Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from my family to yours!

Thank you for being a part of my blog. 

See you soon!

Will Your Adult Children Want To Spend Time With You?

A while back in one of our couples classes at church I remember the leaders of our class asking this question and it really stuck with me. "Will your adult children want to spend time with you? Will they want to come home?" Seriously think about that for a moment. Will your adult children want to come home and spend time with you? When we are raising our children everything doesn't have to be perfect at home. They don't have to always be showered with gifts. Everything doesn't always have to go their way (in fact, it shouldn't).

It is our job as good parents to make sure they always feel loved, always feel wanted, and always feel important. The way we treat our children today is more than likely a direct result of the way we were raised ourselves. Many of us have had wonderful childhoods and were raised with a tremendous amount of love and family togetherness and that way of life seems to just oooze from us onto our own children.  To continue reading head on over to "A Heart For The Home" blog where I am contributing today. 

10 Money Saving Ideas to Help With Christmas Gifts

Last year I polled my Facebook friends to see what they spent on their children for Christmas.  Let's just say I was shocked with the answers. And honestly I was shocked on both the high end and the low end. Some people only spent $25 per child while others spent nearly $1000 or more on each child.  Many others claimed to spend an amount some where in between. That of course assuming all were being truthful with their responses.

Obviously each family is different due to size, income, preferences and so on but I wanted to share a few ideas that will hopefully help your Christmas gift planning and buying be a little easier and also help save you some money.
 

*  Teach your children what Christmas is really about. Remind them we are celebrating the birth of Jesus and while I am sure our Lord doesn't mind that we give and receive gifts it's truly not about us.

*  Give each child 3 gifts.  3 gifts because this is the number of gifts we read about in the Bible that were brought to Jesus. 

*  Draw names.  And set a limit.

* Something you want, something you need, something to wear and something to read.  I can't remember where I heard or read this a few years back but I loved it.  A total of 4 gifts.  Simple and covers all the bases.
   

*  One of the best things we ever did when our boys were very young was start a Christmas club.  A Christmas club is basically a savings account that you put money in to all through out the year and you can't withdraw that money until fall time, usually a couple of months before Christmas.  You can do these at your local bank or credit union and if you are disciplined enough to not touch it you could do it yourself by either adding extra money to your checking or savings account or even an envelope at your house. Admittedly it's a little late to do this for this year but its the perfect time to start one for next year.

*  Consider homemade gifts. I personally love homemade crafty gifts and with the Internet and Pinterest there are so many adorable options.

*  Make a list for your children including things they want, things they need and things you would like for them to have. Arrange the list by cost from least to greatest and when family members or friends that buy for your children ask for ideas of what to get them go to your list. You can pick out an item in the appropriate price range to share with them. As a matter of fact I usually keep a running list all year long that we use for not only Christmas but Easter and birthdays as well. I add to, delete and change the list as needed.

*  Shop clearance and mark downs.

*  Shop online.  There are tons of great deals out there.

*  Shop black Friday?!?!?  (at your own risk)  Also, remember most everything that is on sale in the store you can also find in the comfort of your own home by shopping those same sales online. Not to mention that most time Black Friday sales extend beyond the time advertised anyway.  BUT people who love to shop on this day claim huge savings!

Simply put:  Make a budget.  Set limits.  Be reasonable. 

What do you usually spend per child?  Do you have any great ideas to help save money on Christmas Gifts? 

What's A Mom To Do About Santa?

Christmas is my favorite holiday of the year. I love baking lots of yummy delicious goodies and filling the house with the smells of so many wonderful foods. I love getting together with family and friends, going to look at lights, decorating the house and just enjoying time spent celebrating the birth of our Savior. 

From the time our boys were very young my husband and I felt strongly that we should not lead them to believe in the Santa of today.  You know the one - he's the plump jolly man wearing a red suit with a long white beard.  The man that visits the houses of good little boys and good little girls all over the world in one single night all on his own.  The Santa that lives at the North Pole with all the Elves that work in his toy factory.  (That whole thing is a bit creepy if you think about it, lol). 

We have taught them about the real St. Nicholas.  The real life man that lived long ago.  The man that even though he is gone, his story of love and selfless deeds live on.  Each year we read the same book a few days before Christmas telling of this man, this real life man that helped people in need. 

No, we have never encouraged the thought "Santa Clause ". Why, you may ask? It's simple.  He doesn't exist and he has nothing to do with my children getting or not getting gifts under the tree at Christmas.  Instead we have always taught our boys that every good gift we receive comes to us from God and Jesus.  That's the truth.  It's in the Bible.  James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Now, let me explain our reasoning.  We are doing our best to fulfill Proverbs 22:6 that says to train our children in the way they should go and when they are old they will not depart from these teachings.  We are teaching them about Jesus and His Heavenly Father God (who we can not see with our physical eye).  We have to use our faith to believe what the Bible says and that they are real.  Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

At the same time if we were teaching them that Santa (who we can see with our physical eye) is real but then one day down the road, when they get a little older they find out that we were not being truthful with them and that Santa isn't really the one that brought them all those gifts through out the years (and they will find out Santa is not real) then wouldn't it stand to reason that they would then have a reason to also believe that Jesus isn't real as well. 

I mean if we teach our children from a young age that two different people are real and then one day we admit that no, mommy and daddy told you a lie and one of those people isn't real what do you imagine it does to them.  Allowing our children to believe in the Santa of today may be harmless but for my children I never wanted to give them a reason not to believe in God and His Son Jesus.  And I never wanted to lie (that's what it is after all) to my kids either.

This is the choice we have made for our family and I in no way judge you for how you may have chosen to go about the whole "Santa" thing.  I still have a few decorations or ornaments that have Santa on them but we have always made sure that the focus is on Jesus (He is the Reason for the Season) and that my children know where our blessings come from.

What about you?  How does your family handle the whole Santa part of Christmas?