I DON'T WANNA THINK ABOUT CHRISTMAS YET!

So in the spirit of the holidays... and yes I do know that Halloween was less than a week ago... I have decided to discuss some holiday shopping topics. The reason I chose to do this now is becaue it was brought to my attention via social media that there are less than 51 days until Christmas. That means 7 weeks, or 7 Mondays. SEVEN!!! And in my mind, that isn't much time for shopping. Especially considering how busy I've been. I barely have time to do laundry so I have clean underwear, let alone get my ass to the mall to shop! So this has forced me to start thinking about Christmas now. And in a few weeks I'll start decorating too.

So having said all of this, I came across an article written by a woman who I believe has pin pointed a lot of the problem with Americans view of Christmas today. Now all people care about is the food and the gifts, which is spoiling the understanding that our children have of what the holiday season is all about. 

I bet all of your are thinking "GREAT! She's gonna start blabbering on about how we need to put 'Christ' back in 'Christmas' or how He is the reason for the season"

While it is not my place to tell you what to believe in or if there is a God, after all we are all entitled to our own opinions, I am going to say that I think we need to spend more time focusing on the important part of the holidays. Family and togetherness and to some extent, tradition.

We all have our own traditions and some people just don't get them. For example, my boyfriend's family has spaghetti on Thanksgiving (weird Italians!). Traditions are wonderful, not required if you don't have them, but they can be fun and they can be full of love. But it is more important that we understand WHY we have them.When I was growing up, we always got socks and underwear for christmas. I didn't understand why until I had a child of my own. While no one gets pumped about socks and underwear (except me and my siblings) it was a way for my mom and dad to say that they love me and they want to make sure that I have all the essentials from food in our bellies to underwear on our asses.

Anyway... back to the article. It is called the "4 Christmas Gift Challenge".

I love this concept! I love it for so many reasons.... one of which is saving a bunch of money! Now, keep in mind my daughter will be 7 when sants shoves his fat butt down our chimney, so 4 gifts may be a little on the light side. In addition I do want to hold on to some of my families traditions (like socks and underwear.... woooohoooo!!). But I do want to focus less on the "gimme gimme gimme" attitude that had developed in our youth and I want to focus it back on a more grateful one.

My intention this year is to make sure that every give that is given has a meaning behind it. I want to make sure that she does, in fact, get something that she wants... maybe even two somethings. I want to make sure that she does get something that she needs... Maybe a new pair of softball cleats. I want to make sure she has something beautiful to wear that makes her feel beautiful. And I always want her to strive to learn more and more so something to read will definitely be on the list... in fact in my opinion she can have as many books as she wants!

As I stated before, I still want to uphold the traditions that meant the most to me. I intend on filling that stocking with socks and underwear... for everyone's sake! I also want to make sure that there is a new Christmas ornament for her in there too. And I want to make sure that she gets a comfortable, warm pair of Christmas pajamas that she will get to open on christmas eve.

My hope with this approach to Christmas is that she will see the love in each gift and feel grateful for everything she recieves. I hope that she does not finish opening her gifts and says "...but I didn't get (insert long list of 'I want' here)." I hope that I have raised a child that is grateful for what she has because there is always someone who has less than us.

My Christmas shopping list looks sort of like this:

1. Christmas ornament

2. Socks, underwear, and PJs

3. What the heck was it she asked for out of that American Girl catalog??

4. New sweater dress and a pair of shoes

5. Hat and gloves that fit her!

6. A scarf... wait, will she even use that??

7. Magic Tree House book series - I LOVED these when I was little!!!

8. Something homemade from me

Stay tuned to see exactly how close I stick to this list!

I wish you all the best of luck with your holiday plans and shopping. For those of you bold enough to shop on Black Friday.... May the force be with you!