Find the Best Christmas Gifts for Your Kids

What are you getting the kids for Christmas this year? It's always a dilemma, trying to get something they will really like, but that you can afford. No parent wants his children to run into the living room on Christmas morning and be disappointed. We want our children to love Christmas, and we stress ourselves making sure they are not let down.

Let's begin our quest, then, by what we got them last year. Can you remember what you got them? Can they remember what they got last year? Did they set it aside after five minutes and play with the box it came in the rest of the afternoon? I think there is something to that. A box evokes their imagination. Most of today's toys leave little or no room for a child's own thoughts or creativity. The toys do all of the thinking for them. And that's just what they do not need.

Please don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying we should not have a TV or buy video games, I'm just saying there is more out there if we will just use our minds and imaginations to find it. And we should shop in our own town as much as we can to support the local economy. The very best gift may be waiting for you in a small store right downtown.

So, I want to give my children something they will enjoy, but that will make their lives better. I heard a famous musician say he received an old second-hand guitar for Christmas and it set him on the path to the wonderful world of music. How many artists began their career with an art set they got for Christmas, perhaps even as an afterthought? How many scientists received a microscope?

And how many authors were given a book? I want to encourage everyone to buy your children one or more books this Christmas. The gift of reading is the gift of using their imaginations. What books? They need to fit your child's reading level and interests. I was given a Living Bible when I was fourteen and it helped set me on the very satisfying path on which I find myself today. If your family celebrates another religion, then by all means purchase your book of faith for them.

I remember when I was a child; there was usually one thing I really wanted for Christmas. If I got that, it didn't really matter what else I received. So, I'm going to try hard to get that one thing my kids really, really want, and then I hope to use the rest of our limited budget to get something I think will be good for them.

Christmas is not just about the presents, of course, and it is more blessed to give than to receive. Let your kids see you help someone less fortunate this year. That will model a good example for them and help someone else at the same time. You will bless yourself, your children, and someone else in one stroke.

Then, use your imagination when buying for your own kids. Find ways to get them out from in front of the television, to get them outside, to get the family to play together, and to encourage them to use their minds and strengthen their creativity. Who knows, the next Thomas Kinkade, Kelly Clarkson, Billy Graham, or Albert Einstein may be living under your roof.

You can contact Craig Harris at www.apparentlyso.net.