A few years ago Israel and I went a little crazy with the whole "Santa" thing and in the end it seemed like the girls didn't appreciate what they got (which was too much anyway) and it seemed like "Santa" was far more giving than we, the parents, were. Sooo....we changed the rules of the game. And this is how we've run Christmas since and we LOVE it!
1. Santa only brings 1 Big item for the kids/family to share (Last year, Santa brought Bunk Beds) and fills our stockings with one small toy, loads of candy and a toothbrush/toothpaste combo (to take .
2. We, the parents, give the kids a FUN toy for them to enjoy together (this year is a pop-up tent with a tunnel attached, thank you Black Friday).
3. Next, each member of the family is expected to work for and make or purchase 1 ( only 1) gift for each member of the family. (I love how thoughtful my 6yr old & 2yr old can be!)
4. Lastly, we open 1 gift from Mom & Dad on Christmas eve, which is always a pair of pjs, slippers or robes.
6 comments:
That's awesome! It sounds like it was a good change for your family to focus on the real things instead of just Santa. Hope you guys have a wonderful Christmas!!
There are some families here who don't do santa at all, they do three wise men gifts, I think santa is too fun to nix it, but that is exactly how we do it too, santa only brings one thing, and it is never wrapped and fills the stockings, mom and dad do everything else, so fun!
We make a cradle for baby jesus and every time you do a good deed without anyone knowing it, you get to lay a piece of straw (colored construction paper through a paper shredder) in the cradle. So by Christmas Eve, Jesus's bed is nice and comfy as possible. We change the delivery year by year so it's always different, but the focus is still the same, He is the greatest gift, I want to be like Him.
Santa only brings one present and the things to fill the stockings. We do Secret Santa's, so the kids all pick names and get to buy/make something for someone else. There will usually be 1 or 2 presents from us(then whatever we happen to get from Grandparents, schools, Visiting Teachers, etc.). The other thing we've started doing, was giving each of the children some money that they are to give away. Todd and I try to help people out a lot, but we want them to be more observant and watchful for things that they can do to help/serve others. And instead of just putting their money in the Salvation Army bucket or something, we wanted it to be more personal for them. So, with their money, any time we're at a store or something, it's up to them to choose someone that they'd like to give their money to. That way it's not just Mom & Dad saying, 'Go give them money.' The kids really get excited and start thinking more of others and trying to find ways to serve. And they love seeing how surprised and happy people are.
We always put fruit and little boxes of cereal in our stockings. I mean *cough cough* SANTA puts them in our stockings. We eat breakfast from our stockings. The kids usually go for the candy first and spend the rest of the morning flying high.
My kids bought gifts with their own money for the first time this year. They were so happy to share those gifts.
I agree about Santa getting all the credit. Something I want to think about.
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