When I was kid, my parents would ask my sister and brother and me for Christmas Wish Lists. My parents used our lists to help with their Christmas shopping. They would share the lists with our grandparents, too. The best part of this, as a kid, was that I always received gifts that I wanted. At some point, I stopped providing these Christmas wish lists; I'm not sure why. My parents and friends had to work a lot harder to determine what I wanted for Christmas (or my birthday).
Now that I have kids of my own, I want our Christmas celebration to be joyful and centered around the reason for the season. It's so hard to avoid getting sucked into the commercialism of the holiday. It's really fun to give and receive gifts, so I still want that to be part of our celebration. But I do like the idea of being more thoughtful with our requests and with our gifts. An idea I've heard a lot in the last few years is to give each child four gifts: something wanted, something needed, something to wear, something to read.
I really like this idea. I like this idea so much that I created a PDF template for kids to fill out. You can download it for yourself right here.
What do you do in your house to help keep the focus on the birth of Jesus?
On Sunday mornings, my family and I go to worship and then my son, who is almost 5, goes to BASIC (Brothers And Sisters In Christ - our church's name for Sunday School). Each week, BASIC starts with songs and the Bible story with all of the kids together in the sanctuary. Then the kids head into classrooms for time with their peers. They share highs and lows, pray together, and usually do an activity together.
This past Sunday, I asked O how BASIC was and what they did. Here's how our conversation went:
Me: What did you do in BASIC today?
O: We played with Play-Doh!
Me: Oh, that sounds fun. What were you making with it?
O: Well, we were supposed to make something we are thankful for.
Me: That's cool. What did you make?
O: I made a rock.
Me: A rock, huh? You're thankful for rocks?
O: No. I wanted to make a human being, but it was too hard, so I made a rock.
Me: Oh. I gotcha. Human beings are hard to make. You're thankful for humans, though?
O: No! I was trying to make you, Mama!
Me: (tearing up) That is so sweet, buddy. I am thankful for you, too.
It makes me think about how thankful I am for the people in my life, but how infrequently I tell them. Why are we so quick to share our feelings of gratitude when it comes to things, but slow to share when it comes to people? I suppose it has something to do with vulnerability. It feels like a big risk to tell someone that you're thankful for them. Because what if they don't feel the same way back? But doesn't it feel good to hear that someone is thankful for you? Maybe that's what we need to focus on. Regardless of their response, it feels good to risk vulnerability, and it always feels good to hear that you are loved/appreciated. Who can you tell today that you're thankful for them?
Also, the conversation with O on Sunday reminded me of the song "We Want a Rock" by They Might Be Giants. Enjoy!
A co-worker asked me if I've been writing down the funny things O and K say. I said, "No." And then I thought, I could certainly use this blog to keep track of their hilarity. So I'll start with a story about O from yesterday.
A friend of ours gave the kids some foam blocks and the movie Inside Out for Christmas. Yesterday morning, O asked, "Why did Sean give us that movie? Why didn't he give us a trumpet? Or a tuba?!"
