There is something about celebrating the holidays with children. Of course I have been celebrating Christmas with children for several years now but this is the first year that we really made an effort to celebrate. Honestly we could have done more, but we started out cooking and baking and cleaning the house for Christmas, then came the decorating. I love all the Christmas movies on TV and we read the Christmas story in a variety of storybooks for the week before Christmas.

If you ask my children what Christmas is about they will say, “giving and sharing and loving.” That just about makes my heart burst with joy. And honestly I haven’t coached them on that either. Perhaps they have picked something up for the movies we watched or  stories we read.

We are also starting our own traditions. Christmas Eve Proeun had to work so the children and I stayed home in the snow storm and got things ready for a fabulous Christmas dinner–including dessert. It was simple and fun to be with the children. After dinner we cleaned up and opened presents. We had gotten a Wii for Two mostly but also for the whole family. We had planned it since last Febuary and saved little by little till we had enough for it. We were very excited to see how Two would react. But first we wanted to give him some of his other gifts. I had also gotten him Lincoln Log type building blocks. We had him open them first. Honestly I thought he would be disappointed but he thought they were very cool. Then out came the next box. We video taped it but I think it took awhile for it to settle in because it wasn’t until after the camera was turned off that he really reacted.

Of course then the next 2 days were busy with family and he didn’t get a chance to play it. Now there is a little let down from the holidays but the good feeling of being with my children remains. The holidays were not without their moments of frustrations but at Christmas dinner with my family I asked what their favorite Christmas was and I could confidently say–this one.

Next year I plan to let the children help pick out the gifts we will give their cousins so they can have some of the joy of giving as well.