Thursday, December 13, 2012

Our Christmas Reminder

Christmas is a busy time of year. Even for the most organized person, there will be too much to do with too little time. Christmas time is just one of those things. It is also one of the easiest times to talk to your child about God. To remind them of their blessings.

This year we started what I hope will be a tradition for our family. We "adopted" a little boy for Christmas. A little boy who is Cullen's age. Then we took Cullen to Target and had a talk with Cullen about Otis. We talked about how Santa can bring some things for Otis, but his Mommy and Daddy can't bring him anything else.

Quick side note: We celebrate Jesus AND Santa in our house. Santa is fun, and magical, but there's a bigger reason for our Christmas season. I'll be covering this in another post.

Anyhow, we thought it would be a good opportunity for Cullen to help us pick out gifts for Otis, help get them ready to be delivered, and remember that you don't have to have a lot to help a little.
The funny thing is that I wanted to get some responsible items with the toys. I picked out a couple of pairs of pajamas, a couple of outfits, and a hooded towel. Cullen picked out almost every toy in Target.

Once we had everything together, we realized that we had literally spent double the recommended amount, even counting for the Black Friday pricing we got on most of the items we picked. Just for our budget to work, I knew that we had to put a couple of items back, so we let Cullen pick.

James picked him up, leaned him over the basket, and asked, "Cullen, what doesn't Otis want?" Without hesitation, Cullen replied, "Otis doesn't want a towel." Done. After I stopped laughing, I put the towel back and decided to get everything else for Otis anyway. If that is the only place in my Christmas budget that I go over, I'd say it's still a successful season. 
We're hoping to talk about Otis again on Christmas morning. And next year, we'll find another Otis to help. Because Christmas isn't just about us.

xoxo ashley

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