So we have a family that we are good friends with, who happens to have a son the same age as ours.  They are good friends, too.

The boy is an only child, and actually has four sets of grandparents, so he is definitely not lacking in the Christmas gift department.  And truly, like my son, he pretty much has everything he needs.  His parents have more than once told me they are of the mind that he has more stuff than he could ever possibly use. And if he did want something, it would probably be too expensive for me to buy it for him on my own.

I called his mom last week, and told her I had an idea.  I wanted to run it by her, and to make sure that she wasn’t thinking I was trying to wriggle out of gift-giving.

Instead of buying him yet more things he didn’t really need, I told his mom that I was thinking of taking the two of them out on a special outing, such as to an amusement park or a really fun place they don’t normally get to go.  He wouldn’t be getting a gift, per se, but getting what I would like to refer to as a “treat.”

His parents both enthusiastically agreed, and although it was of course my idea, I felt bad for a nanosecond that I wouldn’t be giving him an actual gift on Christmas.

What say you?

Good idea, or does it just look like I’m trying to get out of getting him a present?

Because truly, I’m not.