My 5-Point Christmas Wish List

I recently came across this blog post on moneysavingsisters.com entitled “4 Gift Christmas Challenge – Want, Need, Wear & Read.”  Here, blogger Chrystie talks about how she put an end to her crazy Christmas holiday shopping. She realized how her children were getting so many gifts, most of which ended up being forgotten, and she didn’t want that to continue.

This was the first time I came across the idea of the Want-Need-Wear-Read gift list. The few blog posts I’ve read talk about how parents applied this method to stop themselves from buying their children too many Christmas gifts. I was surprised when I first read this because I didn’t grow up with that tradition and I am not doing the same with my children. Among my family, our relatives and friends in Manila, we grew up wishing for and receiving one Christmas gift from our parents. Together with the other presents from relatives and friends, we did end up receiving several gifts, but only one from Mom and Dad. And that was normal for us.

I did like the idea of the Want-Need-Wear-Read list. Instead of making it a gift challenge for my kids, however, I’ve adopted it into a wish list and added a fifth point or category – experience. So I came up with an edited version – a 5-point wish list. (I like making wish lists. As a list maker, it helps me choose the things I would find useful and enjoyable. As a shopper and giver of gifts, I appreciate knowing wish lists of family and friends because it helps reduce my guesswork and helps to ensure that the gifts I give will be used and enjoyed.)

5-POINT WISH LIST          5-Point Wish List

  • Something I WANT
  • Something I NEED
  • Something to WEAR
  • Something to READ
  • Something to EXPERIENCE

I’ve asked my family to join me in making our individual 5-point wish lists. I was relieved when my husband, our teenage daughter and our young son were all stumped with “Something I Need.” They all said, “I don’t really need anything.” I’m glad we are all aware of how fortunate we are to have everything we need and much more. For our lists, we tweaked our definition of NEED from something we can’t live well without to something useful or practical.

I’m using Pinterest for the first time to make my 5-point wish list.

Follow Learning Hippie’s board My 5-point Wish List on Pinterest.

Do you have a wish list?

P.S. One important thing I’ve made clear with my children when it comes to wish lists is that these are wishes. There are no guarantees that we will receive every single item on our wish lists. They understand this, so we won’t end up with meltdowns, tantrums or complaints about why they didn’t get item #2 or #5. Gratefulness for any gift received is important.

Last Updated on November 11, 2018 by lea

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