To date, Christmas is my favorite time of the year. There's something about a tree filled with ornaments that glistens at night, with colored
lights intertwined in garland that encapsulates the doorways, and the snow that
usually falls on the ground. But I would say the best part is family –Everyone gathered
around the Christmas tree, singing, laughing, and telling stories of the past.
Big dinners with family and friends and desserts scattered around the table as
far as the eyes could see. With family, brings children, and let’s face it, children
are the ones who bring Christmas to life. For a single second, I would love to
have the happiness they experience on Christmas morning -To feel that kind of pure
excitement.
With the holiday season fast approaching, I've been reading
a lot about this new movement of parent’s not wanting to provide their kids with
lots of toys for Christmas (or limiting to a handful) –Now of course, I’m not
talking about the people who can’t afford presents and they get what they financially
can. I’m talking about people with the ability to buy more, but choose not
because they say their kids have too much. They would rather have friends and
families spend "quality time" with their child(ren) or put money
towards future advancement, etc. I may be old fashioned, but this is definitely
falling into the category of making kids mature faster than they should.
Children are only babies/kids for a short time. This is a time of bliss, no
responsibilities, and no worries. This is an exciting time, a time where they
wake up to find lots of toys under the tree. I know people say, they should
understand the "true meaning of Christmas"... why? They're kids. They
have the rest of their lives to understand the true meaning of Christmas, but
only a small window where they could just enjoy the complete ignorance of how
toys appear under a tree.
To me the logic of my kids having too much just doesn’t
hold. I know plenty of adults who have 20 + pairs of shoes, a closet full of
handbags, too many clothes to count –but yet, continue to add to their
collection. Isn’t that the same thing? What if someone said there was a limit
on what you could own?
I’m part of that mindset where I have bought only a handful
of items for myself in 3 years. My house is filled with kid’s toys and kid’s items.
But, I do not buy toys throughout the year –I will buy an occasional book for
my daughter. But I buy one big gift for birthdays, fill Easter baskets with
homemade chocolate and one present, and then Santa is the one who brings lots
toys for my kids, not me. So at Christmas time, he brings as much toys as I can
financially afford. That works in two ways, one being my daughter never asks
for anything when we’re in a store because in her mind, Santa brings them. And
two, she has such an over amount of excitement for Christmas because she is
getting lots of toys. The build-up is incredible for any parent to see.
My childhood memories of Christmas are what drive me
in making it wonderful for my children. When I was younger and still believed, Christmas
was a huge event. Family and friends would stop by continuously the week or two before –eating
food, drinking coffee, and staying late into the evening. Santa would even stop
by on Christmas Eve to talk to us. Then when we awoke the next morning (usually
as the sun was rising), my brother and I couldn’t contain our excitement as we
shrieked when opening up our presents. Indirectly, we were learning the true
meaning of Christmas, but we didn’t realize it –it wasn’t forced down our
throats. Because when I look back, what I remember most is that the house was
filled with family, friends, and love.
This is my daughter’s fourth Christmas and each year the
anticipation increases. We have the inside and outside of the house completely
decorated before Thanksgiving and the tree up on black Friday –she is already
beyond excited for Santa to come. All of our story times shifted to Christmas
books and she’s constantly playing Santa’s coming to town with my village under
the tree. She writes letters to Santa asking him for certain toys, but then
adds, “if you can’t, then that’s ok Santa.” She sits down and tries to explain
to her brother how marvelous Christmas will be. And that isn’t something I’m
willing to take away by giving her two or three presents because I’m teaching
her gifts aren’t everything (but on a side note, isn’t our society completely
based on the amount of “stuff” we all have?). If I’m able to provide her with a
Christmas full of toys and quality family time, then that is something I will
continue to do. Because in just a few short years, Santa will be a distant
memory as she becomes mature and “too cool” to believe in him anymore and the idea
of waking up to a room full of toys under a tree won’t even be a concern
anymore. She’ll probably just want a laptop, unwrapped for convenience, as she’s
begging to leave the family dinner early to go spend time with her friends.
I’m a firm believer in modeling behaviors –if you’re a good
person and understand the value in things, then your children will follow suite.
I think we place too much concern on the way our children behave with constant discipline
and maintenance, instead of just letting them learn through existing in the
world. I will always buy as much as I can for my kids as adults will continue
to buy for themselves. I believe my children will learn and are learning the
value of things the other 364 days a year –I believe that, because I can
already see it in my 3 year old daughter and the crazy amount of toys she gets
or already has isn’t stopping her appreciation for things (I had a friend send
her a sheet of stickers in the mail for her third birthday this year and you
would have thought there was a million dollars in that envelope with the way
she reacted to them). Christmas only comes once a year, it should be a time
where the house is filled with lights, family and friends, cookies baking in the oven, Christmas music
continuously on in the background, and the magical anticipation of Santa arriving
with his sack FULL of toys.
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