All Christmas-ed Out

Well, thanks to our marvelous calendar my Christmas was all messed up. Not you know, the holiday itself, but the timing of everything. Thanksgiving was way too late, wihch threw off my putting up the tree the day after Christmas. So that didn't happen until a week late, which threw my kitty into a tailspin and made her confuse the Christmas tree for a bed. Go figure.

Anyways, we had a wonderful time getting ready for Christmas, although we had to warn the kids that we were doing a smaller Christmas than usual. And no, it wasn't because the economy. We decided that we had been richly blessed and we wanted to take as much of the commercialism out of Christmas as possible. We did do a few gifts, but not nearly the insanity we were used to.

We also started a new tradition this year, that the kids could not buy any gifts for one another. After the weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth subsided, I was able to explain that they would each be writing a letter to each member of the family explaining one of their favorite things about that person and a gift of service they would be willing to give. It turned out absolutely fantastic and I gained some really amazing insight into my children about how well they really know each other. It was wonderful to see that inspite of the disgust with one another they usually exude, they really do have good feelings towards one another, way, way, way, way, way, way down deep.

Fortunately, there were no "What I really wanted"'s this year, because I managed to open my eyes and get them mostly gift cards so they could get what they wanted. Man, it took a lot of pressure off.

As we begin to round out this year, we wish you joy, hope, prosperity and most importantly, happiness.

Lessons Learned

1. With proper perspective, the holidays DO have more meaning and truly can last the entirety of the year.

2. Laughter really is the best medicine.

3. There is joy in togetherness.

4. We really do like one another when we aren't pretending to hate one another.

5. Giving is truly better than receiving.