Little Parent on the Prairie
  • Home
  • About
  • Writings

Seeing Christmas in a new light

12/1/2013

0 Comments

 
This article was originally published in the December 2013 of 605 Magazine

In America, Christmas gift-giving can in a lot of ways be characterized by one word: Frantic. Think about it; all across the country people are waiting in frantic lines at frantic stores buying gifts from frantic employees. Then they drive home in frantic traffic, frantically wrap the presents, only to be opened by another frantic person on December 25th.

I feel frantic just thinking about it. 

And somehow I don't think they had frantic in mind when Christmastime was dubbed the most wonderful time of the year.

Now, lest you be misled, I must first say that overall, I LOVE the holiday season. I LOVE Christmas. I also love giving gifts; especially to my daughter. (And hello, who doesn't love self-giving). But this year, my husband and I are approaching a stage with our daughter where she is actually starting to understand this whole gift concept -- as opposed to simply trying to choke on the wrapping paper like last year. And because of her enlightenment, I am looking at Christmas in a whole new light as well. 

What does all this frenzied holiday brouhaha say to our little ones about Christmas and the true spirit of giving? How can we teach her it's not just about getting everything you want around the Christmas tree? And how do we do this when society shouts otherwise and even her semi-perfect parents are prone to getting sucked into the Christmas buying vortex? (Just ... can't .... stop .... clicking .... and ....buying ... Amazon Prime ... free shipping ... ). 

There have been a lot of parenting blogs circulating around cyber space regarding similar topics. Some parents have suggested giving away a toy in order to receive any new toys for Christmas. Some have suggested having a limit to the things they can put on their "list". Some have suggested throwing out the list completely. And still others suggest throwing out the gifts completely and giving their children an experience such as a trip or adventure versus a tangible gift.

I have to say these are all good thoughts. Well done thou parents of cyber space!

I'm going to take this a step further though. There is a popular saying that was first muttered by a man named Jesus who, coincidentally, is the guy who is said to have kicked off this whole Christmas thing, and he said; "Don't value and hoard things that can be destroyed by things like rats or fire, but instead store up where they cannot be destroyed; in heaven." 

No matter where you fall with how you feel about this Jesus character, I think we can all agree that's pretty sound advice. Things break. Things get stolen. Things get lost. Things burn up. So, instead of getting all frantic and placing the utmost value about the stuff around the Christmas tree that will likely be destroyed someday (in our case by a 150-pound dog or bolting toddler), maybe we want to get crazy about the stuff that will truly last forever.   

My daughter is only two right now. And I don't think she is going to grasp this concept right away. Let's face it, I have seen how greed can body-snatch my hazel-eyed, angel princess and turn her into a snarling, gnashing green-eyed monster. Mind you, again, she's only two. And all of us at any age have that same greedy monster. (Think 50-percent-off-boots-with-free-shipping type greed. Mmm. Mmm. Exactly).

So, my challenge for myself as a parent is to not feed that already powerful green-eyed monster that is waiting to body snatch us all. Especially not at Christmastime.

As I was writing this, I remembered a friend that accomplished this beautifully with her kids. Her question to them when Christmas came around was not "what do you want for Christmas?" It was, "what would you like to GIVE or DO for someone for Christmas?" The emphasis was never on what they received rather it was on what they gave. 

Poof. My mind was sufficiently blown. 

This is Christmastime come to reality. Gift-giving not out of obligation or the expectation of something in return. And gift-giving of one's self; not purchased from a frantic place, from a frantic employee, or out of a frantic heart. Sincere giving mirrored after the very first Christmas story. 

This is the type of giving I want desperately to teach my daughter and by teaching I mean showcase it in myself.  The true sacrificial giving that has the ability to take the frantic right out of Christmas and put the wonderful, beautiful part right back in. 
0 Comments

    Archives

    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013

    Topics

    All
    Aging
    Anniversary
    Baby Girl
    Babyproofing
    Baby Well Check
    Career Mom
    Childbearing
    Children And Technology
    Christmas
    Co Parenting
    Co-parenting
    Doctor
    Dog
    Example
    Exploration
    Fathers
    Fathers Day
    Fear
    Flies
    Future
    Genetic Disease
    Germs
    Gift Giving
    Gift-giving
    Hand Foot And Mouth Disease
    Home Organization
    House Cleaning
    House Selling
    Husband
    Identity
    Instagram
    Jesus
    Kids Nutrition
    Making Memories
    Married With Children
    Miscarriage
    New Baby
    Newborn
    New Year
    Night Owling
    Parenting
    Preeclampsia
    Pregnancy
    Premature Baby
    Romance
    Santa Claus
    Self Esteem
    Siblings
    Social Media
    South Dakota
    Spring Cleaning
    Stay At Home Mom
    Stress Eating
    Summer
    Tantrums
    Target Store
    Technology
    Third Trimester
    Threenager
    Toddler
    Traveling With Kids
    Trying To Conceive
    Tubular Sclerosis
    Vacation
    Valentines Day
    Winter
    Winter Illness
    Wrinkles

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.