Ready for Christmas

I had a conversation with a friend the other day that got me thinking about this whole Christmas thing. I absolutely love Christmas! My friend was telling me how it is just such a hard time of the year because there's so much stress. Which made me wonder why it has to be so stressful? It's supposed to be this peaceful time of the year, and I think we can get so carried away with trying to do everything we think we're "supposed" to do that we forget the point. We compare our traditions to others and feel like we don't measure up. We especially compare the amount of gifts to others and feel like failures if we haven't done as much as somebody else does. The first few years we were married I think we struggled with finding our Christmas groove. But I credit my husband with helping us blend our traditions and eliminate ones that created stress. I am careful not to overdo now. When big sister was the only one we had, we went crazy buying presents for her. She got sick of opening them and we actually took several with us on our road trip to Nevada the next day so she could open them in the car when she got bored. It took us a few years, still to figure out that they just don't need that much. Husband's mother had told me about buying 3 gifts for each child because that's how many the wise men gave to Jesus. I thought that sounded so great! Then I went nuts trying to come up with 3 gifts for each child, and they got sick of opening them. Again. Maybe it's 'cuz we open them one at a time? Anyway, I determined at that point that one present from Santa, one from mom and dad, and one to each other would be plenty. And it is for us. I have also taken some of the magic out of Santa. I have told the kids that we have to help pay for Santa's gifts because there are so many children in the world that Santa just can't afford to do it by himself. Maybe that's mean, but it gives me a good opportunity to remind them to write their wish lists carefully and that I have to approve. They still think Santa's pretty darn magical and we are capable of fulfilling those wishes. It's also easier to swallow when the kids at school get more stuff than them - they don't feel like Santa loves them less. We do lots of Christmas stuff, but I don't stress if it doesn't happen. We did the gingerbread house, but I bought one that was already put together (who is the GENIUS who thought of that one? I love them!) and I just let the kids do it. No perfection here. There's lots of cute ideas out there, but I know my limits. If I try to do to much, nobody will enjoy it because I will be ornery. We have continued my mom's tradition of writing down the nice things we see others doing and we'll read those Christmas Eve as a gift to Jesus. We read Christmas stories every night and do chocolate advent calendars. We always do the angel tree and buy things for those in need to help my kids understand that there are those out there with so much less. They look forward to all our traditions and this year have been so good at being excited by not just the presents, but the things that invite the Spirit and celebrate Jesus' birth. I ended up telling my friend that Christmas is what you make of it, for your own family. You really can't compare yourself to others and have that be what determines a "good" Christmas season. Each family is so different and unique, we should have traditions that reflect that. We shouldn't judge each other for doing more or less than us, we should just enjoy the season as much as we can. It is a beautiful time of year, after all!