Only three sleeps till Christmas and I am nowhere near prepared. I always try to have my gift shopping done before December because I hate to be in crowds and would rather not have gifts than try and find a parking spot at the shopping centres. For the food shopping I can send my husband.
Well...that's what I try to do. This year I have failed miserably.
We haven't even written Santa letters. It's a good thing Santa has email services nowadays! We'll be able to email him the requests and because it's so late in arriving Santa will have an excuse to not actually have the item they requested.
The past few Christmases have been financially difficult ones. For one of them the children were aware that we wouldn't be getting any presents. Santa did come and left a few treats. The next couple of years were lean also but the children didn't complain with the fun 'family' present that they got.
This year we have tried to do more things rather than 'get' more. One family night we spoke about the things we can do to make this Christmas a more 'giving' year. At first my 17yr old son was suggesting outrageous things....he sure likes to get a reaction out of me. We then got on the right track and even DS 17 (dear son the 17yr old) got into the spirit and this is what we came up with:
* One night we'll deliver cookies to some families. The children decided it would be more fun if we pixie drop/phantom family/ding 'n ditch, them....so that's what we did. Fun was had by all as we sang Carols on the way to the different homes and watched the boys almost get caught each time.
* We would have a night of just singing Christmas carols and we'd invite some friends over as well. This was held last night. I made eggnog, roca rectangles, sugared peanuts and mint choc crackers. It was a fun evening. It was made more special by having DD 18 play the piano and seeing that all my children would join in the singing. No attitudes in sight.
* The next thing we'll do is give some people a 'heart attack'.
So I'm not going to be ready for Christmas like I would like to be. We will have food and there will be some gifts to open and fun will be had. I have chosen to be OK with not being prepared this year and be thankful for the memories we've created and the Christmas spirit we've had (for the most part) throughout our home.
Well...that's what I try to do. This year I have failed miserably.
We haven't even written Santa letters. It's a good thing Santa has email services nowadays! We'll be able to email him the requests and because it's so late in arriving Santa will have an excuse to not actually have the item they requested.
The past few Christmases have been financially difficult ones. For one of them the children were aware that we wouldn't be getting any presents. Santa did come and left a few treats. The next couple of years were lean also but the children didn't complain with the fun 'family' present that they got.
This year we have tried to do more things rather than 'get' more. One family night we spoke about the things we can do to make this Christmas a more 'giving' year. At first my 17yr old son was suggesting outrageous things....he sure likes to get a reaction out of me. We then got on the right track and even DS 17 (dear son the 17yr old) got into the spirit and this is what we came up with:
* One night we'll deliver cookies to some families. The children decided it would be more fun if we pixie drop/phantom family/ding 'n ditch, them....so that's what we did. Fun was had by all as we sang Carols on the way to the different homes and watched the boys almost get caught each time.
* We would have a night of just singing Christmas carols and we'd invite some friends over as well. This was held last night. I made eggnog, roca rectangles, sugared peanuts and mint choc crackers. It was a fun evening. It was made more special by having DD 18 play the piano and seeing that all my children would join in the singing. No attitudes in sight.
* The next thing we'll do is give some people a 'heart attack'.
So I'm not going to be ready for Christmas like I would like to be. We will have food and there will be some gifts to open and fun will be had. I have chosen to be OK with not being prepared this year and be thankful for the memories we've created and the Christmas spirit we've had (for the most part) throughout our home.
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