Getting to know your kids better with the (updated) 4 Gift Rule + free printable tags

We've done the "Four Gift Rule" for gosh...maybe five years now?

And just absolutely love it.

We first began because we had recently brought home some of our adopted kids and felt burdened to just tone-down the excess in life. And in Christmas.

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We wanted to be more intentional in our gift-giving with the kids, not simply buying something because they might like it and then purchase something else because it was on sale and they'd mentioned it once, and then wrap up yet another toy I found last year and forgot about in the back of the closet...you get the idea.

That's how we gave gifts to our kids before switching gears.

Can you relate??

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For several years in a row however, we've done...

. Something you Want .

. Something to Read .

. Something to Wear .

And last year we switched from...

. Something you Need (because, truly...they have all they need.) to instead, Something we'll Do .

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This particular gift is our kids favorite because we get to do fun one-on-one dates that are right up their alley.

Things like, dinner at a fancy restaurant, tickets to a monster truck rally, heading downtown for the Art Walk, having our nails painted at a nice spa, going to a play, or an afternoon at the arcade.

Every family has to be deliberate with dates with their children, and having a family our size definitely takes major intentionality. It's important to us though, so we make them happen throughout the year.

These Christmastime dates are just a little bigger...a bit more special than simply having a hot chocolate and croissants at Starbucks.

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The Want gift is probably the hardest to purchase, believe it or not.

I think it's because Ben and I have to brainstorm together in finding hands-down, the one gift they want more than any others.

It forces us to really know our children and their likes and interests at this exact moment in their lives.

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Most of our kids are complete and total bookworms so sitting down and writing down ideas on the one book that would thrill them more than any other also helps us pay extra attention to where they're at in both interest and reading level.

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Something to Wear doesn't have to be as boring as it sounds.

Don't worry, we're not gifting socks and underwear here.

Instead, it's things like an NFL jersey we wouldn't typically spend money on, a sparkly "twirling" dress, or even something like this sweatshirt (for Abreham...shhhh) that will instill confidence in who they are and remind our kids how we see them.

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