Kids at Christmas

Christmas preparations are in full swing in our household. We have been crafting and decorating for weeks. The family will be having a Christmas dinner in our home so the menu has been planned and any additional food has been purchased. We are planning to serve a lot of things that we grew and put up over the summer to share with our family. The cards have been mailed. It is such a busy time but we are enjoying the season so much. It is hard to keep grounded and keep things in check while those around us spend money like it is water. The roads are crowded and so are the parking lots, I try to avoid both as much as possible. The kids have been carefully selecting the items that they want on their Christmas lists and amazingly the lists have been very short (5 or 6 items each) and humble. There are some toys on the lists but thankfully my children have avoided being sucked in by marketing and have chosen items they truly want rather than the seasons hottest toys. I leave the toys to Santa. The kids know all year long when they want a toy that they should just store it in their memory for Christmas time because I very rarely, if ever buy toys. I tend to be the parent who gets all necessities for the kids like socks, pajamas, underwear, and sports items. Oh, and books, I LOVE books. New books, 2nd hand books, big books, small books, fiction, non-fiction.... I could buy and buy but I control my self. Honestly, these kids have such imaginations that what ever they are given will most likely be turned into something else sooner or later. They can turn anything into a toy, they are very resourceful.

A homemade "loom" for rubber band bracelets

A sword 

With a world that seems to spin out of control around me for the whole month I keep pausing to take in what is around me and focus on what really matter this time of year especially when it come to the kids. For years now we have been slowly building our own family traditions as we go. We always put up the tree on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and let the kids choose what ornaments will go on the tree and let them hang them while we dance around to Christmas music. The kids love to hang all of the ornaments they have created and they really like all of the wooden ornaments from my childhood. In December we bake cookies and go to the local park to look at the lights.

Little Guys ornament he made last year.

Wooden ornament (a family favorite).

We create a lot of memories without even realizing we are doing so until the next year comes around and the kids keep saying, "Remember when..."  and "I can't wait to do _______ again". While helping out in my oldest daughters class yesterday I saw posters the kids made displaying the most important thing about Christmas. Some of the answers: my elf on the shelf, toys, Santa, gifts. My kid wrote being with  family and friends. You get it little one, you really do! Only one other child had an awesome answer, Jesus, straight from her heart.

I think this may be the last year with my oldest believing in Santa. So many kids her  age have already decided that they no longer believe and are more than anxious to spread the news with their peers. Santa has always been a wonderful addition to the holiday in our home. We'll see what happens. I know this post maybe a little hokey and might seem like we are living an ideal Christmas movie life. Nothing could be further from the truth. The post comes from a moment when I forced my self to give up on the holiday that the commercials tell me I should have and look at all the things that are happening around me. I took a reflective look of our life at Christmas time. Our tree is overfilled with ornaments in some spots with huge empty areas in between. The ornaments themselves are old, chipped, and painted by the unsteady hands of children. The songs we sing are often sung at the top of our lungs and way off tune and the cookies usually include at least one batch that are too dark. During our trip to see the lights we are freezing despite being bundled up and you know what? We love it all... eventually because as my smart kiddo said, " The most important thing about Christmas is being with family and friends".