We have been as busy as ever since Thanksgiving. This Christmas season is different than previous years for several reasons, and I feel like sharing them.
First of all, the kids are getting old enough to really understand all the Christmas stuff. Peanut is still a bit young, but she knows who Santa is, loves to "sing" Jingle Bells and has had fun looking at Christmas lights. Jellybean is completely into it this year; in fact, L and I really have to mind our p's and q's about Santa -- we have to keep our story completely straight. That will present some challenges when we're out of town for Christmas, but we'll cross that bridge.
Also this year, now that Jellybean is in preschool, we are being engulfed in all the holiday goings-on, which is fun. In a couple weeks, she will participate in the Christmas program, in which the preschoolers perform songs for all of us. She has been singing and singing around the house -- "Away in a Manger" is her favorite -- and has loved singing Christmas carols every day she's at preschool. I'm interested to see how her penchant for performing at home might transform once she's in front of a crowd. She is much less shy and reserved than she used to be, but as we all know, stage fright is a different animal entirely.
The other thing that is different for this year is the Christmas between L and me. We have seen too many people beset by difficult circumstances in this economy, Michigan being one of the biggest stages, unfortunately. There is nothing much I really need -- and L neither -- so we have decided to allocate our Christmas budget to sponsor some kids. The shopping and wrapping efforts have been intense (I'm not as efficient shopping for boys!), but those are nothing compared to the struggles these kids and their parents are facing. The idea that a child doesn't have warm enough clothes for the Michigan winter breaks my heart and my spirit more than I can express.
I was thoroughly touched today when Jellybean was in her own little world pretending and I realized she was pretending to be helping people. She has more comprehension of the Christmas spirit than she knows.
1 comment:
Great idea--I think I'll steal it! Just the other day I told Tristan I thought maybe we shouldn't exchange presents with each other. If you need ideas for boys, books are always wonderful! We go to tons of b-day parties (one almost every weekend) and we are almost always the only ones to give books and they seem to be a favorite. At B&N we donated a book (Harold and the Purple Crayon) for a 4-year-old boy. Other ideas for boys (if you still need them) are anything dinosaur (we like Little People dinos for toddlers and preschoolers, and Imaginext for older), Planet Heroes for preschool and up, books, books, books (did I say that already???), and of course the standbys of trucks, cars and tractors. Then again, Max wanted all things Tinkerbell for his birthday last week and Theo picked out a tiny ballerina as his prize at the dentist this fall, so we have some girlie toys too. Puzzles and basic games are always favorites too (though I think the 3+ age range for some of them is overly optimistic!).
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