Ever since I started thinking about becoming a Mommy (which seems so long ago now), I have been pondering what traditions I would like to keep with them at Christmas time to remember the real celebration of Jesus, while having that awesome excited feeling and to have those wonderful family memories.
The big question is now becoming do we “Santa” or don’t we “Santa”? Do we make Christmas exclusively about Jesus and take away the diluting effect that Father Christmas has made to Christmas, where the kids become more excited about Santa and less aware of why we even have Christmas in the first place? Or do we do Santa and still focus on Jesus? I think I have decided that we grew up with Santa when we were kids and we turned out ok, it’s not like I still believe in him or anything… (Don’t worry Santa, I’m just saying that. See you in a couple of weeks and don’t forget those shoes I want – there’ll be cookies). So we will DO Santa but FOCUS on Jesus.
So I want to do the perfect blend of both, if that is possible. I want them to write letters to Santa, put milk and cookies out for him to eat and get excited for opening presents in the morning. But I also was to focus on the story of Jesus, why he came and who he is – never letting the kids forget that this is the focus of this time.
I need to be one of those proactive Mom’s whose blogs I read all the time, you know… The ones who have made their own advent calendars while cooking supper, cleaning house, etc etc etc. Unfortunately I will probably never be one of those Mom’s, ok who am I kidding I KNOW I’ll never be one of those Mom’s – I am the type that will leave it all to the last minute and then hope for the best. So if you have an easy to print out Advent calender that properly tells the story of Jesus I would totes appreciate it!!
However I’ve seen another thing that is going around this year (or maybe I’m only just aware of it this year) – it’s called Elf on a Shelf (thanks Jolene for telling me about it). It is so cute and I am sure I would have loved this when I was the girls’ age. Basically you have a little elf that you put in a random spot each morning leading up to Christmas and then the girls must find it. I think I would have died of excitement to do this every morning! What I love is that you can make him do things like write a letter or make a snow fairy, or something slightly mischievous like drawing on your pictures, then freeze him in that position so it looks like you caught him in the act. Totes awesome. Maybe instead of a Elf it can be something else that we actually have around the house… Hmmm… Seeing as it’s already the 2nd I suppose I should get thinking. Here’s some pics for inspiration (Images stolen off Pinterest):
