I feel like this should get its own post, because it really was the highlight of our whole month. We used it as an opportunity to teach our kids the true meaning of Christmas, but Jeff and I also used it to step out of our comfort zones and really TRY to do some harder things. We visited family members, reconnected with old friends, and served others, all the while feeling the blessings that come when you put others first! Here are a few highlights:
One of our favorite Christmas traditions is to read "The Last Straw" and then draw each others names and do nice things (in secret) for them. Each time we do a nice thing, we get to put a straw in the manger to make the bed as soft as we can for Baby Jesus. It has always been a favorite tradition in my family growing up, and my parents gave us this cute manger to keep up the tradition in our family now. It gets a little difficult with small kids, but I think it was a great way for them to "light the world" in small acts of kindness to each other. In the story, it gives a few examples of some acts of kindness, like, laying out a sisters nightgown. Several times, Jeff walked into our room to see his garments layed out on the bed haha!
On one of the days, it challenged us to think of something we would love to have done to us, and then do that for someone else. I love to be surprised...so we decided to do the 12 days of Christmas for a family in our ward. I didn't have a ton of time, so I was happy when I found this link on pinterest that had a shopping list and free printable tags. I would have liked to do one that focused more on Christ, but coming up with my own poems to go with the different days was a tad bit overwhelming...maybe i'll be on top of things next year. I thought this one was cute.
So each day we took something over and the kids loved running to the door and racing back to the car. Ellie didn't quite get it, and i'm almost positive she was seen at least once as she just stood and stared at the door from the sidewalk while we were whisper-yelling at her to run. I don't think she quite understood why we couldn't be seen. I also just about fell on my face slipping on some ice on their sidewalk. This is dangerous business!
On the 12th day of Christmas, our last day, we decided to give up something that was a little harder to give up. At least for me. I had found a few months ago a Little People musical Christmas Train that was on clearance. I thought it might be fun to give the kids on December 1st as a fun little way to welcome the Christmas season. Every time I thought to give it to them though, they would be fighting. I kept putting off giving it to them, hoping they'd be better the next day, and I'd feel good giving it to them. I just kept getting the feeling that maybe this other family would really like the train and maybe be more deserving of it. *Ok, this is so stupid, so please don't judge me.* I was literally crying over this silly little train, because I knew how much Boston and Ellie would love it. I didn't want to give it away to someone else. Sometimes the things that are the hardest to give mean the most....right? It took the full month of December for me to finally be okay sending it. I wrapped up that little box with the last tag, and we dropped it on their doorstep. We left feeling good about what we'd done and hoped it meant something to that family. We just wish we could have seen their faces!
It was a great lesson for me to learn to let go and remember that it's better to GIVE than to receive. I hope as my kids get older and look back at this, that they'll remember that. Here's hoping for a great new year and an even better Christmas in 2018.
