Reclaim Christmas with an eye on budget

Resist the pressure and remember the true spirit of Christmas is not measured in the cost of gifts, reports Suzanne Harrington

WITH the primary gifting period just 15 days away, your kids will already be up to their boggled little eyeballs in the glare of festive marketing. Toy adverts have been falling like noisy snow on their fevered heads since before Halloween; Christmas is starting earlier each year, its unfestive invasion explained away by the recession. Never mind that mince pies have been on sale even as we were still outdoors in t-shirts — how do you brand-proof your kids against the mother of all spendathons?

My 11-year-old would like an iPad2. She’s not getting one. (I’d like one too, and I’m not getting one either). I have explained in very simple terms that we — like many, many others — are not awash with cash at the moment. That an iPad2 would indeed be lovely, but that I am not getting into debt for her. Or anyone else, for that matter. That this is just how it is. The eight-year-old , for once, is easier to fob off — he has asked for a diablo, the current craze at school, which costs under twenty quid. Phew.