So instead of Christmas, we celebrated the life of Anaxagoras, history’s first recorded scientist and atheist. And instead of giving my kids presents, we gave them power vouchers. Chrissy and I made up our own books of vouchers for the kids. They give the kids some extra power – for example, the ones I made up say things such as:

“This voucher entitles the bearer to spend an hour at the park alone with Dad.”

“This voucher entitles the bearer to get out of doing the dishes when it’s his turn.”

“This voucher entitles the bearer to a trip to Laserforce.”

They basically let my kids have a little bit of additional power than they normally would.

The vouchers Chrissy made up for the kids are similar, but contain special ones that let the kids go busking with her but keep all of the proceeds.

I was pretty happy with this approach and I think the kids were excited as well. The last thing they needed was more stuff they would have thrown in the corner after a few days and forgotten all about. And it’s better for the environment. And it forces me to spend more quality time with my kids. It’s a win all round, I think.