Too many toys at Christmas: how many gifts should children receive?
Are there established rules to determine the amount of gifts Who should receive a child at Christmas? The key is to know how to connect the illusion of children with the gift. And is that when children are full, or even we could say saturated with gifts, they are not able to connect the emotion that corresponds with the gifts and do not value the details.
It is a common scene, to see children at home opening one gift after another, ripping papers, without time to look at what is in each package, before moving on to the next gift. The abundance of gifts It is not good for children because that excess of positive stimuli can affect their development and maturation, even reducing their tolerance level to frustrations.
The danger of excessive gifts
Although, at first, we can think that if they receive everything they want we make them happy, nothing is further from reality. The excess of gifts hides great and serious dangers. In fact, children are not frustrated by not being able to receive everything they have asked for. On the contrary, always acceding to their demands can turn them into continuously dissatisfied adults.
Therefore, we must manage the expectations of the children beforehand, explaining that there is a 'maximum' of gifts that the Magi 'can carry'. This reasoning is positive for children, because until they are 9 or 10 years old, children are not trained to select and choose.
The consequences of excessive gifts for children
1. Opening in chain without paying attention. At the time of receiving them, before the avalanche, we do not allow them to enjoy them. As the scene of children opening gifts is very common, it is also very common for the children's scene leaving aside the gifts and looking for new gifts to open.
2. With too many gifts it is impossible to play with everyone. They have more than they are able to enjoy, and as a result, emotion is lost. Since we are diverting attention, the toy does not matter in itself, what matters is having it.
3. Over time they will become dissatisfied adults, no matter what they have, they will never have enough. And as a consequence they will be unhappy, no matter what they have, because they will always want to have more and will seek happiness as well.
Tips to avoid excess gifts
1. It is important to educate children not only at Christmas, but throughout the year, to avoid consumerism, to understand the value of things and above all to know that happiness is not in having things.
2. Educate with our example. It is important that we also be aware that we are a model for children. It is not about limiting our tastes, but about learning to value things and learning that we do not need everything to be happy.
3. It is not always easy to know how many gifts a child needs, establish the limit between normal and excess. But it may be easier than it seems, the number of gifts ideal for a boy or girl, will be those that can and will attend.
4. When the Magi are passing gifts, dads and moms can lend a hand and save some gifts for later. Let the little ones enjoy what they can attend and later offer them the other gifts.
Keys to feed the illusion of gifts
The key is to guide the child, that is, to help him decide on something concrete that will make him very excited and encourage it. To turn Christmas into a magical and expected moment for children, it is important to encourage enthusiasm.
Celia Rodríguez Ruiz. Clinical health psychologist. Specialist in pedagogy and child and youth psychology. Director of Educa and Learn. Author of the collection Stimulate Reading and Writing Processes.
