Where is the Christmas Spirit!!

I am having a really hard time this year. I do not feel like it is Christmas. I told the kids that we are going to read one book a night in front of the tree so when it gets closer to Christmas we will know and understand the true meaning. I have been explaining to them that it is not about Santa and the gifts but about Christ and service.

I had them help me clean out the basement the other night and we bagged and boxed up A LOT of toys. I explained to them that we were going to give the toys away to children who need them more then we do. They were a little uneasy with this idea but they need to learn sometime.

When we got to D.I. and I finished unloading the truck, there she was crying in the back seat. " I am only five and do not want to give away my toys" she stated. I pulled off the the side of the road once again explaining what we were doing. I told her how proud I was of her to be such a big girl. That didn't seem to help so the next best thing CHOCOLATE made it all better!

We have been reading Genealogy lately and our relatives were happy with just a quarter or a new pair of shoe laces. I think that the time should be about family and sharing the fact that we are here and with each other not the gifts and I want, I want, I want. My kids are only allowed to ask for ONE thing at Christmas. They have both asked and only time will tell if this idea gets rejected.