Simplifying the Holidays

As the holidays near, many grandparents find themselves experiencing an annual quandary: What to get the grandkids?

Dick Haid, a grandparent from Hamilton, Ohio, has facilitated workshops based on the popular book Unplug the Christmas Machine. He notes that grandparents in his classes say that “their grandkids are so ‘gift-saturated’ that they feel that the presents they give hardly even register.”

In Unplug the Christmas Machine, the authors point to four things that kids really want at Christmas time:

• a relaxed and loving time with the family,

• realistic expectations about gifts,

• an evenly paced holiday season, and

• reliable family traditions.