[super7man]

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

[Persevero]

We learned to enjoy the great and the daffy gifts. A rich part of our family feritage. It’s not that hard.

[small farm girl]

Hey Super7man, I too, struggle with this. I am a step grandparent, and therefore I was the evil wicked step mother! I must have done something right because both my stepchildren are Conservatives, in spite of their liberal MA teachers association mother :)!!!
My 2 cents: passing on your philosophy is priceless. I have had countless people try to brainwash my older grandchild with "i'm with HER crap" and that's not happening. Our youngest son (sophomore in college) has helped him with his reading skills and now teaching him strategy with Age of Empires. Not all video games are evil :)
I gave my kids DNA test kits for the fun of it last Christmas and what do you know, the grandchild wanted one too. It amazes me what our young ones will embrace when given the opportunity.

SO! Be yourself, keep putting the right information in front of them.
"Tops and Bottoms" is a favorite book that has been given to all the young children in my life. I have also given Tea Party coloring books, Thump, the First Bundred Days book... just keep quietly pushing.
I have told all my children, I don't care who you bring home for dinner, as long as they are conservative. I'm sticking with that!
As for family heirlooms, I hit my daughters up pretty early with hope chests. Once that is in play, all the silver banded plates, shoe horns and other heirlooms go on there. They liked the ceremony of that and when they got older, understood the significance. My step-daughter with the children has her hope chest in her kitchen and uses the candlesticks, salt cellars, silver and etc that lived in the chest, all over her home!

[Help!]

Perhaps questionable judgment giving precious family heirlooms to children, but perhaps if family history accompanied the gifts they would be more appreciated. Hopefully it would start a conversation about family history, at least by the parents where the kids could hear. So sad when its too late to learn our family history when the elders are gone.

[SuperLuminal]

Our grandchildren and great grandchildren are the only reason we live in this miniature Soviet state... We see them very often...

However, today was a Christmas shopping day and we realized that it's a shame that they weren't here when we were younger, I was still working, and we could really afford the costs... /s

This year is tough because all my grandsons have lots guns and ammo (use to be my favorite presents to give).

One daughter and two sons. One son-in-law and two daughters in- law. One grand daughter and three grand sons. Four great grand daughters and one great grand son.

Told the wife that we'll soon be eating dog food... Of course, since she is 80, I'll have to get her the wet canned kind... Maybe I should get her a case of Alpo for Christmas...

[tiki]

I taught my kids to expect crap gifts from the paternal GPs and an aunt, just say TY and move on. We spent a lot of time laughing about them so even bad gifts can give joy and amusing memories.

[chronicles]

I only received one gift from my maternal grandparents, a small handmade basket, which I still have and treasure 70 years later. Believe it or not, I never even noticed the lack of gifts until fairly recently because the grandparents gave of themselves rather than material things.

[teletech]

Amazon wishlist here for our 5 Grandkids.

[teletech]

I have a chair that my Grandpa made just for me when I was 3 years old. It made me appreciate this story. I look at that little chair and smile.

[ExGeeEye]

Not having to do with Christmas gifts, but with old family "treasures"...

Somewhere among the family photos my sister keeps is a picture of me aged less than a year lying on my tummy on the dining room table looking at a small plastic horse. This would have been in 1965.

My parents passed in 1999 and 2011. We have finally begun to distribute the contents of their last home.

They and we had lived in six homes in as many states between the first and the last.

Last spring I received a box of what I consider treasures. In late fall, I got the family dining room set moved into my home.

My next step is to find and copy the photo I mentioned earlier.

Horse