Simple Christmas

Tonight we gave our kids their Christmas gifts. We are leaving in 3 days and will not be back until after Christmas. Now, Brad and I agreed last year to cut way back on the amount of gifts our kids get for Christmas. They each received 1 special gift specially chosen for each child. Then the rest of the presents are family presents which include 1 board game,1 electronic game, and 1 movie to share. That is it. We will still do stocking stuffers in Maryland and they will get some "plane gifts" (that is for Brad's and my sanity though!) and of course they will get gifts from family members but Brad and I will not buy anymore. This is hard for me since I love to buy my kids gifts. It is so much fun to put the thought into what they like and find the good deal and then the anticipation of their reaction is exciting too. I almost ruin birthdays and Christmas each year since I have such a hard time waiting to give them their present. This choice was not made for fiscal reasons. I tend to buy their gifts all year so we don't take the monetary hit that most families do at Christmas time. We have realized that we live in a small house, and stuff accumulates fast here. The boys are very spoiled by our family members and we do not want Christmas memories to be mostly about wanting all this new stuff. This is the second year and they seem so much more grateful and excited about the smaller amount they are given than in previous years when they each had a huge pile. Thankfully, I do not have the clutter that came from previous years too! The primary reason for this change came because we feel it is important to take the stand now about what this season is really about. I want my boys memories to be about the part they played in our church's Christmas Play, or the time spent making gifts for our friends and family or the lights show we drove through instead of making the all important list to Santa (insert eye roll here). We want them to remember that we have already been given the most precious gift of the all. Brad and I will never be able to top that gift no matter how much shopping I do :) and the best we can do is show them this gift and continue to raise them in the ways of the Lord pray constantly they will never depart. Merry Christmas!!