If you read my previous post about Christmas time you'll know we are doing things a little different this year. We are spending more time investing in our children's lives instead of spending so much time away from them shopping and spending more money. I heard on the radio today that the average family spends $1000 dollars on Christmas gifts for their family! That may seem like a lot to some, or just a drop in the bucket to others. But we looked back over the years Jessica and I have been married and figured that was a pretty close estimate. Always trying to one up each other with what we thought would be an awesome gift. And as they say "It is better to give than receive." So the one being outdone always felt a little inferior for not being the best giver. This year we didn't get gifts for each other, but promised to spend more time with each other and our family. Doing things we will remember and always cherish.
Not wanting to completely shock our kids into no gifts this year after the other years of many gifts. We decided to get all three kids three gifts (1 each) they could all share and enjoy together! We got them two musical toys and one vet shop play set. They loved the toys, (so did I) and played so well with them together. One was an orchestra where you can place each instrument on the platform and mix them and hear how they sound individually and together. It shows all the instrument types: woodwind, percussion, strings, brass and how each one of them plays harmony, accompaniment, and melody. They enjoyed putting the instruments on the platform and guessing which one it was, and trying to listen and pick out the individual sounds. Being the musician that I am, I loved seeing and hearing them learn and discover these things. Compared to previous years focusing on one gift for them to really delve into and learn about instead of having so many things to jump around to, and some they even forget about even opening. They shared so well and I loved seeing them just trade the toys around and play with them together. I am thankful that our kids are close enough in age to still enjoy playing with each other.
This year I think we created a new tradition of sharing the gifts we are given. Just like we should as adults, should share our talents, gifts, wisdom and most of all the gift of new life given to us through Jesus God's son! Merry Christmas!
Enjoying their gifts together!
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