'Tis the Season for giving...

Holidays can be very complex and complicated. I have two children who watch a lot of tv at Thanksgiving and subsequently see A LOT of commercials. And you can all guess what comes next…EVERYTHING!!! They literally want everything they see a commercial for even if they have no idea what the toy or game does or is about.

And each want makes me feel like a failure. Even if I could give them every single toy and game, I wouldn’t want to because I know what follows, we all know what follows. But I have failed to ingrain generosity, selflessness, real life meaning and drag, the list goes on for pages of concepts they are not emotionally ready to handle.

As the end of January draws near and my husband’s job comes to an end, the stress is overwhelming. We have had so many dry spells followed by a little steady employment and we’ve been successful at protecting our children from the true nature of the situation. But this year, I am letting our 8 year old know that we need to be wise about our choices and I am trying to encourage her to select experiences over stuff. She’s still 8 and has recently started talking about Adidas. At 8 I had saved enough money to buy my own “Barbie”, actually a Jem doll (Aja) after a very long day hunting mushrooms with my dad. I made $60 that one day. The cost $11 and I put the rest of the money in my savings account (not a piggy bank but an actual account and I am still grateful my parents opened my account when I was young).

I suppose it is the nature of how government contracts run but it seems that things always start looking ready to end at the Holiday (perhaps it’s a huge money saver to not have most of the staff wanting to take a week or two off, I don’t actually know). But maybe other families feel this way too? The older I get the less accepting I am of this ebb and flow lifestyle.

But that is not the point. I want my children to have a deeper understanding of the holiday season. Currently we are celebrating Chanukah or at least the lighting of the Menorah and reading the daily scriptures and talking about history. There are some really beautiful moments paired right on top of some pretty tragic events. I want our children’s childhood to be magical but I also don’t want to convey the message that stuff is the street of gold.

How do you approach Christmas?

Do you ask your children to give?

Encourage experience?

Maybe you think the holiday season is a time for celebrating and not the time for lecturing…Feel free to send me links to your blogs about your take on holidays and gifts.