It's That Time!

Christmas is coming.  And with it comes the joy and dread of Christmas gift buying.  My greatest joy on Christmas morning is watching the faces of my children as they open their presents.  They are excited over the simplest things.  They simply and truly love dearly every single item they open.  For about a day. 

Every year I stress, plan, shop, think, worry, plan, think, worry, shop in an effort to buy great presents for my 5 (now 6) children.  And every year I see the joy with which they open their presents and it is all worth it.  Until planning time arrives the following fall.

That is when I begin wondering what I'm going to buy them this Christmas.  And I remember the things they loved last Christmas.  The things I haven't seen them play with in 6 months.  They things they've lost and don't remember or broken and forgotten.  The things they so loved, yet now are never touched. 

And that is when I begin to get distraught.  I am not a great gift buyer by nature anyway.  So trying to buy Christmas gifts for these children really stresses me.  Largely because I see the way we have too much stuff already.  And I see that they don't play with nearly anything from last year.  And I see that there is so little value in what they actually get.

So this year I am trying to think about shopping for things I might not usually.  I am thinking of buying more Christian books and games, more role playing games (dress up, etc.) and more board games.  We own, or have owned, nearly ever toy ever.  Most of them lie broken or disheveled and dispersed throughout the insane toy room.  I hate to add to that, yet I delight in that look of joy.  I don't want to raise materialistic children, yet the joy of gifts is an amazing sight to see, and it delights me to give that joy to my children.

Later in the week, I shall blog about the Christmas Traditions in my family that add to the joy of the holiday.  Gift giving is great, receiving is fun, but there are so many other ways that we try to make the Christmas Season enjoyable so that the gifts are but a small part of the bigger scheme of Christmas.

Merry Christmas!  And remember, in the end it's really only about The Gift, the birth of our Lord and Savior, don't let the stresses of the season steal His Joy from you!