...to temper the holiday craze

...since I have been waking to night sweats and heart palpitations.

No.  Really.

I get myself all worked about all that has to be done.

I can start hyperventilating on a lazy Saturday morning in the middle of March when I think about something trivial like...how all of the closets 'need' to be cleaned out.

You can imagine how my poor heart is racing now.

ONLY 22 DAYS TO GO!!!

Excuse me for a moment while I take some deep breaths out of my brown-paper bag.

Breathe In-Breathe Out

Let's just throw it out there that our life is a little crazy here at the Crow household without adding on all of the holiday activities.

Christmas programs.
Holiday parties.
Ornament exchanges.
Cocktail hours.

Yup.  We are cramming it all in here.

And because this is my absolute favorite time of the year I feel the need to make it extra-special for my children.

So many things to remember for them such as...

Helping them track down their crazy elf each morning.
Remembering to put a special holiday joke in their lunch each day..
Creating a family-centered activity each evening for our Advent activity.

You can surely see why I can barely remember to brush my teeth each day.

So this morning as I was getting ready for my day I was trying to think of a fabulous Advent activity that would mesh with my work day, I was trying to figure out how I could mitigate some of the stress...or I was trying to figure out how I could cross several items off my list at once...

and so the activity of the day meshed into:

Take my cherubs to the PX and have each child pick out a toy they would personally love to have for Christmas and instead give it to Toys for Tots (teach giving vs. receiving...than I worry are they really getting this message???)   Afterward, we would grab dinner at one of the choice dinner locales offered here on Post.

In a little over an hour we shopped, bought our gifts, ate dinner (and dessert...soda counts as this), and even managed to have a little chat with the big-man-in-red himself.  Complete with a pretty good casual photo op!

Check.  Donation for school program.
Check.  Giving.  (On my list several times throughout the season for them to witness/participate.)
Check.  Family time.
Check.  Provide dinner for offspring.
Check.  Fill 5X7 empty holiday photo frame.

Bonus...Santa was super great with each of my darlings!

Even number 4 is sort of smiling!

Post Script:

I am not certain that my children really get it.  We are trying to teach them about giving vs. receiving.  I am trying to help them understand there are children, in our own community, who may not receive anything for Christmas.  But I am not sure how/when this message sinks in.  I can only hope that in some way, the message we are trying to give them is they should be thankful for all of their blessings.