Christmas, part 3--within our Home

Disclaimer: The purpose of this post is not to criticize how you celebrate Christmas. It is just to share how our family observes the day within our house. 

A couple years after having John Gannon, Johnny and I had the "Santa" talk.  You know-what are we going to do?  So we decided for a few years to not just say anything about it.  That worked until he reached that age where he was a little confused by the mass amount of people asking "What is Santa going to bring you?"

First off, we do not think there is one thing wrong with Santa. For some reason we just did not feel right with doing it in our house. So, we never said anything about him. He never asked. We always gave gifts at Christmas, and he was excited. When he was 5, we explained the concept of Santa and told him it is a game that people play and we would play the game if he wanted. He wasn't interested and said he liked it the way it was.  And we did encourage him not to ruin the "game" for others who may not know it is a game, I am sure when we weren't (aren't) around he talked about it with other kids--sorry if he "ruined" your fun at Christmas. But to be honest, our children are just as excited about Christmas even though they know at young ages that Santa is just a fun game.  I am not sure where we have believed the lie that "Santa" is what make Christmas fun. As a matter of fact-when kids returned to school after the holidays, I had some of the saddest sessions happen in my office. They would ask why Santa liked kids more than them.  You know--they got a few cheap toys, others got lots of great gifts.  I have ran through a box of tissues in a week before as children processed these things with me. 

On Christmas morning, our kids will wake up to a living room decorated for a party, a birthday party. We may read from the Bible and talk about it, pray, discuss the birth and life of Christ, or sing. And of course, we play with all of the balloons--fight with them, stick them to our hair, etc.  

Then we open our gifts. For the kids, who have enough things to stock a small toy store already, we spend about $100/total (with the exception of the year we bought them iPads--will still say that was one of the best purchases we made for them--so many uses!) Afterwards, we get ready and start going to our other family gatherings that day.

To be honest, Johnny and I really wished we lived in a culture that didn't observe gift giving during the holidays. We see so much greed and selfishness in our children during this time of the year, it kind of makes us sick. Just ask Johnny about his experience with the boys yesterday! While we have swallowed what everyone tells us, "they are just kids," it still really doesn't feel right within us.  It really just seems like we are contributing to this cycle continuing.  While we are grateful for "stuff" we often wonder and think life would be much more rewarding if we all just lived in a community with family and friends--in which we worked to help each other, worked the land to eat, and bartered for things we need.  You know, kind of like communal living. Hey, we have this koolaid, you want a drink?  Just kidding about the koolaid...

We just long for more simple living. You know, when people had time to knock on your door just to stop by and visit (unplanned). When you really didn't mind asking your neighbor for a cup of flour instead of driving 20 miles round trip to the store. Ok, I realize I have strayed from the Christmas topic, so I will stop...Live a Meaningful Life!