Posted in Making Memories

or What I have learned from this Christmas:

For the record Christmas morning really wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be so I guess I am ready to reflect on what I have learned from it all.  But it is so noisy in our house today I’m not sure I can think to write LOL.  I don’t understand why grandparents think that buying electronic talking toys is such a blessing to their grandchildren.  I think they are secretly getting back at us for all the rotten things we did while we were growing up.  It is parental payback that is making me insane LOL

I’m trying to get the boys to put down their new toys long enough to write some thank you cards.  In my depressed state I failed to mention that we didn’t go to my in-laws house to celebrate on Christmas Eve (my face doesn’t hide anything when I am upset) yet the presents showed up here anyway, so today, that I am feeling more forgiving and now that this whole horrid event has come and gone I thought it might be nice to pick up the pieces and be thankful.  Many people give to the boys but they are either out of town or have their presents delivered so we don’t see them (& that is a whole nother can of worms that I won’t go into now).  I thought it would be nice to let them at least know we received them and I am trying to instill appreciation in my boys --- I know I should probably work on some of this in myself as well. 

This Christmas my side of immediate family agreed to not give presents to each other because everyone was so broke but I guess that meant “tone it down” & not necessarily “no gifts”.  They had already said that they could not NOT give to my boys so I asked them to give together gifts and to expect my boys to give back little something’s because we are trying so hard to fight the “get, get, get” of Christmas and we are trying to instill the GIVE aspect.  I have come to understand that broke to us is soooooo not broke to what others think is broke --- man if they only knew what broke really is.  I know in my heart that dh, my boys and I are blessed beyond measure and G-d graciously provides ALL that we need so I KNOW that my family is soooo not poor and that there are many others out there that are much worse that we try to help but golly gosh.

Well guess whose boys got a brand new Wii for Christmas from the people who said they were broke?  Not to mention some additional games and accessories!  I don’t know but that doesn’t sound like a gift I would buy if I was broke not that this a gift I could afford to give my kiddos like in EVER.  Now don’t take me wrong.  In years past I would have been so hurt that others provided such a great gift and thus making mom & dad look like cheapskates but this year I think dh’s blunder just made everything seem trivial.  I didn’t care what happened because I guess I felt like it couldn’t get any worse.  And wow!  I’m not a video game player but I knew that this was the Christmas present of all presents for my boys -- the unspoken present that you secretly wish for that you want so badly but you don’t even dare utter the words because you know that the dream might poof and then you will never get it.  So yep! compared to the gag silly gifts that we gave this year (& last year) this present was like the boys won the lottery and I am grateful that grandma & grandpa were so “broke” that they got them this one gift.  I don’t know but it made it seem that all was right in the world and that maybe we weren’t so “strange” and “off the wall” or doing things so different from the world that we felt like we didn’t belong in this world any more.  I know that this isn’t my home and that is often the reminder that keeps me from doing things like the world but sometimes I want to at least feel like I belong and that (as the song from Cheers goes) “everybody knows your name”.

So what did I learn? 

My family is financially DIRT POOR & BROKE (even more than I originally thought) - but we are wealthy beyond measure in spirit and even if we can’t afford to have Wii games or surround sound systems we do have each other and as the commercial goes - that is priceless.

The world didn’t fall apart because of the hurt that happened in my life just weeks before Christmas.  As a matter of fact, Christmas came and went just like it always does and because I crawled into a hole, half of the things that I “normally” do didn’t get done (thinking specifically about the sugar dough and gingerbread dough still in the fridge that never got baked or the Christmas card greetings that won’t be sent this year and the many other things on the “perfect” Christmas list).  So doesn’t that say that I don’t need to make myself so Christmas crazy with preparations (& probably those around me too)?  I too need to tone it down and stop making Christmas THE event that makes me utterly coo-koo because it doesn’t have to be sooooo PERFECT.

And the most important lesson that:  Less probably is more.  Think about it.  If you only got the ONE gift - the ONE greatest gift that you couldn’t even utter the words to tell someone about because it was that special, would that not make it the BEST Christmas EVER in your life?  From now on, I want to eliminate the junk and look for the ONE gift -- & I know Who that starts with -- the One and Only true gift which is Christ our L-rd.