For the last couple years my family has been trying to keep Christmas about the birth of Jesus and less about the gifts. We typically accomplish this by giving practical gifts on Christmas (clothes, toothbrushes, books, etc) and the fun stuff on "Loot Day" - aka New Years Day. A day our family uses to celebrate American materialism ;-).
This year we got a little help. The last couple days a stomach bug has been going through the house which has meant that any shopping we normally would have done (which to be honest is not much) didn't happen. I was able to send hubby on a last minute run yesterday
(he and my mom are the only ones who have not been hit), but it was for
supplies for the sick ones (you know, ginger ale, 7-up, etc).
The only gifts that we had to open today were given by out-of-town family members and my parents. They were obviously going to be primarily fun gifts, but we decided that under the circumstances that was ok. Before we opened the gifts we discussed the reason for Christmas and the significance of gift giving at Christmas. And my kids got it! How happy was I? Extremely.
And to top it off... although my kids didn't get much, they were happy. They realize the quantity of gifts isn't what matters. It's the thought that matters. And the most well-thought out gift imaginable is the gift of Jesus Christ.
Merry Christmas everyone! God bless.
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