When I was young, my family went through a difficult economic time. I had no idea, it wasn’t something my parents discussed with me and I always had enough to eat, clean clothes to wear and so on. I surprised my Mom when I told her as an adult which Christmas stood out most in my memory — my happiest Christmas was the one when we were in crisis.
I had no clue.
And that’s how it should be. Children deserve to be happy and shouldn’t be burdened with adult problems they have no way to fix anyway. This year if you can, you may want to consider helping Mothers Fighting For Others send 10 orphaned girls to school, because they deserve a chance.
You may also just want to spend a little extra time building memories with your own kids, so that someday they can surprise you and tell you all about their happiest childhood Christmas — you know, the one where the economy tanked and we were afraid to spend very much at all. It’s really NOT about the money spent. It about spending time together, laughing and making memories.
You might want to try:
- Making a “snow storm” from dental floss and round office labels.
- I’m seeing these newspaper trees made with recycled homework as a Grandparent gift.
- Extremely easy dough ornaments last for years.
- Read Dollar Store Crafts with your child and see what you can make with just a few bucks.
Really, just about any project you do with your child will do it. The important part is that your time, and the memories you create together.
I hope your children remember this as one of the best years ever.
Great reminders! Thanks!
So true Sarah, thank you. So hard to impart this on today’s electronic generation. Happy holidays.