Experiences instead of Gifts

On Christmas day this last year, Joseph and I sat down and talked about what we enjoyed about the day. Because we are still a fairly new little family unit, we are still deciding what our family traditions will be. As we were talking, we both agreed that our weekend trip to Florida was a much better gift to one another than the things we could have bought last minute and stuck under the tree. 

"What if we never buy our kids any presents?" 

We talked about giving experiences instead of gifts. (The Gift of Not Giving a Thing). Making memories as a family actually doing something instead of each person receiving stacks of stuff to be pushed aside and forgotten. Stacks of stuff that I have to find a place for until it is broken and thrown out.

Because J's second birthday is coming up, we finally had the chance to put our new idea to the test. These boys of mine LOVE airplanes so we decided that a boys' trip to San Diego (for a whole 30 minutes), flying on two airplanes, and sitting in the airport for hours would be J's birthday this year. 

Joseph even scored United Club passes so the boys had comfy seats and so so many treats while they sat and watched airplanes.

(I made sure they took the point and shoot along so they could photograph 

their adventure for me!)

When the pilots heard from the flight attendants that it was J's birthday, they invited him up to sit in the cockpit and push all the buttons (after landing of course)! Joseph said he pushed about every button and all sorts of alarms were going off.

Although I missed them terribly, I loved the smile (and sugar-induced coma) that J greeted me with when I picked them up from the airport that afternoon. This boy is still talking about seeing the ocean with the big ships and sitting in the cockpit with the pilots.

$30 spent on a day of fun for these boys is so much better than more stuff. 

Happy Birthday kiddo!

What would you rather have, an experience or a physical gift? With my birthday in the next few months... I'm kinda leaning towards a something!