Well, here it is, December. I love Christmas lights, Christmas music, Christmas food, pretty much everything Christmas...except one thing: Christmas presents. WHAT? Yep, you heard me, Christmas presents. It's so overwhelming to me that everyday I pick up toys that were barely played with, just to be thrown about, scattered around the bedrooms, living room and hallway. And yet, with December 25th looming, I know that my 3 kids are about ready to get another big delivery of toys. My house is so full of toys: my basement is full of toys, my kids bedrooms are full of toys, I even have toys in the bathroom!!! However, I find myself searching through the internet just to find more toys, so that I have something to give them on Christmas day. Does anybody else feel this way? I feel like I need to get rid of most of their toys just to make room for new toys.
This year I want to to scream from the rooftop, "Nobody should be buying my kids anything this Christmas!!!!" Goodness, they can't even keep the toys from the past 6 years Christmases cleaned up! Yet, if I take Christmas presents away from them, are they going to feel shorted? Just because overindulgence has become the norm? How sad is it that this is a question that I even have to ask?
I completely get the foundation of Christmas: God sent his son, Jesus, as a gift to the people. The wise men gave gifts of offering for the newborn king. So, I definitely see where gift giving originated. What we have gotten away from is that gift giving is about showing our love to another person. Instead, we continue to buy worthless junk for each other just so that we can "give" something.
I would love to show my children the reality: some people don't have ONE present at Christmas, some people don't have enough food at Christmas, some people are cold on Christmas, some people don't have clean water on Christmas, and some people live in fear on Christmas and everyday of the year.
I would love to skip Christmas and just have another Thanksgiving. I love being together and eating! I hate the consumerism of Christmas. While I don't think that skipping Christmas is ever possible, I am searching for ways to slim down and show my children what Christmas really means. It's not about presents under the tree, a man in a red suit, snowmen and reindeer. I want them to know that Christmas is giving of your time, your energy, your attention, your love.
So, while I, and many of you, countdown to Christmas, I hope that we are showing our kids what Christmas is really about.
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