Children may get clothes for Christmas
Filed under: Budgets, Kids and Money, Recession
Yes, Virginia, there is a recession.In what is shaping up to be a seriously grim holiday shopping season, retailers are projecting ("hoping" is a better word), that parents will buy "necessities," i.e. clothes, instead of electronic games and other high dollar purchases for their children this Christmas. This would be a great solution for Macy's but if the prediction comes true, there will be some unhappy kids this holiday season. Bottom line? You can't blame retailers for hoping that parents will just spend money differently.
A lot of us have thought for a long time that Christmas in America needed some adjusting. So here we are. But as a mother and a children's therapist, let me suggest that you don't buy young children clothes for Christmas. Teenagers may well want clothes but will be happier choosing it themselves (and you'll be a lot happier not standing in line for an exchange) - hence gift cards. For the 'tweens, it seems only fair to give them a head's up that this isn't going to be much of a year for electronics.
As for the little ones, there is so much to choose from in the classic toys. Consider a 64-pack of crayons and a stack of coloring books. Or for the slightly more advanced a good set of colored pencils or craypas, and an artist-quality drawing pad. Consider card games, Etch-a-Sketch, puzzles with their favorite animals, bags of small plastic animals -- ranches, farms -- and those big speckled cardboard blocks, Play-Doh. Bring back Mr. Potato Head.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-11-2008 @ 7:51AM
Lisa said...
Hail to you and your ideas. I have been buying the classic old fashion toys at Christmas for my kids for 17 years. I have 5 children ages 18, 17, 13, 5 and 4.
My youngetst girls played with the playdough sets all year long. The crayons and colored pencils are in need of replacing . These 3 items and many packages of paper have brough hours and hour of creative play this year.
Dont forget the watercolors and paint brushes. These items are excellent gifts also.
Although I as did my mother and grandmother did spend the bulk of my Christmas budget on clothing items. The tweens and teens alway love getting a nice new namebrand sweatshirt. Something they only get twice a year in our house.
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