Cary arrived home on Thursday. The heat and humidity were a bit of a shock for him, but he's adjusting. We enjoyed a belated birthday celebration on thursday for him and the day after we celebrated Summer's 11th birthday. After some sunny days, it chose to rain all day on her birthday. As she had the magical birthday power to choose our outing for the day, we went to the movies and saw 'High School Musical 3'. Cute and fun in a candy kind of way. Then out for some pizza for lunch and a relaxing afternoon. Saw some friends in the evening and overall, I think she enjoyed her day.
I have been thinking about Christmas and the meaning it has for me and how it can be more meaningful for my family. I've also been on a mission to decrease even more material things. But how to do that within a homeschooling family that needs 'stuff'? So I didn't want Christmas to get out of control with excess decorations, presents, food etc. But I also remember being a child and how those things helped add to the anticipation that was all part of the excitement. I've also been concerned about my children being disappointed on christmas because they won't have a hundred gifts under the tree. - I was thinking they'd get the idea about this from speaking to other kids and watching some christmas movies where it shows a floor filled with gifts under a huge tree on christmas morning.
So I realised that I had several conflicting thoughts and that I was creating most of them in my own head. If I thought my kids might be disappointed, they probably would be. If I changed that to the joy they'll get from the few things they'll get, then we'll all be blessed.
We were driving to the mall the other day and I was starting to dread facing the crowds. Instead, I released that feeling and focused on the joy of anticipation, seeing the decorations and feeling the excitement instead of focusing on the materialistic side and complaining about that. I want my children to remember happy christmases, filled with fun and joy no matter where we are or what we are doing. That's really the main gift I want to give them.
3 comments:
I was talking to my therapist about how I feel so much pressure to make grand traditions so the holiday will be special for the kids. She asked me what had made it special for me as a kid, and I realized my Grandma made Christmas special just by making me feel loved. We never decorated cookies together, trimmed the tree together, or even sang carols together. But her unconditional love was just a force that was there that made just sitting on her lap special. So I've changed my goals from complex traditions, to just trying to figure out how to make my children feel loved. Not as simple as it sounds, but a better focus, I think.
Oh Rachel, this is beautiful...thank you for sharing. xxx
I admire the way you manage to single out the positives thru everything. I've really been working on that this Christmas.
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