Prepare Your Kids for Disappointing Presents

With buildup for the holiday season at fever pitch by Halloween, it’s easy to see how kids are set up for disappointment when it comes time to open gifts. From Julie King and Joanna Faber, some tips to keep the inner spoiled brat at bay, not to mention avoid serious parental embarrassment:

• Talk about disappointment beforehand. Give the kids examples from your life, and figure out polite reactions to that ugly sweater from Aunt Pearl.

• Make it a game. Ask the kids to give you something lame, react appropriately, then do the same to them.
• Turn down the volume. Don’t put gifts under the tree weeks in advance.
• For Hanukkah, alternate gift nights with activity nights. Music, cooking, or anything non-presents-related.
• Make your expectations for the kids clear—without negatives. Insist on gracious public behavior “without calling her greedy or a spoiled brat or selfish or any other choice adjectives that come to mind.”

(More holiday season stories.)