Asher and I attended the Mom's group this morning at our church. They are just starting this group, and we were glad to get involved. We talked about Christmas, traditions, and how to keep the real meaning of Christmas alive. Here were some of the neat traditions discussed:
* Advent Calender: Put a Bible passage in each day and do something special leading up to Christmas.
* What God Wants for Christmas (See link below): The kids get to open a box each day the 10 days before Christmas until they find out what God really wants for Christmas. Cute story that goes along with it. Our kids do this every year!
* The 3 gift maximum:
When Alivia was maybe 2, we decided to buy Alivia and Addison 3 presents each for Christmas. Afterall, Jesus only got 3 presents.
So, what ever happened to that idea anyway?
I believe we forgot about the 3 present policy. Next year it will be back to the 3 present policy.
Mom's group and that one mom's friendly comment was an awesome reminder for us. I forgot all about this "policy" until someone else in the group, who had 4 small kids, said that is what they do. If you think about it, why should the kids get more than Jesus? They shouldn't since Jesus is the reason. I will have to remember this for next year. Besides, buying all those presents for kids and family causes stress. I mean, there is the shopping for all the presents, the wrapping and then paying for them! I cut out a lot of the Christmas gifts a few years ago. We buy for our parents, grandparents, nephews and our kids. Chris and I do not buy anything for each other at this point. Chris and I tend to buy what we want if it is necessary. Chris wants a guitar and I want things like a vacuum cleaner. We want to keep the season more about the reason of the season and spending time with family, not shopping.
* The angelfood cake on Christmas as a birthday cake for Jesus. We do this every year too and the kids love it.
* Send Christmas cards right before Christmas. I am not judging, but we received our first Christmas card this year before December 1. Actually, I had Thanksgiving leftovers in the car as my lunch heading to work when I picked up our first card. Seriously, we don't wish people a happy birthday a month in advance? Why is Christmas so rushed?
* Along with the last suggestion, someone suggested putting up the tree in December just light up. Then, decorate the tree on Christmas Eve. I thought that was a great idea. We saw trees going up the second week of November. Again...what is the rush?
I had fun at the Moms group. It was, however, the first time I left Asher alone without Addison or Asher. I sat with him in the kids' room for a bit before I left for the hour of the Moms group. When I asked him what he did, he told me he colored a Christmas Tree, talked about Jesus and God, and got to eat crackers! I do believe he had fun!
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