Yes, I know it's a rhetorical question. Of course it's all about the presents... wait... I mean it's all about Christ... and... presents...? Please be laughing now. I'm trying a bit of humor.
Christmas is all about Christ and his birth. His coming and making himself human and sacrificing himself so that we could be saved is the best present of all.
Okay, now as a parent, one can get really excited when a child gets it. At this time, I have nine year old twins, Lisa & Ben, and a 2 1/2 year old, Nathan. One of my love languages is gift giving. So, it's natural to assume that I really like Christmas. The closer it gets, the more excited I get. I have to force myself to not give my presents early. I love watching people open presents. Whenever, there is a get together, I watch everyone open their presents before I even touch mine. Oh, I like getting gifts, but I can honestly say "It is better to give than receive."
I've been rambling. Anyway, we (Lisa and I) were out shopping earlier in the season before Thanksgiving and we came across a toddler table with the top made into a dry erase board material. Lisa says "Oh, I think Nate would really like this." I agreed with her, but I told her that I was basically done shopping for him. A few weeks later, I was passing out allowance money. (L & B get $3 a week to basically clean up after Nate.) Lisa counted her money and she had $22. She got really excited. "Mom, I have enough money to go and buy that table for Nate. Can I buy it for him for Christmas?"
And my answer was "Yes". Come on, really, could I have really told her no? I think not. She really wanted to go down and get this table for him. So, I took her down to the stuff-mart to get it. We went straight back to where they'd been displayed and they weren't there. Her heart fell, but I am not one to give up. It is my duty to teach my child how to hunt. Long story, short: we found them a few aisles over.
As, we made our way back up to the registers, Lisa saw a stuffed rabbit that she had been eying for herself. It was $10. She looked at the rabbit for a moment and I could see she was doing calculations in her head. I pleasantly reminded her that she really didn't have to get Nate the table, it was her money and she could spend it anyway she wanted. She held her chin up and replied, "No, I really think Nathan will like this. I'm going to get him the table." She turned away from the stuffed bunny and we went up to the register. She proudly put her money on the counter and paid.
Like me, she could barely wait the week to give it to him. Finally, I said she could. Honestly, I don't think she has even thought twice about her decision. The table cost $18 and if you can do division, you know it took her six weeks to save up that much money. $18 may seem like a small sacrifice to you, but it was huge to her and worth ever penny as she sat for about an hour playing with her little brother on his new dry erase table.
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