Even before the Exhausting Sickness of 2013 hit our household, I was already vowing that next year I was going to make some changes to the season. At one point I said to Shane (I think it was on Christmas Eve afternoon), "I mean, when am I going to sit and reflect upon Christ? He is the reason we are doing this after all!" And Shane calmly replied, "The rest of the year?"
I love him. So level-headed in the wake of my manic.
I have a cousin who writes a great blog here. One thing she always says is, "Life doesn't have to be perfect to be great!" I thought that hundreds of times this season. Thanks, Missy. I needed a voice of reason.
Honestly, there were a lot of sweet moments talking about the Christ child this season. And several things we did this year are things I will continue:
1. Opening a book each evening starting on December 1st. The children love this. We only bring these books out for December so it is exciting each day to see what book is being opened. The kids also love just getting to unwrap something. Some books are about Christ, some winter-y, some silly, some Santa...all give chances to talk about the season. I already have "First book" and "Last book" marked in the pile and tucked in a box with all the other books for next year. I was so glad I stuck those labels on last year. They each really do make good first and last books.
2. Our advent calendar. Again, to count down to Christmas, but it forms a nativity scene so gives plenty of opportunity to talk about Christ's birth.
3. Crafts. My children love these. We did several at home and as long as my friend Natalie will keep up the tradition, we will do one with friends. Craft day with Miss Natalie was a highlight for my kids this year. They have showed almost everyone who comes over the ornaments they made there. These, however, are ones we made at home...
4. Catechism. This is a simple one. I do a weekly catechism with our kids (don't think too highly of me for it...it is super simple, I got the idea from someone else, and we are going through it veeerrrry slowly). But I read online (see, I get almost all my ideas from others!) a few catechism questions to add about giving/getting/Jesus. It was a spontaneous addition this season but was so good to solidify a couple things for our kids and to give another opportunity for conversation.
5. Let the kids help pick out a gift for someone else. This year we gave a gift to a child about Silas' age who probably wasn't going to get much for Christmas. We've done Operation Christmas Child in the past or something similar through our church. I like getting the kids involved (although I have to keep my expectations low, they do get distracted thinking about themselves when looking for others; it's a process).
6. Thank you notes. I am doing these this year for the first time. It is a great way to remind our kids how much someone thought about them when they picked something out. Just trying to breed some gratefulness around here!
(Oh, sorry for the spoiler to those who haven't gotten their notes, we're still working on them!)
7. Spending time with as much family as we can. I know others try to cut back on this at times and maybe someday we will have to also. But with my family living far away, being with family is super important to us. So we will do all we can to see everyone that we can, even if it means lots of celebrations in a little amount of time. And even if it means we feel like this when it is all over...
Now here are some things I am planning for next year:
1. Simplify the Christmas card issue. I already have "Christmas picture" on the calendar for September. If we don't have a decent picture then, we will have one taken RIGHT AWAY. And I have a plan to make it easier to still write a Christmas letter, which I love doing, but not have to print out 80+ of them. Hallelujah. Next year is going to be awesome.
2. Have each child pick out a toy he/she no longer plays with to give away during December. Again, to foster gratitude and an understanding that we don't need everything we have.
3. Let the children exchange names and give a gift to one another. We've never had our kids give each other things but I think they would be so excited to help pick out something one of the other's want. It's that whole idea that there really is a lot of joy in giving. I think they will get a kick out of actually handing a gift to another that they helped pick themselves.
It feels like it's been a long holiday season this year. But even with all it's imperfections, it's been a very, very good one. And now I have my list all written out so I am ready for next year...ha!
1 comment:
It sounds like your children will have great memories. I love the idea of letting them choose a gift for each other next year - that's great! Glad you enjoyed your family and to hear you are feeling better.
Hugs from,
Missy
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