I consider myself a pretty frugal person. I love clothing consignment shops, and much of our furniture over the years has been hand-me-downs. Don’t tell them, but I even filch some nondescript halloween candy for Christmas stockings (and Christmas candy for Easter eggs!). While that’s all well & good, it’s still too easy to get sucked into the holiday commercial mayhem and feel obligated to spend more than necessary so that the kids can have the excitement of unwrapping several items on Christmas morning.

This year, we’re trying something new to get the boys involved in the gift-giving process a little more. One by one, we’re taking them to the dollar store (the one that actually costs $1) with a $5 bill. They will pick out one special item for each of the other four boys and pay for the haul himself (the extra buck is to cover tax), then go back home and secretly wrap and label the items for his brothers.

When all is said & done, each boy will have four extra presents to unwrap that were specially picked out by his brothers. I’m looking forward to the smiles of anticipation as they get to say, “I bought that for you all by myself!”