Christmas Chaos

When we get to this time of year, I am always stunned by what Christmas has become in our culture.

Christmas is, and always has been, an observation of the birth of Jesus Christ.  It is a holiday celebrated by Christians.

Somewhere along the way, we lost sight of the celebration of the birth of our savior, and began to see this as a giant present grab.

Stores open on Thanksgiving in order to increase their own profit.

People knocking each other down in malls in order to get something at the "best" price.

Piles of debt that last for months after Christmas.

Are we truly focusing on the meaning of Christmas?  The birth of a tiny child was never intended to become what retailers and merchants have told us that it should be.

Long, long ago, before we had children, my husband and I sat down and discussed what we expected Christmas to be.  He came from a tradition of a pile of presents under the tree that everyone ripped into and opened within the first five minutes of waking up on Christmas morning.

I came from a divorced family.  We didn't have a lot of gifts at Christmas.  Instead, we would each receive two or three presents from each other.  We took turns opening gifts, watching each other open the presents in order to draw our enjoyment of the event out even more.  When I was little, and my parents were married, we still never had a lot of presents, but Dad would send us on a giant quest to find our presents.  The treasure hunt involved clues, shoes, map and compass skills, and a walk around the neighborhood.  (Think Geo-Caching, 1970's style.)  I remember that we'd only have a few presents, but the time spent solving the riddles and clues, and hunting for the next clue?  Absolutely priceless.

We decided early on that we didn't want to fall for the commercialization of Christmas.

We carefully researched the Kwanzaa tradition, and found that we liked the idea of 8 special days of dinners and family time.

We found out that in Europe, Santa doesn't come until Jan. 5 - the day that the Magi reached the Baby Jesus.

So, we changed things up.  The kids receive one handmade gift each year.  A sweater, a blanket, cross stitch, something unique and different.  They receive a few items that they need.
And then, the family receives one very large gift that allows us to share more time together.  The large family gift is always the prize on a large treasure hunt.

Over the years, the family has gotten a computer, a television (yes, we only have one), a Wii, tickets to the First Night Celebration in Annapolis, something that will enable us to spend more time together.  Maybe we don't give a lot of gifts because all of the birthdays- husbands and the kids - fall within a month of Christmas.  I don't want Christmas to get lost in the chaos.

Over the week between Christmas and New Years, we open presents.  We go to church.  We spend a day with grandparents and cousins.  We have a birthday party for Jesus.  We spend a day at a museum somewhere.  Every day, we make a point of spending time with our kids, as a family.

Now that the kids are in college, I want to spend even more time with them.  I'm glad we set this tradition up when they were little.

It's an investment in our family.  Time is one thing money can't buy, and it's priceless.

You'll never find an 80 year old saying that they wish they had spent less time with their family.