Holdiays

Having lots of children who love Christmas means that in my house I begin hearing Christmas music in June. I do limit how much we listen to too early but I must confess that come October when the temps cool down I do allow them to play it more often. As of lately it has been an everyday occurrence and I have already taken my older children out to buy some Christmas decorations they wanted for their rooms and such. I tell them that I can truly see them working in a Christmas shop year round and never getting tired of it.

For instance, my girls already have a decorated mini Christmas tree in their room and a string of white lights around their door and across the wall. I tell them that they can decorate their rooms, but they are not to decorate any other part of the house until after Thanksgiving.

With Fall being my favorite time of the year I do try to keep them grounded and enjoy Fall and Thanksgiving. They are good with that and they enjoy Fall as well, so it's not too hard to keep them focused.

More than anything though I want my children to realize the true reasons for the holidays we celebrate and try to make sure that they don't focus so much on decorations and such. As holidays come closer we gear our thinking around what holidays are really meant to celebrate. As Christians we focus on being thankful to God and His many blessings around Thanksgiving and the birth of Jesus around Christmas. We try to make sure we do things for others and not focus so much on ourselves and try to teach that giving is more fun than receiving.

For Thanksgiving we do a thankful tree and before we sit down to eat we have five kernels of corn on our plates to remind us of the pilgrim's struggle and God's provision and care. At Christmas, we go through an advent calendar and make things for others. On Christmas Eve we read the nativity story before bed and on Christmas morning we sing Happy Birthday to Jesus. I would like to do some visitation at a nursing home this year and possibly try to work at a food pantry.

So what are some of the things you do to keep your focus on what Thanksgiving and Christmas are really about? I'm always looking for new ideas and ways to help us, so I would love to hear what you do.