Teaching Kids the True Meaning of Christmas

There is a lot of excitement in the air at my house. I'm sure there is at yours too.

My older son keeps asking if we can open a present today. This has become his daily question for the past two weeks since boxes began arriving on our doorstep.

Of course, my husband and I can hardly wait to watch our boys dive into the wrapping paper on the gifts it will take us a lot longer to wrap than it will for them to destroy. But we're also making sure our children understand the true value of Christmas.

For us, we don't want them to be so focused on presents, presents, presents that they never learn the meaning of Christmas. It's a good reminder for my husband and I too since the crazy chaos of Christmastime can often lead you in too many directions to actually slow down and appreciate this special time of year.

So tonight, we'll bake cookies. We'll read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. We may even cave and let them open one present each. Our family enjoys many Christmas traditions together.

But our boys are getting old enough to understand that Christmas isn't about the stuff in the boxes under tree. Oh, yes, they love Christmas and are having a hard time being patient waiting for Christmas morning. However, they're continuing to wow us with their generous spirit and giving to others and full understanding of what Christmas really means.

Maybe it's not my husband and I who are teaching our kids the true meaning of Christmas after all. Maybe we're the ones being taught.

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