Veronica’s idea sheds light on the “I want it” impulse that (frankly) we often encourage during the Christmas season:
To help Santa bring the right present for my kids this year, I took the kids to the toy store and we took pictures of the kids showing the toys they want from him. This way, the kids will have actually seen live what they want (as opposed to just on a commercial on TV) and decided if its really what they want or not. And, Santa will know exactly what to get them and not to make mistakes like he 
did last Christmas! In the process, Santa will learn which toys are available in which toy store!
I took my kids to 3 toy stores, we took pictures of about 5-6 toys each kid liked, then printed them at home and when we wrote our letter to Santa each kid narrowed it down to 2 toys and glued those pictures to the letter. Narrowing down also gave the kids a chance to really think about what they really wanted, once at home that the hype of the overstocked stores had passed.
It was the first time I saw my kids actually happy to pose for a picture (as opposed to making faces and grimaces!) because they wanted to show Santa how happy they are and how much they like the toy! The rest of the pictures I have as reference for grandparents and godparents when they ask the kids what presents they would like from them. If you have too many pictures you can always save them as reference for their next birthday.
I love how this idea embraces the gift mania (rather than simply negating or judging it, which in many cases, is counterproductive), and causes kids to prioritize their wants, learn about “hype,” consider quality, and become more savvy consumers. There are so many lessons to be learned here.
How do you help your kids navigate and balance the “I want it” mentality of the holiday season?
I use Amazon.com’s Android app (and they have an iPhone app too) to just scan the barcode and add it to a wishlist. Very easy. And then it’s immediately available for parents and friends to see and buy from.
Just be careful because most retail stores do not allow you to take pictures of the store or its product.
I do the same thing with my cell phone. That also lets me then email it right away to people who are wanting this information. I also use this for items I might want for my house or other such things. Once I have the picture I can then remember what I wanted to do with it later on.
Great idea. Will have to remember to do this.
Amazon also has a new Remember Me feature in the iPhone app – I take pics of what I want to buy and submit them to Amazon, then Amazon finds it on their site. I can easily create wishlists for my kid (he’s only 1 and not quite into the whole Gimme Frenzy of Christmas just yet) and myself. And adding something to my wishlist helps curb that “I want it now!” feeling I can get, because I know I can always get it later.
(I keep mispelling “wishlist” as “wishlust” on my phone keyboard. Appropos – LOL!)
I just did this with my kids.I haven’t sent the pics out yet but it was great for me to go back through the pictures myself and with my mother-in-law. Hadn’t thought of it as a hack but it sure is useful!
Leave it to Amazon. Dang. Every now and then I’m still amazed by technology.
This is a great idea.
But you can get in trouble doing this since the physical layout of product on the shelves is ‘Copyrighted’ by the retailer, and taking a picture of the inside of the store will violate that copyright. (yes really)
My wife and I got in a heated discussion with a store manager at a large book retailer (the one that rhymes with Narnes and Bobels). Her first book just got published and released. There it was on the shelf. But when we went to take a picture of her holding the book in the store, we were very rudely informed that we were committing this heinous crime. So while my wife has the copyright to the book, they have the copyright to how it is put on a shelf…..