Through out December we have been doing the normal Christmas activities:
Singing Christmas songs, reading Christmas books, shopping, Christmas activites, etc.
Now that I'm done with finals and Morgan is here for over a week the real fun has begun!
When I posted that Christmas has officially begun in our house it felt a little odd.
Most people start celebrating with advent in the beginning of December.
We started earlier, but only to a small degree since school was so time consuming.
Some people really don't give presents to their kids or minimize them.
Our family decided to give each of our kids four presents from us:
Wear: Christmas jammies
Read: A Christmas book about Jesus
Need: Morgan is hard because he doesn't need much, so he got a little bigger want. Addi is getting a new carseat since we found a killer deal, so she'll open it then wait to use it until she's ready.
Want: Since we travel a lot {at least four hours every single weekend is spent in the car, if not more} we decided to get Morgan his own "technology" and after researching the kid type video games they ended up being more money and less reliable then something like a Nintendo DS. We decided we would get him that with a game or two and we were planning on getting out early on Black Friday to get a great deal. However, a family member told us they have one their son got last year and he never plays it. So we got a DS, case, and game for dirt cheap. Even cheaper then the $30 off on Black Friday. We wouldn't have touch a Vtech toy for this price. Thank you Jesus! Addi got an art easel! It's her favorite toy at a friends house, so it was a perfect gift for my little artsy girl.
Since Morgan is staying with us for a whole week and we'll be traveling on the weekend and holidays we decided that we would open one present a day this week. When you're a blended family, traditions aren't just about the day, but about the time together as a family. You have to improvise and make it special in your own unique way.
By opening one present a day I feel like it has made it even less about the presents. They aren't opening one and rushing off to open the next. They got to have each gift as a new special treat each day and truly thank the giver of the gift. Plus instead gift overload we get a gift, then through out the day we're doing Christ centered activities, reading from the Christmas story, etc. I feel like it's letting them enjoy their blessing from their grandparents and keeping them focused on the fact that we celebrate because Jesus Christ came for us. Who knows, we might do something different next year, but for this year its perfect.
On December 16th "Santa" stopped by the house while we were at the Christmas program and filled the kids stockings. He put in their Christmas jammies, book, and a hint as to what we got them. They loved it! That night they went to bed in their matching jammies anticipating the celebration ahead.
We started earlier, but only to a small degree since school was so time consuming.
Some people really don't give presents to their kids or minimize them.
Our family decided to give each of our kids four presents from us:
Wear: Christmas jammies
Read: A Christmas book about Jesus
Need: Morgan is hard because he doesn't need much, so he got a little bigger want. Addi is getting a new carseat since we found a killer deal, so she'll open it then wait to use it until she's ready.
Want: Since we travel a lot {at least four hours every single weekend is spent in the car, if not more} we decided to get Morgan his own "technology" and after researching the kid type video games they ended up being more money and less reliable then something like a Nintendo DS. We decided we would get him that with a game or two and we were planning on getting out early on Black Friday to get a great deal. However, a family member told us they have one their son got last year and he never plays it. So we got a DS, case, and game for dirt cheap. Even cheaper then the $30 off on Black Friday. We wouldn't have touch a Vtech toy for this price. Thank you Jesus! Addi got an art easel! It's her favorite toy at a friends house, so it was a perfect gift for my little artsy girl.
By opening one present a day I feel like it has made it even less about the presents. They aren't opening one and rushing off to open the next. They got to have each gift as a new special treat each day and truly thank the giver of the gift. Plus instead gift overload we get a gift, then through out the day we're doing Christ centered activities, reading from the Christmas story, etc. I feel like it's letting them enjoy their blessing from their grandparents and keeping them focused on the fact that we celebrate because Jesus Christ came for us. Who knows, we might do something different next year, but for this year its perfect.
On December 16th "Santa" stopped by the house while we were at the Christmas program and filled the kids stockings. He put in their Christmas jammies, book, and a hint as to what we got them. They loved it! That night they went to bed in their matching jammies anticipating the celebration ahead.
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