How can you deal with the question of why other kids got more “stuff” for Christmas? This article may help.
While I think our kids are blessed beyond what my husband and I could have imagined having when we were young, the fact is that their acquisitions probably don’t measure up in number or value to most of their peers. Partially this is because of the area in which we live, a semi-affluent area where parents can and do provide things for their kids that we cannot even if we wanted to do so.
So, I am familiar with what happens when children who have less material things for Christmas visit their friends who got more, and the questions it raises.
The best advice of course, is to instill the real meaning of Christmas, emphasizing that it is about the birth of our Savior, the greatest present we will ever get. To raise children with the confidence, the empathy, and all of those other great qualities that de-emphasize the material; the internal characteristics we all want our kids to have. To daily demonstrate these qualities in ourselves as parent, when we are happy with the blessings we enjoy rather than seeking more money, more things.
I’m also practical about this, too. There is the whole Santa question of course (and also the tooth fairy). Why does Santa bring bigger and more expensive presents to their friends? It is a hard concept for kids to get. If you are raising your children without Santa, this is a relatively easy one as you explain about limits.
For those of us that do get visited by the man in red, at least figuratively, it gets a little trickier. After all, shouldn’t Santa be fair in all things? You don’t want your children thinking that they aren’t as worthy as their friends.
A couple of answers to this question that seem to work include telling them that Santa has to consult with or get a parent’s permission before he delivers gifts (which is why Junior didn’t get that hamster), or that Santa does his best to give each child what he or she really needs. Then remind your children that they did get some great gifts that were on their lists.