I gave my kids *NO*THING* for Christmas!

Maybe it was the full-blown meltdown my son had over the dentist giving him a free toothbrush with the *wrong* character on it...

 Maybe it was the constant de-junking, and the realization that managing the "stuff" in our house is a major time-sucker...

Maybe it was because our tree already looked like this...

...without us having to put ONE SINGLE present under it.

...for TWO children!!

...but I just couldn't do it. I couldn't even THINK of anything to buy my kids for Christmas. Our adoring relatives had already filled every inch of space under the Christmas tree (and then some).

So, I didn't give my kids any.thing. for Christmas!

I probably sound like the biggest Grinch on the planet right now.

But really, it is because I love Christmas, and because  I am so grateful for all we receive that I decided we needed to do something different this year. And yes, we did give them something for Christmas, we just gave them no things.

With my husband's (reluctant) approval, we decided to give our kids the gift of... service.
What better way to celebrate the birth and life of our Savior, right?

Right???

My husband was actually pretty sure that it would ruin Christmas. The potential for whining, foot-dragging, and the like was undeniable, but my sweet husband lent me his support anyway. (I love that he always backs me up, even when he's not sure if I'm right). The truth is, we had no idea how our kids would react, but we were committed.

They woke up Christmas morning and saw this:

 

Inside, they found this letter:

Dear {kids},

This Christmas, we thought and thought about what we could give you to make Christmas special. We knew that anything we might have bought at the store simply wouldn’t be good enough. We exchange gifts on Christmas day because the wise men honored Jesus with gifts, and because we remember the precious gifts our Savior has given to us, and because we want to show others that we love them. As we thought about this, we realized that nothing we could ever buy you would truly show you how much we love you. We want to give you more than just things...



The letter went on to explain that each of the 5 packages contained in the bag would give them an opportunity to serve someone so we could celebrate Christmas in the best way possible. I have to admit, there were no squeals of joy... but then again there were no stink-eyes either... and they actually seemed excited to see what was inside the packages.

Here's what our gifts of service were this year:

#1 Making a puzzle ball ornament for a far-away relative.

#2 Making treats and delivering them to neighbors who were alone on Christmas morning.

#3 Making hugs and letters for kids from sendkidstheworld.com.

#4 Gift certificates to a local excursion & instructions to invite someone who needs a friend.

#5 Planning a family day (after all, one of the best places to serve is within your own family :)

In our letter to our kids, we had written how we hoped that these gifts of service would give them greater joy than any present we had ever given them before... Did it work??

Well, I guess that depends on how you define joy. There was never any unrestrained squealing, and at the beginning there was a hint of impatience to get to the presents... BUT as we worked together as a family and thought about others, the smiles grew bigger and bigger. Even my husband said it went way better than he expected, and for a moment or two we actually forgot about the pile of the presents waiting for us under the tree. And as shocking as it was to all of us, my kids actually asked if we would get to do this every year!

We finally opened gifts around 2pm... and we saw something we didn't expect. Almost every time they opened a gift, my kids started talking about who else would like that gift, and making plans for how they could share their presents. hmm. I can't claim that this was a direct result of our morning of Christmas service... but maybe it didn't hurt either.

I love Christmas so. much! One of my favorite parts of Christmas is that special feeling that comes from the love, thoughtfulness, and giving that occurs so frequently at this time of year. I am convinced that feeling comes because we are celebrating Christ by being more like Him. There are so many ways to do this and I don't think there is any right or wrong way. This year we simply tried a new way. Our gifts of service helped us to feel more of that "spirit" of Christmas, and I am very grateful for that experience. I'm not saying I will never buy my kids a Christmas present again, but I will definitely make sure there is at least one gift of service under the tree every year.

After all, they did ask for it! Why not give them what they want for Christmas?

Deficits: We may not be "squealing" about service...
Deposits: but we are smiling about service! :)

Balance: Richly Blessed!

The First Post... OR "How to Keep a 3-year-old Boy (QUIETLY) Entertained Without Toys"

I have to admit I've been a little hesitant to publish my first post.

Why?

I don't really know...

Maybe I was feeling like my first post should be something earth-shattering... or that I didn't really have anything significant to say... but then laying in bed last night, I realized that would totally defeat the purpose of this blog. This blog is supposed to be about the MUNDANE... and about how the mundane, average, beautiful days of life are completely AMAZING!

So here is my first post. Sorry it's late.

It is a story about a very average Sunday morning. A very hectic Sunday morning. A Sunday morning where hair is frantically being brushed in the car on the way to church, where kids are crying, but where we get to Church.... on time. barely.

Then sitting in the pew, the 3-year-old starts to squirm. We let him squirm as quietly as possible, and as long as possible before we give into the toys... We have to play our cards right to get through the whole hour without any major catastrophes.

Finally, I realize he is reaching the end of his rope, so I reach into my bag to pull out a tiny toy plane. Planes are our go-to toy for Church. They say "woosh" or "shhhhh," instead of "vroom vroom" and "Beep! Beep!" and "CRASH!"

Planes are a lifesaver... when they are there.

The main pocket of my bag is empty. No planes.

I search every pocket. Twice. Thrice. No planes!

No books, no finger puppets, no crayons, no snacks. Just a pen, some lip gloss, and a half sheet of paper. Panic begins to set in and I realize there is a good chance I will spend the rest of the hour in the hallway.

I try to engage my son in what is being said from the pulpit. "Oh! Did you hear that? He said 'boat!!' Let's listen and see if he says 'boat' again!" ...He doesn't. It bought me about 30 seconds.

I grab the pen and paper. My offers to draw a picture for my son are returned with a solemn head shake. (C'mon! Work with me here buddy!!)

Now I'm scrambling. What am I going to do????
(...as a side note, please feel free to share with your own ideas in the comments just in case I run into this crisis again, because there is 99.999999999% chance that I will).


Then suddenly, I have an idea!! (It was inspiration, I tell ya!)

I tell my son the give me his finger. I take the pen draw a tiny car on his finger nail. "This is your car," I tell him, "It doesn't make ANY noise." He nods (this is a good sign). Then I draw a line across the half sheet of paper. "This is your race track." I don't have to say anything else. He spends the next 5 minutes tracing the line with his finger, and smiling.

Eventually, the novelty wears off. I knew it would, but I'm grateful I got a WHOLE 5 MINUTES!

"It's your turn." I tell him, and hand him the pen, watching him closely. He draws a curvy track and hands me back the pen. Next comes a circle track, and a loopy track. Finally, near the end of the hour, he wants me to "drive" on the track with my finger. I oblige.

The hour is up. Miracle of miracles, I was actually able to listen a little bit. I wish I could say that my family is 100% calm, peaceful, and happy. We aren't. But we definitely feel different than the stressed mess that walked through the Church doors an hour before.

Especially me.

I'm grateful. Grateful that a simple idea saved my Sunday. Grateful that we spent a whole hour together on the same pew without any hall time. Grateful for the beautiful words I heard that helped me feel like I could make it through another week of craziness. Grateful that Sundays have a way of changing things. A grateful heart really, really is a happy heart.



Deficits: Unprepared and behind schedule! :( Keep working on this!!
Deposits: GOOO creativity!!! (it is the mother of invention, after all). And gratitude... it's lovely! Put more of this in every day!
Balance: Richly Blessed!