Christmas is coming!  Only a little more time to shop for those special gifts.

But what if you’re a young parent with tiny children, and you’ve run into hard times this year?  What if there’s no money for toys because you’ve had to spend it all on rent (or mortgage payments), utility bills (including heat), groceries, and gas for the car to get to the store to buy those groceries?

Many years ago, hubby and  I found ourselves in just that situation.  I don’t recall what year it was and I don’t recall whether we had three daughters, or two daughters with one on the way.  I also don’t remember whether our financial crisis was because one of us was out of work or whether it was due to medical bills, car repairs, household repairs, or some other costly emergency right before the holidays.

What I do remember is racking my poor little brain to try to figure out how I could make my girls’ Christmas morning happy with no cash on hand and very little available credit on any of those stupid plastic cards.  If I recall correctly, we did manage to buy one modest “Santa” present for each child (’cause Santa always brought the best gifts – don’t judge, I believe everyone needs a little magic in his or her life).

But what about presents from Mom and Dad?  Sure, my girls were maybe old enough to [sort of] understand that money was tight, but they still deserved something, right?  We could swing a few stocking stuffer items like candy and hair barrettes, but I wanted to give them a bigger present they could enjoy for more than a day or two.

Finally, it occurred to me that a gift doesn’t have to be something new and shiny; a gift can be pretty much anything so long as it’s given with love.

It also occurred to me that little girls love to play dress up.

So, I scrounged up an old duffel bag which had barely been used and put in a couple pairs of high-heeled (worn only once for some special occasion) shoes and a variety of clothing I had “outgrown” or which (again) I had worn only once for some special occasion.  At that time, I worked for a large law firm, so I went around to some of the other moms and explained my situation, and many of them donated items from their own homes – which made the dress-up bag even better because it would include things my girls had never seen before.  My group of mommy friends even managed to come up with some costume jewelry to add to that bag.

Best Christmas morning ever!  My girls loved their dress-up bag and played with it for years, often using some of the clothing and accessories for Halloween costumes as they became older.  When they finally outgrew both dress-up and Halloween, the bag and all its contents was given to a friend who had a number of children younger than mine, and she told me her kids loved it, too.

The moral of this story, if there is one, is that being financially stressed doesn’t mean you can’t provide your family with a memorable Christmas.  Even the youngest child can somehow understand that a gift obtained and given with love is better than one purchased at the risk of the giver’s  bankruptcy.

If this post helps even one reader feel better about facing the upcoming holidays while struggling to pay daily expenses, then I’ve done my job.  I’ve given you one idea for an inexpensive yet exciting gift; if you’re looking for ways to provide a special, but simple, holiday for your children, an online search will bring you a bunch of  thrifty alternatives to expensive, store-bought gifts.

Hugs, all.

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Image by Cordelia’s Mom/TeddyRosalieStudio