Start your child's Christmas list in May
In the office kitchen in May, the sentence "we should really start the Christmas list" gets a laugh. Then in the second week of December the same person is in a toy shop at closing time, paying double for the last box of the one thing their daughter wanted. The parents who look relaxed on the 20th of December often started their list in May.
Seven months to pay instead of one
The obvious win is the money. Buying between May and November spreads the cost over seven pay slips instead of one, and you can use the sales that have nothing to do with Christmas: the summer clearance, the back-to-school promotions, the outdoor toys marked down in September. A scooter bought in the last week of August is the same scooter at a third off, and the child will never know when it was bought.
Starting early also lets you set a budget per child and keep to it. Comparing prices in June is easy. In a packed shop on the 22nd, the budget usually goes out the window.
The toy of the year is a December problem
Every year there is one. The Lego set, the console, the plush thing from the film that came out in October. It sells out two or three weeks before Christmas, and parents either buy something else or pay a reseller double. If the must-have is already on the list in May, you can buy it in the autumn at the normal price and put it in the wardrobe.
You also skip the car park, the queue and the general mood of a shopping centre on the second Saturday of December. Buying a train set on a quiet Tuesday in June is nothing like buying it under fluorescent light with a child who has been crying since the food court.
Watch what they like instead of guessing later
Children change fast. The dinosaur phase in May has turned into rocks and crystals by October, and by December the boy who wanted a T-rex wants a magnifying glass. A list that stays open all year picks up those changes, so you buy for the child you have in December. Just take things off as they fall out of favour.
It helps the wider family too. When the grandparents ask in July what the children would like, you send a link instead of shrugging, and three relatives do not end up buying three versions of the same thing. There is also time to read the reviews and to think about whether a drum kit really suits a flat with neighbours.
A long run-up is a chance to talk about money
Seven months leaves room for a conversation about budgets and waiting that a week in December never allows. Older children can rank their own list and learn that Christmas has a limit like everything else. Ask a nine-year-old to pick her top three and she starts thinking a lot harder about what goes on it. It is also a good moment to talk about giving, and to let the children choose a gift for a cousin.
Start the list now, buy through the year
Pick one evening this week and write down what each child is into right now, even if it is only three things. You can create a Christmas list for each child today and add to it as the year goes on, so December is only the part where you wrap.
