Do you think that at Christmas the best thing you can do is spend a lot of money so that they have all the gifts they ask for and more? Do you think your children will be happier the more presents they have to open at Christmas? If this is your thought, let me tell you that you are going the wrong way. But of course, the question that is on your mind right now is a must: how much money should you spend on your children for Christmas? I’m not here to tell you the exact amount of money you should spend, but I do so that you decide to spend in a balanced way and that the most important thing on these dates is not gifts and consumerism.

I’m sure you love your children above all things and seeing them smile is what really makes you happy, and if you have the possibility to see that smile on his face, you will do everything in your power. That’s what all parents do and will continue to do forever, that’s being an amazing parent! But beware, making a child smile and be happy does not mean that you have to fill his heart with gifts and material things, because that will not give him happiness.

What really makes a child happy children is spending quality time with their parents, creating memories that make you smile in the future when you look back…knowing that you were loved all the way and had great parents all your life. But what does all this have to do with Christmas and gifts? Much more than you can imagine.

Things you must have keep in mind on these dates

As I have mentioned above, you do not have to fill the hearts of your children with large expenses in your pocket. You must learn to free yourself from advertising, consumerism and exaggerating Christmas to limits that are scary. To know exactly how much you should spend on your children you should ask yourself some questions which, of course, you have to answer with total sincerity:

• How much time do you dedicate to your children daily? Is it possible that you want to give them more things to alleviate your feeling of guilt for not paying enough attention? If this is the case, before thinking about what to give your children, you should change your time and dedicate quality time to them, so you will not have so much need to fill the emotional void.
• Are there other people who will also give you things? (grandparents, uncles, cousins, other relatives and friends). If the children are going to have more gifts on the other hand, limit your gift to just one. It is not necessary for them to have many and then not be able to enjoy them all.
• What do they need? What they need comes before what they want (clothes, toys educational, books).
• What do they want? If they want a particular gift, have they really earned it?
• What’s the budget? Never overspend or go into debt so you can buy more gifts. Buy with what you have today.

What really matters

But what really matters is not the gifts under the tree (although of course they are moments of happiness and family union that we should all enjoy), but that we must dedicate quality time to our children, teach them to be humble without so many gifts, that they learn to appreciate what they have in their hands and stop thinking about what they don’t have. But above all and most importantly, you can make the feeling of Christmas throughout the year, how? Fighting so that magic and that happiness do not disappear in any of the 365 days that a year lasts.