Saluki - I think you and your bf did the right thing.

I too believe that Christmas has become to overcomercialized and that many children can only think of how many presents and how much money people will spend on them. This year we had a talk with our daughters (twin 9 yr olds) (OK the bf's daughters, but they are mine too) and told them that money was tight and that Christmas wasn't about how many gifts you got or how expensive they were, etc. That it was about spending time with family and doing things from your heart. We told them there would be 1 family gift (ALL would chip in - for them chores with no pay), 1 gift each from us, and then they needed to think of something to make for each other, me, and their dad and we would help them. On the bf's side they draw names by family. So every year we get one of his 3 brothers - we also get that bro's wife/gf and kids (if there are kids). So the bro we got has 2 kids, I had already decided I would make blankets for the kids. But instead the girls drew names and they made the blankets (well I helped a lot). One of the girls (K) really got into it and was happy to be doing things for others. S not so much. OK so I went off topic. But I do think it's important to let kids know what Christmas is really about and then stick to it. Sorry for the tangent.