Christmas Traditions: GIFTS!

How does your family do gifts?

Growing up, we always traveled cross-country to my grandparents house - - trunk FILLED with Christmas gifts. The grandparents always had a glorious tree, every square inch packed with ornaments. There were so many presents under the tree, we could hardly see the floor. On Christmas Eve, we opened presents from one another with our grandparents, prior to their party festivities. Then on Christmas morning, the children awoke to gifts from Santa and stockings filled with goodies.

In my own nuclear family, gift giving looks different. On Christmas eve, we attend a candlelight worship service (whether at home or traveling), and all our gifts are given Christmas morning. We give the children a handful of presents, and my husband prepares the best stockings ever. We leisurely spend the morning in our jammies, enjoying daddy's traditional breakfast feast of bacon/egg/cheese biscuits and pancakes.

Now that the children are getting older, gift giving is easier because gifts are much smaller than they were when the kids were little. We try to keep it simple, and focus on quality time rather than on +getting stuff+.

I will never forget the time I stood up after opening my presents, in a moment of self-importance with my hands on my hips and exclaimed, "Is that it!!??" It took my dad about 4 seconds to snatch me up and take me to the back room for a glorious whoopin. Never again did I appear remotely ungrateful for my Christmas gifts!