The Christmas season is upon us. Traditionally, our family puts up all the Christmas decorations on the day after Thanksgiving. I always make extra pies to have on that day, and if we have Thanksgiving here, then we eat turkey sandwiches while we work. Since we had Thanksgiving at Grandma North's house this year, I cooked a small turkey for our family to have on Friday as part of the decorating festivities. I was a little bothered, though, by two of my kids saying that to them Christmas meant a big tree and lots of presents. Yes, I like those things too—I'd have to say that I like them a lot! But I really hope that Christmas means more to my family than that.Tonight I watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas with my kids. (The
Grinch is an appealing villain if there ever was one!) After the show I said to the kids, "The Grinch stole all the Whos presents, all their decorations, and all their food. But the Whos were still happy on Christmas morning. Do you think you would be happy on Christmas with no presents?"They all said they would still be happy on Christmas even with no presents. So I pressed them further, asking if it would still feel like a holiday—different from other days—without the presents. They said yes, because they would still get to visit with family. Some of the younger ones said we could go to Grandma's and they would get presents there. But I said, "No. What if there were no presents at all?" Most of them said they would be OK with that; some of the older ones said it would be a little disappointing, but it would be all right. Jason said it would be good as long as we still had the special Christmas breakfast. Over all, I think they all agreed Christmas would be good as long as we spent time with our family.
So then I asked if they would rather get a present, or give a present. All but Ryan said they liked to give presents better (but I have long suspected that Gifts are Ryan's Love Language). So I said to him, "You mean you would be happier if you got a present, but no one else got any?" First he said, "Yes," but then he cracked up, laughing, and said, "No. Not really." He explained that that would be unfair and wouldn't really make him feel good.
Tonight we ended up by reading a Christmas story from the Ensign before we had prayers and I sent them to bed. You know, we do talk about Jesus' birth during Christmas time; we have several nativity sets around the house; we read the Christmas story from the Bible, as well as Christmas stories about giving and sharing. And I truly have great kids—I think they really do know what it's all about. But I'd like it to be even better. So, here's a callout for more ideas to help the true meaning of Christmas shine through; and to help my kids focus more on the giving than the getting. Any thoughts?
2 comments:
I had to laugh at your post a bit...Nora is all about the gifts right now. So, I'll be curious to read the responses. I think she is still a bit young, but when she is 5 (next year, sniff!) we'll be volunteering with the church for a few things.
And this year, she will be giving some toys away before she gets any!
We try to have 'real' experiences during the holidays. Some families overplay the importance and value of things by making shopping a family event, a substitute for adventure. Ben and I choose to spend our family time playing games, visiting people or places like temple square during the holidays. We start our shopping in mid-November because we causually pick presents up when we're at the store anyhow.
I've heard of people doing birthday cakes for Jesus and singing to Him. I've also heard for people giving Him presents. Like in a box or sock. Presents such as weaknesses or things we need to change and work on.
This is long. I'm sorry. I hope you find something that helps you.
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