I have to confess that I am one of those people who loves the Christmas season.
I love the songs, the lights, the atmosphere.
I love decorating my tree and my living room.
I love planning and making our Christmas meal.
I love the meaning behind the holiday, the hopefulness and joyfulness of it.
The only thing I am not so crazy about is excess.
I was in the waiting room at the doctor's office the other day and a shopping channel was on.
They were presenting wallets and some kind of electronic board games and when there was a commercial break, more stuff was being advertised.
Everything labeled with "Hurry" and "Will arrive before Christmas" and "Make sure you get this".
After watching this for about 5 minutes I felt like it was just all too much.
For me, the more these companies force their ads and products on me, the more I feel like I don't want to buy anything.
Free shipping on everything.
Buy two get one free.
Ten percent off if you order before midnight.
And I just want to go sit on a bench in the park and forget the whole thing.
So instead of making lists of what I want, I've decided to make one with what I already have that I am grateful for.
Turns out the list is endless and I really don't need any more stuff.
I'll give you my top 5:
1. Peaceful times
2. Healthy family
3. Warm house
4. Food in the fridge
5. Comforts of the 21st century (my washing machine, indoor plumbing, laptops, working car etc).
In light of all this, I've decided to give my daughter one present for Christmas.
Just one.
I am happy I have the means to offer it to her (it's a small doll house, for those who are wondering).
Of course, friends and family want to shower her with presents which is a great blessing.
But I will give those to her a bit later because otherwise she would just go into a package opening frenzy and would not even be able to enjoy all of them.
When I was growing up, some of my Christmases were poor.
We always had some kind of presents and a tree though.
Later, my parents could afford more expensive gifts and I remember getting video cassettes or Polly Pockets and Barbie dolls. And I loved all of those.
But I also remember receiving more modest presents like a bag of oranges and sweets and gingerbread men from church and I couldn't care less about them because they could not compare to all of the stuff that was waiting for me under the tree.
It's important to help our children foster a sense of gratefulness.
To protect them from becoming desensitized by great amounts of stuff that they receive continuously and which make them unable to be appreciative of what they have.
If my daughter goes to the doctor, she gets stickers and coloring books.
If we eat out, she gets crayons.
If we go to church, there is always a nice person who brings her a teddy bear or a lollipop.
I think she got something almost every week for the past few months.
So I try to talk to her about giving and donating and counting the things at the end of the day that we are grateful for.
Of course, she is not even three but I feel like you can't start too early.
It is so very easy to get caught up in the shopping spree.
There's nothing wrong with wanting to give something to your loved ones for Christmas.
Some gifts are simply timeless like books and games and CD's, tickets to various shows, markers and so on.
I have to admit that it's difficult for me to not buy my daughter a gift that I am sure she will like.
And the things she likes right now like figurines and doll stuff are really inexpensive.
(Although when I see just how inexpensive they are and see where they are made, I immediately picture some wretched laborers slaving away for a few pennies so that my kid can take one look at the toy and then throw it in the corner).
So I always think that it is better for her to have one meaningful gift than many many things she won't even know what to do with.
In other words, it is better for her if I don't buy her many toys.
And then I can spend that money on an experience instead, like visiting a museum or taking a one-day trip to a nearby lake. Making memories.
I wish you a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year! May it be filled with memorable moments that you and your child can talk about many years from now!
