I'm A Grinch

Christmas and I are in a fight. Not really, but kind of. Last Christmas was crappy. Not because I didn't get what I wanted or the kids didn't get enough; it was crappy because I spent most of December secretly shopping at nights or staying up late wrapping gifts and then hiding the gifts.

I feel the need to argue my case against Christmas. First, for those who know me well know that I go to bed with the sun :). Seriously though, I am in bed by 9:00, I am not a night owl. Staying up late shopping and wrapping was exhausting. Second, all the time and thought I put into my kids' gifts were a waste; a bunch of the presents were broken within a few days. Also, I can't stand too much clutter so I ended up junking a bunch of the excess toys within 6 months of Christmas.  Finally, buying Christmas for six monkeys is getting super expensive.

The final straw that broke this camel's back was what my kids were asking for Christmas. My nine year old was asking for his own iPod or smart phone. My eight year old wanted her own motorized car. I didn't like what Christmas was turning into. So I came up with an idea and my sweet husband who indulges my craziness agreed to it.

We aren't doing Christmas presents!! Now before you think I am the meanest mom ever, hear me out. My kids will get presents from 3 different sets of grandparents, cousins, friends and we are going to do some small stocking stuffers.

Now for the exciting part, Christmas morning my kids will unwrap where our family vacation is going to be. We will leave a few weeks after Christmas and go on a week long trip. I am so excited!! I haven't had to spend countless hours scanning newspapers for the best deal for a particular toy, or staying up late, shopping and wrapping. I have been able to just relax and enjoy Christmas.

Another part of the trade off of no presents is that we are going to focus more on service then on presents. I had my kids write up lists of people we could help or something kind we could do. My one son thought it would be great to mow a widow's lawn in the middle of the night so she wouldn't know who did it. I thought it was sweet, but suggested maybe shoveling her walks instead of running a lawn mower at 2am.

The thing I am most excited about is the memories we will have as a family. A big toy is fun, for a while, but the memories we'll make on our trip will last a life time.