Want, Need, Wear, Read

Last year, I read about this gift-giving strategy for Christmas.  Purchase one item that each child wants, needs, wears, and reads.  That's it.

Well, I am prone to over-indulgence - ask my kids.  My mom was, and I am.  So Diana asked me to work on using this concept this Christmas.  She said I go overboard, she is working on being a minimalist, and she doesn't need all the "stuff."  So I tried.

I really tried.  And I did pretty well.  What I found was that it made shopping easier because I had to focus.  Rather than just purchase something on impulse, I really had to think whether it was  a want, need, wear, or read.  And of course, I had to add eat!

I would highly recommend this strategy to everyone.  Although my kids would not have had the extravagant, presents-piled-to-the-ceiling Christmas morning, their rooms would have certainly been less full . . . and I would have perhaps learned a little about restraint.