Thoughts on Gift Giving and Christmas

This year is already going to be Christian's second Christmas! That not only means that he will actually get into the season a bit more this year, but it also means I have been left debating my thoughts on  Christmas gifts at our house and what our approach should be for 3 years now!!

To some extent the jury is still out when it comes to a firm decision about gifts. It's not that I think gifts in themselves are bad. But do gifts blind us a bit as to what the bigger gift of the season really is?

I want Christian's answer to "Why do we celebrate Christmas? or What is Christmas about?" to always be Jesus. 

Not Santa.

Not presents.

But can we still teach our kids about Santa, or St. Nicholas, and still do presents while still teaching them the real reason for the season?

I hope so. I really hope so. Because I would hate to take away the magic of Christmas and the opportunity to teach about giving. Even more so I would hate to take away the chance to see my son's face filled with joy as he experiences the magic of Christmas and new toys.

We will be doing gifts at our house. Santa will come.

But Santa won't be hanging over Christian's head all year either. He will be there, but he won't be a motivator for him to be "good" so he can be on the "nice list".

Jesus will be taught year round. Jesus will be the example to follow in how we teach Christian to live...and how we try to live ourselves.

Santa will be the nice man who was a saint and blessed many children, bringing joy to their lives at Christmas time. Even the man who helped to meet the needs of children who are less fortunate.

And "Santa" will be the example that we teach Christian to follow as he shares the Christmas spirit and love of Jesus. Because Santa had the heart of Jesus when it came to giving.

I love the idea that Santa can also teach our kids about grace. That even when kids aren't perfectly good ALL year long, Santa still comes through.

The concept of 4 gifts (a need, a want, something to read, and something to wear) has become rather popular, but I think I'm a bigger fan of the idea of 3 gifts, like was shared on graceformoms.com.

Jesus received 3 gifts - Gold, Frankincense, and Myrhh

Our children can receive 3 gifts as well.

Gold -  Something big they've been wanting 

Frankincense - Something for their body 

Myrrh - Something for their personal or spiritual growth 

We have yet to follow this example for our gift giving for Christian. This year he will be getting 3 presents from us, 3 presents from Santa, and a stocking. I believe we did about the same thing last year.

Is this the right way to do Christmas? I don't know. Will this always be how we do Christmas? I don't know that either. But for now, this is where we are at.

How do you celebrate Christmas? Do you do gifts? Do you have any "rules" for how you do gifts? What do you do to keep the focus of Christmas on Christ and not just on presents? 

To see Christian's Favorites from last year, click here.

For this year's wish list and gift wins, click here.

Favorite Christmas Books for Kids and Toddlers

Christian loves books. He loves sitting and flipping the pages and "reading" them all! Visiting the library is a pretty regular part of our schedule. 

**Mom Tip** 

Place your books on reserve/hold using the online catalog system. Then you just walk in, grab your books off ONE shelf and check them out. Makes trips to the library with a toddler much less intimidating. Also, strapping said toddler into a stroller for the visit isn't a bad idea either :) 

Anyway, every season I go online and "order" our library books. I put holds on items for the specific season -- Halloween, fall, Christmas, winter, summer or even just a specific theme like colors or body parts. 

You usually can't place holds on board books at our library, so we usually do a quick once over in that section and grab a few extras. 

Books and reading are not only important for growing vocabularies, but little ones learn through these stories as well! 

While books about Santa and baking cookies and wrapping presents are pretty easy to come across, I wanted to be sure to find a handful of good, solid, Bible based Christmas stories for Christian during this season. 

Here are our favorites! Check them out at your local library, or click the link to find them on amazon. 

The Donkey's Christmas Song

While this is not a board book, Christian has down quite well with it at 18 months old! It tells the story of baby Jesus being born in the stable and how all of the animals were there to greet him. Each animal greets him with their "sound" -- Mooing cows, cooing doves, baaing sheep, and the bray of the donkey! Fun way to practice animal sounds too. 

The Christmas Baby

The story of baby Jesus' birth is related to the story of your own child's birth in this story! I love the connection it makes to the child, helping to bring them more and more into the Christmas story as they learn that this is their story too! The animated and bright, cheery pictures in this book are sure to be a hit with your little one as well! 

This is the Stable

In this build upon story, each part of the nativity is touched upon -- from the "quiet stable, dusty and brown" to "the shepherds tending their sheep" and "the wise men, travelers three". I love the sing song nature of this book and its a favorite from my childhood. 

The Story of Christmas 

This is your basic Bible story version of Jesus' birth right from the angel Gabriel telling Mary she would be the mother of Jesus, to Mary and Joseph making the trip to Bethlehem, and finally Jesus being born in the stable and placed in a manger and kings and shepherds coming to meet him. 

God Gave Us Christmas

This has become my all.time.favorite. Christmas story! We also love our God Gave Us You book, so were super excited to get this book as a gift last Christmas. The little polar bear asks her mama "who 'vented Christmas? Was it Santa?" The mama polar bear goes on to explain that God invented Christmas and God is even more important than Santa. The bears then go to find God and discover the real meaning of Christmas. 

What is Christmas?

If God Gave Us Christmas is my all time favorite Christmas story, then this is my all.time.favorite.board.book. Christmas story! This book walks kids through all the aspects of Christmas, reminding them that the season is not about the presents, the cookies, Santa, or Christmas Cards or carols. The season is all about the birth of Jesus. It also is written in a very catchy tune that preschoolers will pick up on quickly! 

Mooseltoe

This is just a fun Christmas holiday book that I threw in for fun! Christian really likes this one but it doesn't talk about Jesus at all. It's all about a moose getting ready for Christmas and just when he thinks he has everything ready, he realizes he forgot the tree and has to improvise! 

Do you have any favorite Christmas stories to read with your little ones?

 How do you help them understand the real meaning of Christmas? 

Countdown to Christmas Scripture Chain

I recently shared a photo on instagram of my Countdown to Christmas Scripture Chain and got a lot of questions as to what I used for Scripture and questions in general about making this chain.

From the time that we found out I was pregnant, I've gone back and forth on my feelings about how we will celebrate Christmas as a family. I want Christian to know that Christmas is about Christ...not just about presents. 

::It's about PRESENCE::

Practicing the presence of Christ as we lead up to the celebration of His day of birth.

While the jury is still out on how we will handle Santa {luckily Christian doesn't quite get it this year so we have some time}, one thing is for sure -- We WILL make Christmas about Christ.

We won't just count down the days til Santa comes, but we will count down the days until we celebrate Christ's birth. And to help us remember that that is the reason for the season I decided to add short, daily scripture verses to a regular count down Christmas chain.

This is something from our Family Christmas Traditions Bucket List so CHECK!

The verses are super short, so I'm planning to read them to Christian too.

I wish I could say that I came up with the verses to use all by myself, but I actually found them listed here and then just decided to add them to the chain.

For your quick reference, here are the verses {1 starting for December 1st and should be cut off the chain first and 25 on Christmas day}

1- Isaiah 7:14
2- Matthew 1:18-24
3- Luke 1:26-27
4- Luke 1:28-30
5- Luke 1:31-33
6- Isaiah 9:6
7- Luke 1:35-36
8- Luke 1:37
9- Luke 1:38-41
10- Luke 1:42-45
11- Luke 1:46-56
12- Luke 2:1-3
13- Luke 2:4-5
14- Luke 2:6
15- Luke 2:7
16- Luke 2:8
17- Luke 2:9-11
18- Luke 2:12
19- Luke 2:13-14
20- Luke 2:15-17
21- Luke 2:18-20
22- Matthew 2:1-2
23- Matthew 2:3-7
24- Matthew 2:8-10
25- Matthew 2:11

Also, if you've been following me for long, you probably know that I blog based on my experiences. In this situation that means that I'm experiencing this with you! I have used this chain of scripture before, so I will be deciding as I go how I like it too. You can't really go wrong with scripture, though! I hope you enjoy it!

How are you counting down the days until Christmas? What traditions to you have to help keep Christ in Christmas?