Opening presents is so much fun, especially in a house full of young kids. Their excitement is contagious. They screech and squealed with such delight that I was certain their voices would be hoarse in the morning.
The joy of gifts seemed extra wonderful this year. Reflecting on it, I see three distinct areas where things worked so well to result in much spoiling.
1) The first was THE BUDGET: We stuck to a strict budget this year, and paid everything in full. No credit card debt at all. Due to the blessings of steady employment in time for Christmas we were able to increase our budget slightly to be able to get the older kids the more pricey item they desired, which was nice. We had first stuck to a budget last year, but finances were so tight that it still felt like a forced burden. This year, it was a choice. Being able to purchase presents, without the guilt of debt and buyer's remorse feels fabulous. Plus, with a little planning and organization, I shopped Black Friday deals and bought most items at a discount!
2) The second was COMMUNICATION: We have generous extended family in Granny, PawPaw, Nana, and my sisters. My extended family participates in a gift exchange, where each person buys a single gift and receives a single gift. This keeps costs down, but everyone still receives a nice gift from that side of the family. Granny & PawPaw buy a gift for each person. Nana buys a gift for each person. This year, Granny & Nana shared their gift purchases in advance, as we discussed the top items the kids were talking about. This level of communication provided the older kids with the big-ticket items they were desiring, but the purchases were spread out across 3 budgets. This also helped us supplement smaller gifts that would go with the bigger items. Our children were VERY spoiled this year, with VERY nice presents.
3) The third was TIMING: There were a few things in the works for our family, that would normally have happened at other times during the year....but happened to fall in place this month. Jersey #1 and Jersey #2 wanting to take guitar lessons has been in the works. As we waited for the budget to permit such an expense, the savings timed perfectly to get them guitars for Christmas, and start lessons afterward. The same with the puppies, who were originally planned for next Spring. The opportunity presented itself, and they came available Christmas week. The same with upgrading our cell phones. We have been discussing upgrading our phones to data phones for a few months now. We have been saving for the extra costs. The opportunity to order the phones arrived this week, and it worked out that they were delivered to us Christmas Eve. So, those three major budget items happened to time perfectly with Christmas, making it feel as though we are abundantly blessed...which we are. Merry Christmas!
As I was wrapping presents, it dawned on me that there were a lot of presents under our tree this year. A lot. Even giving the children a few presents each adds up when that amount is multiplied by 5. I organize our Christmas gift budget to spend equal amounts on the children, then I organize the purchased gifts into packages that provide equal numbers of presents. This gives us a nice, even system for gift opening.
This year, we spaced out the unwrapping fun a little, to help the kids keep from becoming worn out. The older kids would have been fine. The youngest two would have been exhausted had we waited until after church service that evening.
So, we unwrapped in shifts, with common-themed gifts.
The joy of gifts seemed extra wonderful this year. Reflecting on it, I see three distinct areas where things worked so well to result in much spoiling.
1) The first was THE BUDGET: We stuck to a strict budget this year, and paid everything in full. No credit card debt at all. Due to the blessings of steady employment in time for Christmas we were able to increase our budget slightly to be able to get the older kids the more pricey item they desired, which was nice. We had first stuck to a budget last year, but finances were so tight that it still felt like a forced burden. This year, it was a choice. Being able to purchase presents, without the guilt of debt and buyer's remorse feels fabulous. Plus, with a little planning and organization, I shopped Black Friday deals and bought most items at a discount!
2) The second was COMMUNICATION: We have generous extended family in Granny, PawPaw, Nana, and my sisters. My extended family participates in a gift exchange, where each person buys a single gift and receives a single gift. This keeps costs down, but everyone still receives a nice gift from that side of the family. Granny & PawPaw buy a gift for each person. Nana buys a gift for each person. This year, Granny & Nana shared their gift purchases in advance, as we discussed the top items the kids were talking about. This level of communication provided the older kids with the big-ticket items they were desiring, but the purchases were spread out across 3 budgets. This also helped us supplement smaller gifts that would go with the bigger items. Our children were VERY spoiled this year, with VERY nice presents.
3) The third was TIMING: There were a few things in the works for our family, that would normally have happened at other times during the year....but happened to fall in place this month. Jersey #1 and Jersey #2 wanting to take guitar lessons has been in the works. As we waited for the budget to permit such an expense, the savings timed perfectly to get them guitars for Christmas, and start lessons afterward. The same with the puppies, who were originally planned for next Spring. The opportunity presented itself, and they came available Christmas week. The same with upgrading our cell phones. We have been discussing upgrading our phones to data phones for a few months now. We have been saving for the extra costs. The opportunity to order the phones arrived this week, and it worked out that they were delivered to us Christmas Eve. So, those three major budget items happened to time perfectly with Christmas, making it feel as though we are abundantly blessed...which we are. Merry Christmas!
As I was wrapping presents, it dawned on me that there were a lot of presents under our tree this year. A lot. Even giving the children a few presents each adds up when that amount is multiplied by 5. I organize our Christmas gift budget to spend equal amounts on the children, then I organize the purchased gifts into packages that provide equal numbers of presents. This gives us a nice, even system for gift opening.
This year, we spaced out the unwrapping fun a little, to help the kids keep from becoming worn out. The older kids would have been fine. The youngest two would have been exhausted had we waited until after church service that evening.
So, we unwrapped in shifts, with common-themed gifts.
Gifts from Daddy & Mommy...one gift each before lunch...
One little gift before leaving for church...
Gifts from Granny & PawPaw started out the evening...
Gifts from Nana...
BIG (expensive) gifts from Daddy & Mommy...
Exchange gifts from extended family...
Opening the gifts in shifts, based on common themes/givers really helped the kids to understand just how generous their grandparents really are. They know who gave them which gifts, and are able to thank them individually.
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