Christmas Time

Kale and I talked a bit about what Christmas should be for us - looking at it in hindsight is possibly going to set things straight for us for the next year. This year (yet again) felt like we went overboard with the gifts and the spending and the expectation to make SANTA the man of the day. Maybe hashing it out with myself will help me pose a better oral argument in the future when this old fight rears its ugly head again.

Christmas is about giving, sharing, caring, loving, being, and counting our blessings. I'm not saying we don't do this and do it with great abandon - I'm saying it could be done better. At Christmas next year, I want to share, give, care, and love others much more than I have been doing.
A list:
For Others-
Handmade, thoughtful gifts for ALL of my family
Something small and thoughtful bought for all of my family
Crochet - Throw - Embroider - Sew - Create
Something for my co-workers

For Us-
Create an Advent calendar with thoughtful and meaningful activities or small gifts for our family.
Visit a church.
Attend a play, musical, or cantata.
Create gifts for others together.
Support a cause- support an angel tree, make stockings for the Salvation Army
A gift for teachers.
Send Christmas cards.

The focus this year felt forced, a quota on what the kids should receive. Lynden has this many; we must buy this many more for Vivi. And money, money, money became the root of all - in how I perceived it and how Kale perceived it. For him, it was not an object, so everything was a possibility. For me, it was an object and the possibilities were limited. There were avenues of giving that we could have explored for very little money, where the possibilities could have been endless too. Instead we spent all that we had to give a lot to very few.

However, Christmas this year was magical - from the kids' precious expectations of Nick, our elf on the shelf, Lynden's appreciation for Mim's recorded Rudolph story (especially the last page), to Vivi's gratefulness for the bounty before her, we had a wonderful time. Having Anna and Trent with us in Frankfort these past few months and at our house for Christmas was memorable and special. They gave me a tin duck with three little ducklings... my babies, as Lynden explained. Kale loved his melodica. I feel very, very blessed.