This year, I feel like it is a double wammy - a slow economy mixed with the kids endless "I want that!". So articles like the one from Sarah Mahoney on http://www.yourfamilytoday.com/ titled "Raise A Smart Spender" is just what I needed.
Michelle Tinger from http://www.o-mama.com/ (Opinionated Mama) was featured in the article with her tip:
5. Be giving, from start to finish.
Toy drives are great but impersonal. So, Michelle Tingler, founder of the Web site O-mama takes her kids -- ages 10, 7 and 3 -- to the Angel Tree near their home in San Clemente, Calif., where they each pick a wish left by needy children. “Last year, one girl asked for a pair of black Converse shoes for her brother, another child asked for socks and one for school supplies,” she says. “My kids were like, ‘They don’t have pencils?’ And I got to say, ‘That’s right, they don’t have a lot of things.’” Tingler and her kids decide how much to spend on granting these wishes, and then they shop together.
Thanks, Sarah!
Michelle Tinger from http://www.o-mama.com/ (Opinionated Mama) was featured in the article with her tip:
5. Be giving, from start to finish.
Toy drives are great but impersonal. So, Michelle Tingler, founder of the Web site O-mama takes her kids -- ages 10, 7 and 3 -- to the Angel Tree near their home in San Clemente, Calif., where they each pick a wish left by needy children. “Last year, one girl asked for a pair of black Converse shoes for her brother, another child asked for socks and one for school supplies,” she says. “My kids were like, ‘They don’t have pencils?’ And I got to say, ‘That’s right, they don’t have a lot of things.’” Tingler and her kids decide how much to spend on granting these wishes, and then they shop together.
Thanks, Sarah!