2023 Author: Anita Thornton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 11:16
For a variety of reasons, more and more people are deciding to put the brakes on the overconsumption trend that is so common around Christmas. They choose not to give gifts…or to give differently. Is this your case?
No Christmas Presents
“We give few gifts to children and have been doing so for a few years now,” says Stéphanie-Hélène. Usually they have a book, a piece of clothing and a board game, or a coupon/ticket for a particular activity. They understood quite early that Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy were us. We are very concerned about instilling values of citizenship and environmental commitment in our children, so for us, it is a question of consistency. »
A matter of value and an ecological gift
“I work in the field of social and environmental responsibility. I try to ensure that the children understand where things come from, who made them and under what conditions,” adds Stéphanie-Hélène, who admits letting grandparents, uncles and aunts spoil her children a little. children… “but not too many”.
We talk about it more and more: givingless, give more. On the one hand, it is an effective way to reduce its ecological footprint. Therefore, we choose toys that are made locally, that are not overpackaged and that are of good quality. We therefore prefer objects that will last, that can even have a second life, to those that are less expensive but of poor quality.
“At home, we often opt for second-hand,” explains Karine, who always goes through the classifieds before buying new. “At the beginning, I admit, it was only a financial question. And then, I quickly realized that for my children, it made absolutely no difference,” she says.
Children's reaction
Karine adds: “Most of the used toys found on sites like kijiji are like new. They see nothing but fire! She admits, however, that they are still young. She fears that the demands will increase over time. Stéphanie-Hélène's children, for their part, “are not too inclined to consume, so they don't complain. During the holidays, they are happy to relax, do family activities, play outside with friends, cook, etc. It is certain that they feel the pressure of the entourage and school friends. Children tend to compare themselves to each other, don't they? »
That's when education takes on its full meaning. It is important to teach children the value of money and the importance of not “over-consuming”. To do this, we must also change our own habitsand lead by example, day by day.
Too many toys, not a gift
“For my part, I thought I noticed that my son was jaded,” says Louise-Andrée, mother of an eight-year-old “big boy”. “At the beginning, we were very excited, and we offered him Christmases as we would have dreamed of having ourselves, children. Gifts, do you want some, here it is! But he was playing with it for fifteen minutes, and then presto! In the toy box. Last year, we decided to change that. And the worst part is that he doesn't even complain about it! »
And then, as Karine rightly pointed out to us, it's he althy to want something, to hope for it… "It's having everything, right away, which isn't normal", specifies she.
The Christmas Challenge
Did you know that, according to the Quebec Retail Trade Council, Quebec parents spend an average of $371 to $404 on Christmas gifts? In this vein, we particularly like the Christmas challenge recently launched by the site comment-épargne.fr: no more than 4 gifts per child. The principle is simple: we offer a gift he wants, something he needs, something to wear and something to read.
Louise-Andrée's version also looks like this: “We offer a “gift” (laughs), a piece of laundry, tickets to a play and a Quebec book ! »
So who's taking the Christmas challenge with us?
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