one to break that secret to them because it would not be looked upon favorably and would make all their parents not like him or us. Even in kindergarten, he got that…and he actually felt sorry for THEM. It helped to built up trust between us.
My son felt special that he was "in on the secret" that there wasn't really a Santa Claus and that the parents of those children were the one's getting the gifts. Your child can enjoy PLAYING Santa, as I did, to the less fortunate in the community..it is a good mitzvah and helps her feel special rather than diferent. My son also enjoyed being a secret Santa.
I think that trying to make Hanukkah into a substitute for Christmas is not the right way to go about it. I shared Hanukkah with my friends and my son has done so with his, but not as a form of Christmas..so make sure that while you're sharing the party and fun, you can use the opportunity of the MESSAGE of Hanukkah ( a celebration of religious FREEDOM) to help your daughter gain pride in her being different, rather than feeling sensitive.
Making a menorah ( Hanukkiah) is always a wonderful thing, but again..it should not be a substitute for Christmas..Hanukkah isn't the "Jewish Christmas" and sometimes parents misguided efforts so their children don't feel left out..end up confusing the child and the community.
Try to provide more Jewish education for your child..by example. If you don't, she's not going to remain Jewish if the pressures she feels now are any indication of what she is learning as self-identity.
I speak from experience of what I've seen in my own Reform community and in my own extended family.
Shalom
EDIT: I did not read moo's answer until after I had posted my own. There is a portion of it that reflects my thinking and the way I was raised and raise my child that I want to repeat it here for emphasis if moo doesn't mind…
"Teach your daughter about charity, and why it is just as important to help others around her, instead of just constantly receiving.
I REALLY think it is important to stress the main reason for the holiday itself is to be PROUD of the fact that one is Jewish!
Hanukkah symbolizes the strength of the Jewish people; regardless of the many different belief systems and assimilation that happened around the world.
When you think about this aspect: It seems kind of odd to celebrate Santa, doesn't it?"
EDIT: In my home we decorate with things for Hanukkah AND other Jewish holidays with appropriate symbols and items available from many places selling Judaica..or you can make them. We have decorations for each of those days we've made, too. I forgot to mention that I DID have what we called a "Chanukkah Bush" for a time in the early 60's..my parents thought they were being clever with a tabletop aluminum tree we put a big shiny Star of David on top and hung multicolored dreidels and gold chocolate gelt. I think they stopped that when I was 6.
edit: Applauds Mz Rahi's answer.
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vansemmanuel JPA/ Shabbat Mode March 17th, 2009, 1:13 pm
My family is mixed of many faiths and cultures but when i was young and even to this day we have X-mas. Yes, X-mas. We didn't have a religious Christmas. We put the tree up a week before along with a few lights(Blue and White) and we gave presents on X-mas eve(To follow my great grandmother's German background(I have a Middle Eastern background as well but no traditions i have found so far); shes jewish but we wanted to follow a few traditions that germans open presents on X-mas eve) and on X-mas morning. Then we put the decor down on the day after and put up Chanukkah decorations and celebrated Chanukkah. That was my family tradition and we still follow because its tradition.
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Mz.Rahi March 17th, 2009, 1:15 pm
No I did not.
And rather than bend your own practices to accompany society, I'd suggest instead, strengthening her (and your own, in the process) ties to your own Judaism. Practice what is yours, it is something to be proud of. Please, do not discard your heritage, or teach your daughter to discard her own, for the sake of fleeting comfort.
Yes, she may object as a 2nd grader.
But as an adult, she will thank you.
BTW, I once taught in a fairly liberal reform school, and even there, if it was found a family was actively particpating in any other religon ,the student could be removed from the school without notice. And they did, in fact, remove students for exactly this sort of scenario.
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Jewish, mother of four- and why is there LESS 'magic' in having your children KNOW that the gifts they receive are from your own labors and your own love, rather than a fat guy in a red suit?
My children certainly find our love for them pretty 'magical' in it's self.