JinMarfow Posted December 19, 2021 Share Posted December 19, 2021 My daughter is not getting any Christmas presents this year. We've just had a very tough year. My daughter says she understands but I think she thinks that I'm trying to trick her. My brother-in-law did buy us a tree and we did buy our dinner. So hopefully she'll be able to appreciate the dinner. She loves the tree. This is really bothering me. We've always had kids in the house(we've helped with family and friends kids)but never had a Christmas as we are this time. I'd like to blame it on covid but we only lost 1 family member to covid. I think its the fact that everything has gone up so high in price. IDK, but I can sure use some words of encouragement from others... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted December 19, 2021 Share Posted December 19, 2021 Welcome to the forum, Jin! 🙂 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanin Posted December 19, 2021 Share Posted December 19, 2021 Oh, that’s so hard. Does your daughter go to school? If you call and tell them your situation, I’m sure they’d help. I just bought Christmas presents for one of the students at my school. The student will never know her mom didn’t buy them. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happi duck Posted December 19, 2021 Share Posted December 19, 2021 Besides the school ask your local food pantry, fire department, and town hall. A church might be able to help too. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Innisfree Posted December 19, 2021 Share Posted December 19, 2021 I'm sorry things are so hard! Do you have a thrift shop nearby, perhaps? Over the years I've found some fantastic presents for kids there. How old is your dd? 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shoeless Posted December 19, 2021 Share Posted December 19, 2021 Contact your local police department about their Blue Santa program 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsheresomewhere Posted December 19, 2021 Share Posted December 19, 2021 Assuming this is not one of the many scammers who are posting everywhere- Go on your local town Facebook pages and see if anyone is getting rid any toys/items your child might be interested in. Contact your local social services/police/church as many once a person is verified to be in need, they will be collecting toys and such for those families. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarita Posted December 19, 2021 Share Posted December 19, 2021 I don't know if this will be encouraging but if you don't have the capacity to seek out or get presents (I can understand it's not always convienient and you may nott have the time). I rarely got presents as a kid, while other people always felt bad for me, I never felt bad about it myself. I knew my parents loved me. They were there for me on those special occasions and on most days of my life. As I got older (somewhere in middle school and high school) I liked the fact my parents never got me presents because on special occasions I just got to have their company. They had nothing on their mind except to spend time with me. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JinMarfow Posted December 20, 2021 Author Share Posted December 20, 2021 No this is not a scam. This is me spilling my heart. And I am checking out these ideas. I tried to add a picture of our tree but couldn't figure it out. I want to Thank You All for the comments and the ideas. I am trying a few allready. Thank you 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted December 20, 2021 Share Posted December 20, 2021 If you're trying to brainstorm a present solution, you certainly put it off a bit late. Still, there must be a toys for tots style program in your area that has extras. If not - do you have the ability to make something? Quickly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustEm Posted December 20, 2021 Share Posted December 20, 2021 How old is your daughter? Maybe we can help with inexpensive ideas or homemade ideas? 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustEm Posted December 20, 2021 Share Posted December 20, 2021 (edited) I will say that the leanest year for us one thing we bought were the $2 fruit snack boxes from Walmart and individually wrapped each fruit snack box. We also bought each kid their favorite box of cereal because it was something we never have in the house and those things could easily come out of the grocery budget. I also focused on necessities but things they'd like. So, a nice hoodie from the thrift store, or a winter hat or shirt from the thrift store that was a character they liked. Those things took a lot more planning than you have unless you get lucky. Edited December 20, 2021 by hjffkj 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted December 20, 2021 Share Posted December 20, 2021 I don't understand why it would be due to Covid? Did you lose your job? Yes, some costs have gone up but we always shopped at thrift stores which aren't affected so much by inflation. We never did a huge gift emphasis. One or two gifts were plenty. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted December 20, 2021 Share Posted December 20, 2021 Check out Freecycle and Buy Nothing for your area. Melt old crayons in muffin tins for special blended color crayons. Wrap any Christmas books you already own, open them and read them aloud. Buy favorite cereal, snacks or drinks if you can afford to do so. Wrap or stuff in a stocking. Do you have craft supplies at home? Create a little craft kit to make something specific, even just a folded paper with a “how to draw a snowman” and the right color pencils included. Staple together sheets of paper, to make little “books” — for journaling, sketching. Decorate the cover. If you have older kids, I’d find a hoodie, etc at a thrift shop. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frances Posted December 20, 2021 Share Posted December 20, 2021 I will say that the very simple Christmases my husband experiences for a few years growing up are still extremely fond memories to this day, far more so than the more “normal” ones that followed. The presents were necessities such as a pillow. Regardless of our financial situation, Christmas gifts here have always been simple and few. Most years we only do stockings. This year we decided on one homemade gift each. That said, most communities have programs to help those in need. Have you tried posting on NextDoor or calling 211 to find local resources. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausmumof3 Posted December 20, 2021 Share Posted December 20, 2021 Welcome to the forum. I’m sorry you are doing it tough. Maybe there are some charities that can help so your kids have something. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted December 20, 2021 Share Posted December 20, 2021 I see you are brand new here. Welcome to the forum. Are you a homeschooler? How did you choose this place to post about your Christmas woes? 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shoeless Posted December 20, 2021 Share Posted December 20, 2021 23 hours ago, JinMarfow said: My daughter is not getting any Christmas presents this year. We've just had a very tough year. My daughter says she understands but I think she thinks that I'm trying to trick her. My brother-in-law did buy us a tree and we did buy our dinner. So hopefully she'll be able to appreciate the dinner. She loves the tree. This is really bothering me. We've always had kids in the house(we've helped with family and friends kids)but never had a Christmas as we are this time. I'd like to blame it on covid but we only lost 1 family member to covid. I think its the fact that everything has gone up so high in price. IDK, but I can sure use some words of encouragement from others... If you are at all handy with a needle and thread, you can make quite a few little toys out of felt, thread, and embroidery floss. You can make ornaments to decorate your tree out of old greeting cards and crochet thread. Felt and floss are very inexpensive (50 cents for a skein of floss), and you only need a little bit. I attached pictures of some things I made this year. The felt pieces in the first picture are about the size of a quarter. They were prizes for my son's advent calendar and have been a HUGE hit. The card ornaments I made in about an hour last night. If you can't crochet, you can just cut nice pictures out of cards and punch a hole at the top to hang them. If you have glue, you could add glitter or beads to make them sparkle. In years where we've had little money, I've had to get creative and utilize what I already had around the house. It always turned out more festive than I expected. 9 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 How old is your daughter? What are your daughter's interests? Do you have any supplies or resources on hand? I know one year I baked my daughter a heart-shaped cupcake to put in her stocking because it took up a lot of space and cleverly obscured the fact that there wasn't any candy. That happened to be the year that my daughter was very into pioneer stories like (American Girl) Kirsten and Little House on the Prairie, so I also made a little, old-fashioned doll out of yarn: https://www.frugalhaus.com/old-fashioned-yarn-dolls-knit-epattern/ You could also hit the dollar store for a pack of plain pencils and a ball of yarn in your daughter's favorite color and make her a set of these: https://www.busybliss.com/pom-pom-pencils/ (I tend to think immediately of yarn-based options, because yarn can be had for cheap (if you're not worried about creating an heirloom) and is something I often have sitting around anyway.) Some of the patterns here would involve things most of us are unlikely to have lying around, but it might spark some ideas: https://weefolkart.com/category/toys_games/ Oh, and if you have access to a computer and printer, you might find some fun things here: https://dltk-kids.com/ Depending on your daughter's age and interests, you might be able to print out and package up personalized coloring books or craft kits. My kids adored making the toilet paper roll figures when they were young. In a similar vein, free printable paper dolls: http://www.supercoloring.com/paper-crafts/dress-up-paper-dolls This next one I made for a birthday party (one year when we were on a very tight budget), but it was a hit and my kids played with it for months. I took a cardboard shipping box and painted a crocodile (Peter Pan-themed party) on one side. I cut a hole in the box in the crocodile's mouth. I sewed a few bean bags out of felt and stuffed them with rice. I used a Sharpie to draw clock faces on the rice bags to evoke the watch the croc in the original story swallows, but you could totally just cut up an old sheet or whatever. That silly thing was the hit of the party, and my kids played with it until it finally fell apart. I could keep going, but it would help if you could share some basics about your daughter's age and interests. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shoeless Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 Some other ideas: make Garland out of paper strips looped together to make a chain. I remember making paper chains to decorate my grandparent's home one year. It's a simple and sweet memory for me now. ❤️ Have the children help make decorations from paper. They can make paper snow flakes and stars. Or decorate the tree with their stuffies and dolls. They might get a big kick out of seeing their toys on the tree. The Prudent Homemaker ran a "gift a day" series several year ago. She made several items for her children that year. A Gift a Day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 People have suggested some good organizations to check out. If it were me, and I knew they were not in a tight bind like I was, I would simply ask my friends and family. "Hey, I am calling everywhere, but if I am not able to get any gifts for dd, would you be able to give me just a little bit of help? If you have any old toys or books your kids are getting rid of in anticipation of new ones, or school supplies they haven't used, that would be so great. We are not looking for anything specific, it's more for the fun of having stuff to open." And, as others have said, post on the Buy Nothing type groups. Even though my kids are college & post-college, I could easily come up with a few items for almost any age. Oh, and get to the food pantry. You might get a fun food item or two, possibly even a toy or advice on where to get one. 6 hours ago, Spryte said: Do you have craft supplies at home? Create a little craft kit to make something specific, even just a folded paper with a “how to draw a snowman” and the right color pencils included. Staple together sheets of paper, to make little “books” — for journaling, sketching. Decorate the cover. This is such a cute idea, and you could combine it with Jenny's ideas about printing paper dolls and such. With this idea in mind, take a hard look at your pantry. What little kits/baggies could you create? Hot chocolate, brownies, mug cake? Also look at items YOU own (and dh, of course). My mom gifted my kids some of her jewelry several years in a row. Maybe you have a scarf you seldom use? A nice pocketknife? Walk through the whole house and try to look at everything with fresh eyes, especially things that have been in cabinets or drawers. Anything in the attic? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 We regularly give gifts of time. We make a coupon with fancy writing and all decorated with stickers and markers and glitter, that we then wrap. The coupon could be for a back rub, or an evening cooking together, or a I'll clean your room, or I'll clean out your email and make the span go away. All sorts of coupons are possible. They can be very meaningful because you would know what she would really love to have. Then when she is ready, she hands you the coupon and you do what you wrote in it. It is fun. And free. And very family oriented. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 (edited) This year I am also rewrapping toys/puzzles that my ds hasn't played with for a long time. Things that are a 10 minute fun toy, that give joy, but then you store and never play with again because you don't think about it. I've done it before, you just go get that puzzle or nerf gun or watercolours that you gave your child 5 years ago, and wrap it again. It is so fun to rediscover things that you have simply forgotten about. We have a small house and try to be eco, so we do lots of alternative gift giving. We wrap things that we needed anyway, so my dh just bought himself some new shoes, so he will wrap those. And I got some new underwear a month ago, so I've saved it up and will wrap them. etc. My ds is getting a new phone charger wrapped up. Probably one third of our gifts are just regular items. But they are fun to unwrap! We also do lots of food. My son loves hot sauce, so we got him one that is his favorite, and he loves a really really crisp apple, so I've got him one of those. He always laughs when he opens his apple. One year I forgot and he was so disappointed! I remember when my kid was 2, I gave him a very smooth rock that was really pretty that I found while walking. He loved it. He has given me a flower arrangement from flowers outside. I've also been known to wrap a box in a box in a box in a box, and just put a marble in it. The present is the joy of the unwrapping. There is just a lot of joy in small things. Think out of the box. Celebrate what you do have. Edited December 21, 2021 by lewelma 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 I just searched "free escape room" (as they are very trendy this year) and got several hits for free printable escape rooms! If you don't have a printer, that's a super easy favor that I would be happy to do for anyone, even if I barely knew them. Librovox has free public domain audiobooks that anyone can listen to (over 400 for kids). Pick a couple and either print the cover on a 'gift certificate' or just write it out. "An audiobook of Tom Sawyer for your listening pleasure!" Timberdoodle has organized some great free resources, including virtual field trips and tons of printables. Search the internet for free trials, "Merry Christmas! This entitles you to one month of This Fun Game or Site." 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in NH Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 My kids went through a phase when they were little where they loved giving each other gifts, so they would take each other's favorite toys, stuffed animals, or even a quickly built lego creation, and wrap it up with lots of paper and tape. They were always SO happy to unwrap any gift, and delighted to find their favorite stuffed animal inside. Happy memories for me, but I don't think they really remember because they were quite young at the time. OP, I don't think you need a lot of expensive things. We always did Something you want Something you need Something to wear Something to read which can easily be gotten at the dollar and thrift stores even this late in the season. Best wishes for a happy holiday. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 If you have even a couple of dollars to spare in the grocery budget, go to the donut shop (or sometimes the grocery bakery), and they will often have a holiday-themed donut or such. They will almost certainly put in in a small box instead of a bag if you ask nicely, and then it's easy to wrap. Our local donut shop has several choices for around $2 that are pretty big and impressive looking! Cinnamon roll, apple fritter, honey bun, bowtie, << examples of big, cheap pastries. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
popmom Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 @MissLemon those are adorable! Really love that. I aspire to have sewing skills one day. I also love the gracious welcome and suggestions on this thread. Welcome and Merry Christmas, @JinMarfow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JinMarfow Posted January 5, 2022 Author Share Posted January 5, 2022 (edited) I want to say Thank You to everyone that has responded. My father died on the 19th of December and he had left me $500 and my daughter $50. I think he knew I was struggling with christmas and he wanted to make sure my kids got Christmas. I have two 12 yr Olds and an 8 yr old to buy for. My father made it happen. I do homeschool my 12 yr old daughter, she needs the extra help. The other two go to public school. 2 of these kids are my great nephews, but live here Monday thru Friday. And their dad gives my $60 a week to feed them and anything else they may need. He does but their clothing and school uniforms. I just want to assure everyone here that this was not a scam. I'm a very private person and have never expressed my problems online. In fact I didn't use my true name cause I didn't want anyone to know what I was going through. Thank You Again Edited January 5, 2022 by JinMarfow 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted January 5, 2022 Share Posted January 5, 2022 2 hours ago, JinMarfow said: I want to say Thank You to everyone that has responded. My father died on the 19th of December and he had left me $500 and my daughter $50. I think he knew I was struggling with christmas and he wanted to make sure my kids got Christmas. I have two 12 yr Olds and an 8 yr old to buy for. My father made it happen. I do homeschool my 12 yr old daughter, she needs the extra help. The other two go to public school. 2 of these kids are my great nephews, but live here Monday thru Friday. And their dad gives my $60 a week to feed them and anything else they may need. He does but their clothing and school uniforms. I just want to assure everyone here that this was not a scam. I'm a very private person and have never expressed my problems online. In fact I didn't use my true name cause I didn't want anyone to know what I was going through. Thank You Again I'm so sorry to hear about your father. It sounds like he was a wonderful man, thinking of his family above all else. I'm glad your kids got a nice Christmas, but I wish your dad had been there to celebrate with you. Again, I'm so sorry. 😞 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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