Then I received three gifts from the internet -not quite gold, frankincense, and myrrh but stories that brought healing into my heart. I want to share them with you in case you're struggling too. The first two were forwarded to me by my wonderful mother-in-law just in the St. Nick of time! At first I thought, "Yeah, sure. Kids want attention more than stuff. Not my kid. My kids wants a Nintendo WiiU. Hands down. No questions asked. Nothing else will make Christmas happy for him." But then I watched theses Ikea commercials. What?! Ikea. It's for real.
And this one showed me how all that attention can look from a kid's perspective. If you don't speak Spanish, here's the translation: The woman says, "Look at all the children enjoying their Christmas presents. Come here, sweetheart. What did you get for Christmas?" He shows her his gift and she is shocked, "That's it?!" The boy reflects on his joyous Christmas morning. The woman says, "Poor thing." The boy looks at her like she's a total weirdo, shrugs, and then returns to his friends.
I was sitting alone on the couch checking my email for the umpteenth time that day. As I watched these commercials, I became sensible to the fact that my husband was putting the kids to bed. He was playing the guitar -Jack White, not exactly a lullaby but definitely sing-along material at our house. I could hear the kids singing with him. Then he cycled through some originals and some Christmas music. The flood gates released I realized that even though there won't be a lot of wrapping paper to clean up this year, we are giving our children an incredibly lavish Christmas abundant with attention, bursting with encouragement, and overflowing with love.
The next morning I got a booster shot in the form of a blog post about how one mother's worst Christmas turned into her best. Read half or read the whole thing. In case you don't feel like reading it at all, I've included a spoiler at the end of this post. I read this to my family and we laughed until we cried. Especially me. Those are the kind of tears we should have at this time of year.
In that spirit...
I wish you an extravagant, luxurious, Christmas!
*SPOILER*
The family is experiencing financial straits due to medical issues and the mother is up sewing gifts for neighbors to save money when she realized she has nothing for the children's stockings the next morning and can't even afford a package of gum. Her 11 year old daughter comes in and learns the plight of her parents. She says, "All that matters is that we're a family. I don't care if you squat over my stocking and poop in it." Lots of laugh. Clear thinking returns. The family has an opportunity to bless someone else which has the effect of increasing their gratitude and reducing their worries all in one swoop. Christmas magic!
And this one showed me how all that attention can look from a kid's perspective. If you don't speak Spanish, here's the translation: The woman says, "Look at all the children enjoying their Christmas presents. Come here, sweetheart. What did you get for Christmas?" He shows her his gift and she is shocked, "That's it?!" The boy reflects on his joyous Christmas morning. The woman says, "Poor thing." The boy looks at her like she's a total weirdo, shrugs, and then returns to his friends.
I was sitting alone on the couch checking my email for the umpteenth time that day. As I watched these commercials, I became sensible to the fact that my husband was putting the kids to bed. He was playing the guitar -Jack White, not exactly a lullaby but definitely sing-along material at our house. I could hear the kids singing with him. Then he cycled through some originals and some Christmas music. The flood gates released I realized that even though there won't be a lot of wrapping paper to clean up this year, we are giving our children an incredibly lavish Christmas abundant with attention, bursting with encouragement, and overflowing with love.
The next morning I got a booster shot in the form of a blog post about how one mother's worst Christmas turned into her best. Read half or read the whole thing. In case you don't feel like reading it at all, I've included a spoiler at the end of this post. I read this to my family and we laughed until we cried. Especially me. Those are the kind of tears we should have at this time of year.
In that spirit...
I wish you an extravagant, luxurious, Christmas!
*SPOILER*
The family is experiencing financial straits due to medical issues and the mother is up sewing gifts for neighbors to save money when she realized she has nothing for the children's stockings the next morning and can't even afford a package of gum. Her 11 year old daughter comes in and learns the plight of her parents. She says, "All that matters is that we're a family. I don't care if you squat over my stocking and poop in it." Lots of laugh. Clear thinking returns. The family has an opportunity to bless someone else which has the effect of increasing their gratitude and reducing their worries all in one swoop. Christmas magic!
