Donna at the Weight of Money had an interesting article and helpful ideas on children and budget holidays.  I like the idea of employing different methods based on the ages of the children. 

With our children we have emphasized the true meaning of Christmas and tried to downplay the commercialism.  We let each child make a list of 3 items they would like.  (We figure if 3 presents were good enough for Baby Jesus, then 3 presents are good enough for our kids).  We do tell them if they put something extremely expensive on the list, the chances are they are not going to receive it.  When they come up with more than 3 items, then we help them to form a prioritized list, i.e. “If you could have item A but not item B, which would you choose?”  Usually it becomes pretty apparent very quickly which items they really want.  

We emphasize the family traditions during the holidays which include nightly drives to look at Christmas lights, our Church Christmas party, lighting the advent candles, and adopting a family for Christmas gift giving. 

We opted out of the family gift exchange a few years ago for several reasons.  First, it was costing too much money and was really a stressor on time to come up with gifts for the names we had drawn.  Second, the kids were getting too much stuff and the emphasis was leaning to how much stuff they got.  Of course, family members were initially hurt, but over time they have come to realize that we still love them even if we do not participate in the family gift exchange.  Grandma and Grandpa still give the kids gifts, but it is usually in the form of clothes (which they need anyway) or gift cards. 

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