As a parent I struggle with what my responsibility is to God and to my kids. Is it my responsibility to give them those wonderful memories of huge, long-anticipated gifts? Or is it my responsibility to be a good steward with my money and bless others and teach my kids thrift and contentment in little? It's probably some of both, but finding the balance is hard for me. It is only partially about money. I have the money to spend, but should I? So I tend to swing too far to one side and then back too far to the other. So last year we had a huge, over-the-top Christmas... bicycles, building forts, Lego set, American Girl accessories, watches. Within 6 months I had given away the fort and I can count on my fingers how many times Sam has ridden his bike. American Girl accessories get lost or left outside. The watches broke or wouldn't keep time. So it's not too much of a stretch to imagine this year was a more simple, laid-back Christmas.
one toy (which for Taryn was just a large comic book... something she had asked for),
one Playmobil figure,
a water bottle,
and a couple small things in their stockings. That was ALL. And I was pleased to see that for the three days we were home after opening gifts, there were very few fights, nobody said they were bored, and nobody complained about not getting enough or not getting what they wanted. We just ate what we had in the house since I hadn't planned ahead and we couldn't go to the store on Christmas. I really was pleased with it, but I know that in 10 or 20 years, this won't be a Christmas they have any memory of. And I have to decide, does that matter? To me? To them? And what really matters for eternity? But really I just meant to show you cute pictures and didn't mean to get all philosophical.
I chose mostly things I knew they would use instead of the items on their wish lists which they were enamored by after seeing TV commercials or nice, glossy catalog layouts. The kids got one craft item (which for David was just a Wall E coloring book and some pens... he's an art snob, he won't color with crayons),
one toy (which for Taryn was just a large comic book... something she had asked for),
one Playmobil figure,
a water bottle,
and a couple small things in their stockings. That was ALL. And I was pleased to see that for the three days we were home after opening gifts, there were very few fights, nobody said they were bored, and nobody complained about not getting enough or not getting what they wanted. We just ate what we had in the house since I hadn't planned ahead and we couldn't go to the store on Christmas. I really was pleased with it, but I know that in 10 or 20 years, this won't be a Christmas they have any memory of. And I have to decide, does that matter? To me? To them? And what really matters for eternity? But really I just meant to show you cute pictures and didn't mean to get all philosophical. Oh, this was one of my favorite gifts (though I could have done without the pictures of it):
No comments:
Post a Comment