See, I was an only child. And a very spoiled one at that....especially at Christmas. Under the tree was always packed with gifts. All for me. Of course, to be honest, I never got anything anytime during the year. Only Christmas. If I wanted something in March.....I had to wait 'til Christmas. So anyway, Christmas morning. Boatload of gifts. All wrapped up for me to open. Hundreds! ....OK, not literally, just kidding. Maybe. ;-\
No, no Santa gifts. Why? When I was 6 or 7, I had a friend, Kim. She informed me there was no Santa. I was devastated. I mean, really, devastated. To learn that there was no Santa Clause! Would that mean I got less gifts? Why did they lie? But, but... So, my parents let me choose. Wrapped "Santa" gifts, or unwrapped ones like the years before when I thought there was a Santa. I chose wrapped (mostly-a few unwrapped). It's just funner that way. (Yeah, I know that isn't a word. It just sounded good.)
So. I had LOTS of gifts on Christmas morning. Open, open, open. Paper & ribbon everywhere. Gifts strewn here & there. A mess. My mom would clean up the wrapping & boxes. She would pile up all the gifts (now opened) back under the tree. I would pick a couple throughout the day & play with those. The rest, stayed under the tree for a couple days until my mom took them to my room. Ah Christmas. Here & gone.
Yes, I was spoiled as a child. But, I am happy to say I did not turn out into one of those greedy, have to have everything adult. Actually, I live pretty frugally. I recycle/reuse. I make many things instead of buying them. And when I do buy stuff, I never pay retail! I think I turned out pretty good for being spoiled.
Fast foreword to being a mom, with two kids. The only thing that I carried on to adulthood from the experience is that I spoil my kids. Yep. Sure do. I admit it. They are sooooo spoiled at Christmas. And birthdays too.
But, I have learned alot from my childhood, and have changed a few things. First, my kids get gifts throughout the year. Occasionally I'll come home & just out of nowhere give them a gift. Everything isn't saved for birthdays & Christmas. Showing you care is something for everyday, not just holidays. At least that's how I feel. Second, we never did the Santa thing. I know, I know, you may think me cruel. I thought it best to just tell my children of the "story" of Santa (and the Easter bunny, etc.). Yep. Let them know it's a fun story, but that there isn't a fat guy who comes down our chimney and eats cookies & leaves gifts on Christmas eve. Not that we had chimneys in south Florida....a window? *shrug* Anyway, I thought it best to give them the fun of the story without having to be hurt when they learned Santa never existed and I lied to them. It's worked out fine. They still get tons of gifts. They're happy little children.
So where does the Twelve days of Christmas come in? Well, on Christmas morning, the kids would have all these gifts. Wrapping, ribbon, boxes...a mess. Just like I did when I was a kid. And like my mom, I would gather up the wrapping & stack the gifts under the tree. And just like me when I was young, my kids picked a couple toys to play with all day on Christmas. The rest, forgotten under the tree. .....For days. About a week after Christmas, I would gather up the gifts and put them away in their room. When cleaning their room months later, I would notice some of the gifts still weren't used. And I remembered back, the same thing as a child. Gifts went forgotten, and never used.
So, since I just cannot, not spoil my kids at Christmas, we had to figure something out. Yes, I know it would be best to not spoil them, but I just can't! I see something, I know they'll like it, it ends up coming home. Sorry. It's the one time I spend money (of course still not at retail price!). So, what to do?
Well, a couple years ago when I came home from Black Friday shopping, my hubby is like, "Why can't we just have Christmas now? Why wait? You're gonna make the kids wait until half their winter break is over to get their toys. If they got them now, since you're done shopping, they can have the entire two weeks to play with their new stuff." I agreed with much of his logic. However, my argument was, it loses the 'Christmas feel' if we opened gifts now. And, come Christmas, they wouldn't have anything to open, and would feel disappointed. They wouldn't understand they had Christmas early. So, we thought about it. We also talked about how the gifts often go forgotten because they got so many. Thats when we decided to do the "Twelve days of Christmas". Even though I am aware that the Twelve days of Christmas is actually AFTER Christmas, we chose to have the kids open one gift for twelve days leading up to Christmas (sort of like Hanukkah). This way, they had time to play with their toys, they wouldn't get overwhelmed, and the Christmas spirit would be alive for almost two whole weeks.
We've been doing this for a few years now, and I have to say it has worked out really well. The kids still get a full stocking, and some presents on Christmas to give that special 'Christmas morning' feel. But gifts don't get lost in the mess, unused, and forgotten. Each gift is special on it's own day.
We love being a non-traditional family.
House-Wise
"Make yourself at home"
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