Merry Christmas

I spoke with someone recently whose friend had asked their children what they received for Christmas last year. They could not name a single present. The family opted to go to Disneyland this year.
Although thats a great excuse for a Disneyland trip, if you can afford it, it doesn't really go very far towards explaining that the spirit of Christmas is all about giving. Giving for the sake of giving, giving to make others happy or at least more comfortable, giving in order to help people, giving to acknowledge those that are less fortunate.
Nonetheless I asked Holden what his favorite gift was last year. It was his raccoon finger puppet. ( Not equal in price to a Disneyland trip). He also liked Griffin's frog finger puppet.
Each year at this time I have that horrible feeling of wishing I could give more to the kids. But the fact is, they are pretty happy with what we have.
Laurel was recently given a very nice doll. A really, really nice doll. She glanced at it. You know what she liked? The Sweet and Low packet from the diner. It was pink. It was her " princess card". She carried her Sweet and Low packet around for an entire day.
On Christmas day she received a present in a princess gift bag. Yup, its all about the princess gift bag.
Oliver likes all his new markers and pens. Although the Spin Art set is pretty cool too.
Holden is all about the Legos. Big and small, the size and extravagance doesn't matter. Its about building.
Griffin loved receiving presents. With each box he exclaimed " I LOVE this PRESENT!" Boxes are awesome.
We may not make it to Disneyland anytime soon, but we can give the kids gift bags and Sweet and Low packets, wrapped boxes, magic markers, and $4 Lego people and everyone is pretty happy.