......Finally.
With only two weeks 'til Christmas, we finally got the tree decorated.
Not the greatest picture. Oh well.
Last week, I set it up and put the lights on it. With Paul's work schedule, I wasn't sure if it would get set up if we waited for him to have a day off. Ironically, when he called me that night, he mentioned setting up the tree. I kept my mouth shut and let the lights in the window surprise him when he pulled in the driveway.
However, it took a week and a half until we actually got ornaments on it.
Then today, I got ALL of the presents wrapped. Nathan helped me while I wrapped Paul's - which resulted in perhaps the worst gift-wrapping job in history. I use the term "help" loosely - he was in the room, but trying to wrestle a cat (the outdoors cat, at that!) into a box and shut the lid before it could jump out. So this resulted in a lot of him stepping on the paper, falling on the box I was trying to wrap, and falling on me. Oh well.
I wrapped up Nathan and Jacob's while they napped. I got them all under the tree and stood back to admire them and congratulate myself on having all the shopping done (or at least planned) and everything wrapped up and still have a week and a half to go. Then it hit me: I hadn't even THOUGHT about gifts for my nieces. Oops.
These presents have enough packing tape (forget the scotch tape!) on them that they might even possibly be waterproof. I was trying to make sure all folds and seams were taped down so that exploring little fingers couldn't accidentally (or not so accidentally) pull up the paper. I'd better make sure we have scissors and a box knife handy when it comes time to open gifts.
Luckily, Nathan [so far] hasn't been interested in getting INTO the packages - he just likes the wrapping paper. He picked up Jacob's gift tonight and ran through the house, "Daddy! Snow men! Daddy!"
We're not doing Santa Claus (as evidenced by everyone's presents already being under the tree). I don't want my kids to be upset when they find out he's not real. However, I also don't want my kids to be the ones that "ruin" it for other kids. (Like happened to me.) So I'm not sure how to approach it. We can tell him Santa is pretend, but kids don't always have tact when they encounter someone who believes differently than them. I have a few more years to ponder it, I think, until he starts noticing Santa. Since we don't decorate with Santa, and don't watch a lot of TV that has him on it, I think we're safe for a while yet. (Need I mention we don't go out in public a lot?)
2 comments:
I'm impressed that you have presents out. I'm not that brave, so I see a late-night wrapping session in my future. I'm glad to know others who aren't doing the Santa thing. I've had some recent discussions between friends from my last church on facebook about it, and was given some new perspectives. One friend pointed out that if you tell your kids Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and God are all real, and it turns out you were lying about three of them, won't that hurt your credibility a little on the 4th? I don't know if any kid would have that type of thought process, but it's a good point. My conviction is that we make Jesus' holidays centered around Him. And frankly, I don't care if my kid is the "spoilsport" in school. It raises my hackles when teachers shush kids who say Santa isn't real but lead discussions on the idea that God isn't real. (And as of right now, we're still doing the Tooth Fairy, but plan on explaining clearly that it is pretend. As for Easter, we had egg hunts as kids, but knew that Dad hid them- just like our stockings were filled on Christmas Eve and we knew Mom did it. That will probably be the route we take as well.)
Oh... and one friend had good advice on what to say about other people who do the Santa thing (without making them all sound like liars to your kids.) She said she tells her sons that some parents choose to pretend Santa with their kids, and it is their decision when to tell them he isn't real. We shouldn't say anything about it- just let their parents tell them when they decide. I liked that. I had wondered how to word that so I wasn't labeling the other parents.
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