Christmas is a great time to teach children about giving and receiving gifts, about selfishness and loving others. Some years I do better at making worthwhile gifts with the children to give to others. Other years, I feel like all my good intentions simmered in a pot but never left it (say, “child under 18 [...]
Tags: Christmas
Filed under: In the Car and on the Go, Manners
Long ago, before we had children, we were given an inexpensive nativity set. We discovered after we had children that the pieces were quickly broken. I’d have thrown it away this year, but Bethel is delighted with the set and plays with it nearly every opportunity she gets. When I asked the children if Heaven [...]
Tags: Christmas
Filed under: Uncategorized
The last few weeks, we have talked quite a bit about giving and receiving presents. We’ve talked about the motivation for giving gifts (love) and how the only way we can truly love others is by God’s grace in our lives. We have talked about receiving gifts with a thankful heart (although I haven’t yet [...]
Tags: Christmas
Filed under: Using Questions
Which is easier at Christmas, to help children be givers, or takers? I’m learning that the easy, default setting for Christmas is to simply give children gifts, tell them it is more blessed to give than receive, and leave it at that. Helping children choose or make gifts for others is time consuming. So is [...]
This morning we talked about Thankfulness. I’m making a deliberate effort to be ready for Christmas early by baking ahead, but I also want to deliberately teach my children the joy of giving, and the joy of receiving humbly. Right now I see the greediness starting to grow, and as I pondered the problem, I [...]
It’s interesting, isn’t it, that we make a ceremony of preparing for Christmas before the turkey has finished cooling? We have one day set aside to thank the Lord for every good and perfect gift, and then we immediately turn to a holiday that for many people is about receiving gifts. My reaction is to [...]
