Christmas Unwrapped: 5 Presents our Kids Truly Deserved

"I’m participating in the Keeping Christ in Christmas Blog Carnival, hosted by Raising (&Teaching) Little Saints, Truly Rich Mom and Arma Dei: Equipping Catholic Families. We'll be sharing different ways, tips, stories and real-life experiences that will help us focus on Jesus as the Reason for the Christmas season. Please scroll down to the end of the post to see the list of carnival entries.”

Sally’s letter to Santa Claus:

“Dear Santa Claus how have you been? Did you have a nice summer? How is your wife? I have been extra good this year so I have a long list of presents I want. Please note the size and color of each item and send as many as possible. If it seems too complicated, make it easy on yourself: just send money. How about tens and twenties?”

- From “A Charlie Brown Christmas” TV special 1965

The real essence of Christmas has become too commercialized and extravagant through the years. Material gifts are often the highlight of the festivities. These are not bad in itself, but it is far better to set our children’s hearts and minds into the right perspective on the true meaning of this wonderful season.

As a child, most of my chreished Christmas memories were those times I received a Barbie Doll, a musical box, even my all-time favorite Cabbage Patch toy. It’s always such a wonderful feeling to get what I want for Christmas. But as years passed, I realized that what truly made this season my favorite time of the year are the perfect moments spent with family and friends. The gifts were indeed special but the giver and their reasons for giving were forever stored in my heart.

As parents, we can make Christmas more meaningful for our children by giving them presents they truly deserve. Here are 5 essential gifts that will surely keep that true holiday spirit alive in the hearts of our children for years to come:

1. A Home filled with Love

Christmas is a perfect time to celebrate love. Share the story of the “First Christmas” to our children so they can fully understand that God’s love for us is the most important gift of this season.

Fill our homes with love most especially on Christmas Day. Tell our kids how much we love them in creative ways like giving them “Christmas Love Cards”. We can even add these to our holiday decors at home so they will be reminded of how special they truly are. A constant affirmation of love should of course not end with Christmas but should be done all year through.

2. Precious Quality Time

Make the most of the holidays by spending both quality and quantity time with the family. Most of us are actually blessed to take time off from work this season so make each moment count.

Remember: Our kids need our presence, not presents. They may “wish” for presents but precious amount of time spent with them will be something they will treasure for the rest of their lives.

3. Cherished Memories

Children love Christmas. So let’s always strive to make it memorable for them. The best way to for Christmas to be memorable for our kids is to make it more meaningful. Teach them to spread the love and share the joy. Encourage them to do random acts of kindness for other people starting with their nannies or helping the less fortunate.

4. Perfect Family Moments

We cannot deny the fact that most of us look forward to Christmas because it is also a celebration of family and togetherness. Make your kids appreciate the essence of family by sharing to them the blessing of the Nativity – the love shared by Joseph and Mary and the infant Jesus.

Strengthen your bond as a family by doing something special together like a family holiday or even a simple activity at home. Commit to your Christmas family traditions and make sure to capture all those perfect moments into a family scrapbook which you can always look back to and share to your future generations.

5. Value of Prayer

A parent’s prayer is perhaps the most sincere, most precious and most important gift you can ever give your children. Praying for and with them will teach them to value their faith and help them grow to appreciate a life with God.

Teach them to pray to the infant Jesus. Come up with a Christmas family prayer. Let’s encourage them to be thankful for their blessings. A child’s prayer is powerful because of the innocence and pureness of their hearts.

Most of us may probably be done with our holiday shopping by now. But these gifts are guaranteed to be stress-free, inexpensive but worth every moment, and the value will most definitely increase for years to come.

It’s never too late to start teaching our kids that Christmas is not defined by material presents. We may have different perceptions on the true spirit of Christmas, but we cannot deny the fact that most of us continue to look forward to a celebration of love. Love as symbolized by the birth of Christ.

Finally, let’s help our children appreciate that the best “gifts” in life are free – time, family, love, prayer, and cherished memories. No material present can ever be more precious than these.

In the same way that God gave us the timeless gift of life, hope and love through Christ, our children deserve gifts they will treasure for a lifetime.

KEEPING LOVE IN LENT: A Lot About Love... Inspirations from a 4-Year Old

“I’m participating in the Keeping LOVE in LENT Blog Link-Up 2013, hosted by Raising (& Teaching) Little Saints , Truly Rich Mom and Arma Dei: Equipping Catholic Families . We’ll be sharing different ways, tips, stories and real-life experiences that will help us focus on Lenten sacrifices, prayer and good deeds, and how to carry them out with LOVE instead of a GRUMBLE. Please scroll down to the end of the post to see the list of link-up entries." It’s simply amazing how much I can learn from someone so young. A child can definitely teach us - older ones - a lot about love… Out of nowhere, my son told me, “ Faith is my life ”. He was actually referring to his playmate, a girl about his age named, Faith. I honestly didn't know where he learned to say those words, but in the pureness and innocence of his heart he was happy and proud to express it. There was another time he came up to my husband and me and said… “ Daddy, Mommy is y

Teresa Gumap-as DumadagDecember 20, 2012 at 5:56 AM
Very nice post! I love these lines:

- Our kids need our presence, not presents. They may “wish” for presents but precious amount of time spent with them will be something they will treasure for the rest of their lives.
-let’s help our children appreciate that the best “gifts” in life are free – time, family, love, prayer, and cherished memories. No material present can ever be more precious than these.
- In the same way that God gave us the timeless gift of life, hope and love through Christ, our children deserve gifts they will treasure for a lifetime.
Nancy ShumanDecember 20, 2012 at 1:00 PM
I loved this post. So much stood out for me, but one line in particular, which was: "Children love Christmas. So let’s always strive to make it memorable for them." We forget a lot of things through our lives (I'm now old enough to know this as fact :)!) But Christmas, being such a special time and only coming once a year, really stands out. So to make it memorable, and memorably about Jesus, COULD be a really good way to help our children grow up to know and love Him. I had never thought of this before, but what an opportunity....
noreenDecember 21, 2012 at 9:00 AM
Amen to that Sam. I think this link up has done a fabulous job at changing our focus during Advent to more of a "Christ centered one" than a "me centered one". Great message of love in your post. May God bless you during this Advent Season!
UnknownDecember 30, 2012 at 8:39 AM
Hi Ate Sam! :)

So sorry for the late comment. Thank you SO much for joining the carnival! :)

I loved reading your post — it's a wonderful reminder of how to truly keep focused on Jesus, especially how to teach our kids to do so during Christmas. You shared some great tips too! :)

Thank you for the reminder of how to keep Christ in Christmas! :) God bless always!

Coffee Moments with Sam

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Christmas Unwrapped: 5 Presents our Kids Truly Deserved

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