Dec. 17, 2007 - The Christmas Season
As we find Christmas quickly approaching, we also find our normal daily routines being interrupted in favor of more exciting seasonal activities. We had our first family Christmas get together over the weekend. It was a very enjoyable party for all of us. The ride there and back was another story. Sometimes excited or tired three year olds and a longer than usual car ride don't make a good mix.
We've also had the pleasure of doing some needed and often spontaneous shopping. Daddy says, "I can't work today, let's do some of our shopping". Another day Nana or Granny calls to say that they're free if we need a babysitter so that we can shop. We only have a few last minute items to buy and it has been quite pleasant having a few hours to ourselves here and there.
The Christmas season brings a lot of fun, but also its share of stresses. I find that the best way to keep times like this peaceful is to keep as much order to our days as we can. Keeping the general flow of our days going is very important. When the big markers of our day are in place children feel centered and behave much better. A regular waking time, meal times followed by Scripture readings and chores bring a sense of calm to our home and keeps behavior problems down. We have been taking advantage of the longer winter nights by putting John Charles to bed earlier and making more time for ourselves to destress and relax. His nightly routine of a warm bath, read alouds by Mama from Corduroy and The Snowy Day, followed by an adventure story told by Daddy lets him know that even on these "different days" , there's still a predictablility that he can depend on.
One of the greatest joys that we've had this Christmas is seeing the holiday through the eyes of a small child. This is the first Christmas that John Charles has understood much of what's going on. He knows what a party is and he loves celebrations now. He wakes up each morning wanting to go to a party!
He also understands what presents are and he loves them too! On the first day of Advent we gave each of the boys a present to open. The next night John Charles wanted to open another one and we allowed him to. This started him asking for a present everyday! I was afraid that it would make him greedy, but in fact the opposite has happened. Now he delights in giving. Through out the day he comes to me with little items and says " I have a surprise for you". It so sweet to hear him say that and to see the joy he gets from giving. It's also touching to see the love that he feels for the extended family that he's in contact with. He can't wait to "help" Aunt Christy open her present, he wants to buy Colby a skateboard, and when he left Granny today he told her several times "Bye Granny, I wuv you. Come to see me!"
That's the Christmas Season at our house. Does it get any better?
