Dharmafrog

A Mathias Christmas

Usually I don’t talk publicly about how many gifts we buy each other or how much we spend. Because I know that many people cannot afford to have Christmas. James and I have been there several times, when we couldn’t do as much as we wanted or those years when there was no tree. We have always put a lot of pressure on ourselves to give our babies the best that we could possibly offer.

We have always talked to our kids about the importance of showing compassion and understanding. We also have discussions about what we can afford as a family and that it’s not about the gifts or the amount spent on gifts. And we must have done something right, because they are very understanding that we cannot just go and buy toys r us for them.

Every year when Christmas comes I fret and worry, unnecessarily I know, about gifts and making special memories for my family. So I had an idea, and James and I discussed making this Christmas and all subsequent Christmases more enjoyable by changing a few things, including our attitudes, mostly mine.

I thought that I would share my genius idea, in case others are having my same problem.

GREATEST IDEA TO COME OUT OF MY BRAIN

First, we are going to plan and purchase all of our family holiday gifts, Christmas, birthdays and anniversary, several months ahead of time. Ideally six. So James’ birthday is done in January and Christmas is done in July. Instead of waiting until the last minute, and scrambling to find a certain Uncharted 2, PS3 game.

Second, I will use my “crazy dee episodes” to fight crime.

Third, each of us will receive 3 gifts plus a stocking. I know it doesn’t sound like very much but that is the basis of my idea. Less is and should be more. There’s not a whole lot to wrap which makes less work and less waste. (side note: James does not like to wrap gifts AT ALL, but he wrapped my gifts and the boys’ gifts with no complaints! Pretty awesome Christmas miracle right there!)

Examples:

Dee
gift 1~ 2 can’t wait to read books wrapped together (from James) He cheated a little.
gift 2~ Shiny purple nike shoes in size sasquach (from Liam, Bryce & Cameron)
gift 3 which we call the “big gift”~ Awesome Ukulele that I need someone with loads of patience to teach me to play (from James)

Liam
gift 1~ Guinness book of world records (from Bryce & Cameron)
gift 2~ Pokemon mystery dungeon ds game (from Santa, who he knows is mom and daddy but plays along really great for the younger boys.)
gift 3~ a 26” men’s bike (from Mom and Pop)

James
gift 1~ Ratchet and Clank Future: A crack in time (from Liam, Bryce & Cameron) They love watching him play games on the PS3
gift 2~ Eoin Colfer’s And Another thing book (from me)
gift 3~ Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks for the ds, wrapped with Uncharted 2 strategy guide…grrr…  (from me)

Bryce
gift 1~ Lego mine defender’s set (from Liam and Cameron)
gift 2~ Pokemon Mystery dungeon ds game (from Santa, who he has sneaking suspicions about)
gift 3~ Casio keyboard something he’s had his eye on since he was 3 (from Mom and Daddy)

Cameron
gift 1~ Thomas the Tank Engine fold up track (From Liam and Bryce)
gift 2~ Thomas the Tank Engine buttons with sounds book (from Santa)
gift 3~ Thomas the Tank Engine play mat (from Mommy and Daddy) He asked for Thomas and we delivered.

We’ve had several ideas over the years about gifts for our boys. How many and how much to spend on each boy. But this year we followed our new 3 gift plan and discovered that we spent less money and more love on each gift and the day was really great! As the boys get older they can go shopping and pick out gifts together and for each other, which will make it even more special.