I feel like a dieting woman at Christmas time. A food lover who restricts her diet and allows herself nothing but fruits, veggies, and whole grains all year long, and then tells herself she can have birthday cake on her birthday, and pie at Thanksgiving, and thats it. Do you know what I would do if I were that woman? I would eat an ENTIRE cake on my birthday, and an ENTIRE pie at Thanksgiving.
I try to be frugal. I do not spoil my children, my husband, or myself. we buy what we need, and generally nothing else all year long. Then at Christmas or Birthdays my mind goes wild with all the possiblities of gifts that I could make and/or give. So many things I want to give my children and my husband. I want to eat the ENTIRE cake.
But I can't. And I shouldn't.
What is my purpse in giving gifts? As much as I would like to fulfill every dream of each person on my list, my purpose is to show my loved ones that I know them, that I pay attention, and that I care.
Fulfilling those purposes has little to do with money, or tags, or wrapping, but it has to do with the message that the gift sends.
I want to teach this to my children. Teach them that giving a gift is like sending a message without words (or sometimes WITH words).
Would one gift be enough to do that? Can I really shape my childrens perceptions of Christmas while the whole world is telling them that Christmas is about how many and how big? Is it fair to only give my children one meaningful gift? rather than 15 gifts that will impress their friends and fill up the recycle bin with wrapping?
I'm still working on my own answer to that question. If you have any thoughts or comments I'd love to hear them.
2 comments:
Keeping yourself and your family protected from the messages of the world is a lifelong journey. This is definitely a challenging one. What are Greg's thoughts on it? I will be interested to see his comment.
I think finding balance is the key :) My parents were very good year-round at not giving into my every whim, which is what made birthdays and Christmas so special. Even so, they would remind me of the people that didn't have much, especially on the holidays. Our ward had tons of poor people so I had plenty of experience giving in many different ways. I think that as long as you don't keep them in a mind bubble you're doing well.
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