Parents and Presents for Their Kids

It's the age old question that parents have to face up to every year: will my kid(s) have enough presents to open on Christmas Day. How much is enough we ponder? And will they like them? We try to get that balance right between fun toys and educational toys. As the cash registers tick over we will be tempted to throw caution to the wind heading home with bags full of goodies.

It's the age old question that parents have to face up to every year: will my kid(s) have enough presents to open on Christmas Day.

The pressure of trying to answer this question gets bigger as we get closer to the big day and the number of shopping days left starts to dwindle. The Saturday before Christmas is traditionally the busiest on the high street (the busiest online shopping day, otherwise known as 'cyber Monday' was weeks ago on the 2 December); when millions of us brave the crowds in that final push for presents.

How much is enough we ponder? And will they like them? We try to get that balance right between fun toys and educational toys. As the cash registers tick over we will be tempted to throw caution to the wind heading home with bags full of goodies.

Once the relief of buying gifts settles in we start to grow anxious about the reaction of our kids as they plough through the presents at first light or earlier; moving seamlessly from one present to the next.

The run up to Christmas is like a treadmill for parents. Once you're on its difficult not to be tempted to buy one last thing for your kids. We reflect on our own childhoods and that sense of joy or disappointment and replay it in our minds time after time.

Every year the retailers publish their crystal ball gazing top ten toys list and 2013 is predicted to be a tablet computer Christmas as they fly off the shelves and out of the warehouses. This all helps to pile on that sense of pressure that worried mums and dads feel at this time of year.

And yet the research clearly shows that what kids want is time with their parents. Yes that's time not necessarily more stuff.

All the 'stuff' in the world will never compensate for time with their parents or family. That's not to deny the pure joy of opening presents at Christmas for kids. But if you've been shopping for England (Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland) in the last few weeks you probably have enough for them now. Why not stop and enjoy the spirit of the season.

Think back to your childhood and how many of your toys that you received at Christmas can you remember? Sometimes you'd struggle to know what you'd received the year before as the presents get forgotten.

The brilliant Wild Network has come up with such a simple concept - the Wild Time voucher . It's free to download and it's all about parents pledging to spend more wild time with their kids. This could be rolling down a really big hill, building a den in the woods or going on a treasure hunt looking for nature's bounty in a local park.

In an age when we seem to have less time than ever this is about stripping things back and spending time together having fun and creating those memories that will last a lifetime.

This newly formed Wild Network is all about getting kids back into nature and playing outdoors. As well as the Wild Time voucher it has also published a handy little top ten nature inspired Christmas list. No it's not trying to be scrooge-like or revisiting the perfect Christmas past that never existed. It's all about getting kids and families up from the sofa and outdoors: who knows you might actually have the best time of your life.

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