As I came around the corner, I found my Littlest One putting a bag of unopened Cool Ranch Doritos into a gift bag and getting ready to stuff in some tissue paper to finish up his wrapping job. Luckily, I had one of those “frozen moments” so I was able to think about what came out of my mouth next and in what tone of voice. Curiously, I asked my Littlest One, “What ‘cha doin‘, Boo?”
His response, “I’m wrapping up a gift for Daddy. He really likes these so I wanted to give them to him.” It was so natural. It never occurred to him that taking the unopened chips from the pantry was not really considered a gift. Or is it? As I’ve reflected on that moment, I’ve come to the conclusion that maybe my initial thoughts were wrong. If the heart of my son is to give his Daddy a bag of unopened Cool Ranch Doritos (his favorite kind) because he knows he’ll love it, then who am I to stand in his way? Now, my husband might wonder why there are no chips around for his midnight snack for the next few nights, but eventually he’ll figure it out and hopefully he’ll see the heart of the giver behind it. Maybe I’ll prep him before Christmas morning…
Each year as Christmas approaches and finances are always tight, I’ve thought many times about this concept of what defines a gift. Should we buy or make gifts? I know we all want to receive something store-bought that we really want and honestly, sometimes we can feel cheated when all we get are baked goods or something homemade. I hate that those thoughts go through my head, but if I take the time to remember that it’s about the heart of the giver, then I become much more appreciative of what I receive and it helps me to give gifts from my (or our family’s) heart. How is it that as an adult, who knows better, I still have to remind myself about the meaning of Christmas?
Each year, I have to work all of these thoughts through my head as I help my children prepare for Christmas. I want my children to view Christmas as an opportunity to give from their heart to those they love. It’s even better if I can get them to see beyond that and give generously to someone outside our family.
In the past, we have had each of our children draw the name of a sibling to buy a gift for. We have given them some money to go to Target and buy their sibling a gift. However, this year with all of our adoption expenses, we couldn’t do that and I was a little worried about how that would go over. To be honest, it has been incredible to watch my children embrace the idea. They did not hesitate to bust out our craft books, lock themselves behind a closed door and make something for their sibling that they thought they would like. They worked and worked on these and I have been impressed with what they have chosen. It is such a reflection of how well they know one another. For example, Selfish-One had to make a gift for The Talker. The Talker absolutely loves bats. Selfish-One, made a mobile made of bats that were made from an egg carton, string and a stick from the backyard. Very creative! Personally, I would consider it trash (since it was made from trash), but I know that The Talker will think this is the greatest thing to hit his planet and he want us to hang it above his bed so that he can proudly display it.
Sometimes it can be so easy to get caught up in the “buying of gifts” that we forget to see that sometimes the best gifts are nestled right under our nose, if we take the time to see that a gift is merely in the eye of the beholder–or the heart of the giver. I’m pretty sure that this will be a Christmas that my children remember…I know I will since it has become my favorite since I’ve had the pleasure of seeing the true heart of my children.
