One Holiday Mistake I Made as a Parent That I Won't Make Again

Other new parents can hopefully avoid my mistake.

My son's first Christmas happened when he was just three months old and his second holiday season he was 15 months old so he didn't have a whole lot of comprehension for either of those events. Since he wasn't really into the holiday or anticipating it, I was able to keep my holiday spending in check during those earlier years.

But, last year, when he was just over two, he was really excited about the holiday season and I wanted to make it super special for him. In doing so, though, I ended up making a major holiday mistake. And it's one I won't repeat again.

This was my big holiday blunder

Since my son finally understood Christmas and was excited about it, I opted to go way overboard last year when it came to spending on presents.

In fact, I broke out the credit cards and I bought tons of toys both from our family and from "Santa Claus" so he would have a lot of boxes to open under the tree on Christmas morning. I also ended up buying a few really big ticket items (like ride-on toys) in order to really make an impression.

The problem was, not only did I end up spending a lot, but my son was just really overwhelmed by all of the stuff. He raced from one box to the next without really taking the time to look at, or get excited about, any one of the items. And there were so many choices of toys to play with later that day that I think it ended up being more stressful than fun for him.

None of the toys I bought on that Christmas day ever ended up being favorites, I think because he didn't have a lot of time to get attached to any of them when running from one thing to the next.

How I'm fixing my mistake for future holidays

Since I made that error last year, I have a very different plan for holidays going forward. I won't be loading up on presents for either my son or my daughter who will be celebrating her first Christmas this year.

Instead, I'm going to buy a few presents that are very carefully chosen and that I know they will appreciate long after the holiday season is over. And I'm going to devote the extra money that I would have spent on toys that don't get played with to instead buying experience gifts. Specifically, we'll likely be visiting an amusement park or taking a camping trip as a family.

Using the money to have special experiences is far more likely to help my kids create great lasting memories of the holiday than getting a whole bunch of toys that end up being used for a short period of time. They'll still have a few boxes each to open -- but the amount of toys won't be overwhelming and they will have a special event to look forward to that will make the holiday season last longer.