A British mum has ban or rather refuses to buy her little boy a Christmas present for life.
“Ho ho ho” has become “no no no” after Lisa Norman got fed up with the festive season becoming “a disgusting exercise in rampant consumerism”.
Research shows a typical family splurges £540 on Christmas. But when two-year-old Neil wakes up on Tuesday, there will be no stocking at the end of his bed – and no presents under the tree.
Instead Lisa, 31, is putting money into an account that will go towards a deposit for Neil’s first HOUSE.
As well as snubbing Christmas she doesn’t buy Neil a prezzie on his birthday either.
She said: “You see these photos showing the huge amount of gifts people are buying their kids in the run-up to Christmas. There’s huge pressure on parents to buy children lots of presents, especially with social media.
“It is ridiculous. We’re not struggling financially but we thought the money could be used for other things. We don’t want to spoil him with stuff he doesn’t need, so we just get him nothing.”
Neil was born prematurely and was expected to die within minutes, but is now a healthy toddler.
Stay-at-home mum Lisa, of Leyland, Lancs, admits they were so thankful he survived that they could have gone to the other extreme of showering him with gifts.
But she added: “I think we’d just have ended up with a very spoilt child who thinks he’s entitled to everything.”
Neil will get a treat when he visits his grandparents, however. Lisa explained: “My mum loves Christmas and always cooks the dinner. She wants to make it special but she doesn’t go over the top.
“My parents have never been stupid with their gift-giving either. They always had a budget and the majority of it would be for essential things, topped up with a few fun things.”
Likewise, anything Neil gets in the future will be based on what he needs and what he has done to earn his gifts – clothes, a rucksack for nursery or educational aids.
Lisa went on: “He’s never going to be spoiled with absolutely everything, I know that now.
“We don’t give in to him wanting something. I’m sure he’ll realise come school age that me and his dad don’t buy him presents.”
The family’s greatest gift at Christmas, of course, is that Neil has grown into a happy, healthy boy.
And Lisa added: “That’s the most important thing.”
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