Hi, how ya doin? Anyway I would concider having each of your boys choose 5 toys of their choice of their own, to donate to a needy family this Christmas season. I know our community encourages this and I think it's a very positive thing for kids to do. I've always done this with my son as it also encourages him not to grow up with clutter as well, he sees me going through the pantry for the food basket program for the needy at the same time. Christmas, is so much more than Santa afterall and in this commercial world, especially the US we need to instill the gift of giving, good luck.

....and one more thing that's kind of neet, I too have had a pretty financially challenging year this year, and my son's watched me go through my personal things to give my girlfriends for gifts this year, earings, a pottery bowl, I know my friends well enough to know what of mine they'd love to have and it frees up my cash flow and lifts the burden....

Good Morning!

I had my oldest kids (14 and 12) go through their things and I assigned a monetary value to them (usually $1 or 2) For everything that they put into the box going to charity, they "earned" some money towards a future purchase. They could either "bank" it, or spend half of it and "bank" the rest. They really got into this and realized how much "stuff" they had that they didn't use. After they thought they were done. I had them go through again, and told them to find some more stuff and I would assign a "special" amount (usually $5 to $10) they really got excited about that. They each had about 4 huge totes full of nice stuff. I then took the totes, made sure everything in there was clean, and WE together went down to the family homeless shelter and took the totes in for them to go through. (Letting my kids see exactly how it is for others). They both came back very humbled wanting to know what else they could do for them. (They wanted to take them food, cookies, etc.) When I told them that that was not feasible to do our own money constraints, they got together and then came to me and said "mommy, you don't have to pay us for our stuff, they need it far more than we did, besides were weren't using it anyway". They next day, my son came to me and asked "mommy, are we rich?" I laughed and said in money - no, we are relatively poor, but we are very rich in what is important and that is love.

Good luck!!

I agree that having them donate some toys is a great idea. But I might go one step further and have them donate their time as well. You might even be able to get some of their friends involved to volunteer time at a local nursing home or something similar and just sing some carols. Something easy and free (with the exception of the cost of gas). Donate time at a local shelter if singing isn't an option. There are plenty of things they can do to actually SEE what they can do to make a difference. Make it a new family tradition. This will give them one time a year to give time and energy to others, and will teach them to feel some sense of responsibility for their community. It could end up being one of those things they carry into their lives as adults. You never know.

This is just my opinion.
My childen re of religous nature, and were recently baptised.They understand the real need of others in the world thru mine and the church's teachings.
So, they dnt hve great expectations on xmas, as its a celebration of christ, nothing too big for us.
We r ment to exchange small gifts frm the heart in rememberance of our saviour's birth.i would say let them see how there r people out there who r suffering, and then they might think twice.nxt week, i take my children along to sing carols whilst i serve xmas dinner to the less fortunate.They luv it, and to see the smile upon these peoples faces is something very touching.We dnt donate gifts to charity, we donate our hearts and time.We r not well off either, but we appreciate wht we hve.
I wish u luck.
and hve a merry christmas.
God bless.