Christmas projects
What does Christmas mean to you?
What is the best Christmas gift you ever received?
What is the best Christmas gift you ever gave to someone?
I find these questions hard to answer.
Christmas means the people around me have an excuse to be extra nice to each other. It means bright decorations during winter, when the trees are bare, and the snow comes, and the nights are cold and long. Christmas cheer. Christmas lights. Decorating a tree. Wrapping some presents.
As a kid, it used to mean going to Grandma Szpradowski's house, and being able to see all the cousins at once, all of us on good behavior, with presents to be unwrapped. All the grown ups in the family got along back then. A lovely Christmas dinner. New toys! What did you get me? Oh, look how much you must love me! I don't remember believing in Santa.
Then I grew up and had my own kids. I wanted my children to believe in Jesus Christ a lot more than they believed in Santa. I don't remember much about my stance on Santa. I know Joshua wanted them to believe, he liked to keep up the "Santa is coming Magic!". Did my kids ever believe in a real Santa, or did they understand it was symbolic? I'll have to ask them. I've always thought it was weird for people who put effort into getting their kids to believe that Santa is real. I always thought it was weird to judge how much you are loved by what you got for Christmas. I always thought it was weird when grown ups would ask me: What did you get for Christmas? I got love, and a Savior. Maybe I've just had my share of Christmas from the dollar store, as a Mom with little money. A Mom who also usually worked on Christmas, and even if I didn't, the kids were with their Dad's side of the family. So it's always been terribly low key for me.
And now? No cold. No hint of snow. The sun goes down the same time, all year round. It's dark by 6pm. No pine trees nearby. Maybe a Christmas star fruit tree? Nah. Not the same. I'm not going to mail gifts all the way to the United States, either. I don't really have gifts for my Mom (I already gave them to her...), or Ron (we're here, that's our gift!) But I have 2 Christmas surprises up my sleeve. I just need a third one for Ron. Hmmmm.
I have to give new meaning to my new kind of Christmas. This year Ron will be on a plane for Christmas, arriving back in the afternoon. We haven't decorated a lot. How do you decorate the jungle? There are 2 appeals to Christmas. The giving and getting of cool presents, the general Spirit of Christmas and giving. And then the Reason for the Season, which is to honor the birth of a Savior. My favorite quote is where the man says: I don't believe in God. And the other man says: Well, He believes in you! Was that from the Count of Monte Cristo? I'm currently very involved with the lds.org Light the World campaign. I like simple daily goals. I like a list of 3 simple goals, and then a list of other ways to participate in an effort to know and live like Jesus Christ. Today it's: Jesus taught others, and so can you. It is suggested that one way you can do that is to share something you learned from your grandparents. Or teach English as a second language (that really hits home!). My Polish grandfather taught me to build a house. My Polish grandmother taught me how to turn it into a home. My Danish grandparents never spoke English. I understand they were both hard workers too, so that's something I get from all sides.
Anyway, there is a part of me that just wants to give one cool gift that makes someone gasp when they open it. The best gift I ever gave was last year, I think I accomplished an Ohhh and Ahhh by giving all of my kids their own photo album with copies of all the pictures I had of their Dad. And it was incredibly fun. I want to have that kind of fun again. I need some ideas. Time for a long bike ride and some inspiration.
The best gifts don't come at Christmas. Because the best gifts are friendship. Also, my husband Ron has spoiled me with gigantic gifts throughout the years. Those ones I remember more easily. But I want Christmas to be special this year. I have 2 weeks to figure it out. How do I get more special than celebrating in Samara with my Mom and Ron? My first Christmas with my mother since... I think since 1989 when I was 19 years old. Before she moved to Costa Rica. Wow. Crazy.
What is the best Christmas gift you ever received?
What is the best Christmas gift you ever gave to someone?
I find these questions hard to answer.
Christmas means the people around me have an excuse to be extra nice to each other. It means bright decorations during winter, when the trees are bare, and the snow comes, and the nights are cold and long. Christmas cheer. Christmas lights. Decorating a tree. Wrapping some presents.
As a kid, it used to mean going to Grandma Szpradowski's house, and being able to see all the cousins at once, all of us on good behavior, with presents to be unwrapped. All the grown ups in the family got along back then. A lovely Christmas dinner. New toys! What did you get me? Oh, look how much you must love me! I don't remember believing in Santa.
Then I grew up and had my own kids. I wanted my children to believe in Jesus Christ a lot more than they believed in Santa. I don't remember much about my stance on Santa. I know Joshua wanted them to believe, he liked to keep up the "Santa is coming Magic!". Did my kids ever believe in a real Santa, or did they understand it was symbolic? I'll have to ask them. I've always thought it was weird for people who put effort into getting their kids to believe that Santa is real. I always thought it was weird to judge how much you are loved by what you got for Christmas. I always thought it was weird when grown ups would ask me: What did you get for Christmas? I got love, and a Savior. Maybe I've just had my share of Christmas from the dollar store, as a Mom with little money. A Mom who also usually worked on Christmas, and even if I didn't, the kids were with their Dad's side of the family. So it's always been terribly low key for me.
And now? No cold. No hint of snow. The sun goes down the same time, all year round. It's dark by 6pm. No pine trees nearby. Maybe a Christmas star fruit tree? Nah. Not the same. I'm not going to mail gifts all the way to the United States, either. I don't really have gifts for my Mom (I already gave them to her...), or Ron (we're here, that's our gift!) But I have 2 Christmas surprises up my sleeve. I just need a third one for Ron. Hmmmm.
I have to give new meaning to my new kind of Christmas. This year Ron will be on a plane for Christmas, arriving back in the afternoon. We haven't decorated a lot. How do you decorate the jungle? There are 2 appeals to Christmas. The giving and getting of cool presents, the general Spirit of Christmas and giving. And then the Reason for the Season, which is to honor the birth of a Savior. My favorite quote is where the man says: I don't believe in God. And the other man says: Well, He believes in you! Was that from the Count of Monte Cristo? I'm currently very involved with the lds.org Light the World campaign. I like simple daily goals. I like a list of 3 simple goals, and then a list of other ways to participate in an effort to know and live like Jesus Christ. Today it's: Jesus taught others, and so can you. It is suggested that one way you can do that is to share something you learned from your grandparents. Or teach English as a second language (that really hits home!). My Polish grandfather taught me to build a house. My Polish grandmother taught me how to turn it into a home. My Danish grandparents never spoke English. I understand they were both hard workers too, so that's something I get from all sides.
Anyway, there is a part of me that just wants to give one cool gift that makes someone gasp when they open it. The best gift I ever gave was last year, I think I accomplished an Ohhh and Ahhh by giving all of my kids their own photo album with copies of all the pictures I had of their Dad. And it was incredibly fun. I want to have that kind of fun again. I need some ideas. Time for a long bike ride and some inspiration.
The best gifts don't come at Christmas. Because the best gifts are friendship. Also, my husband Ron has spoiled me with gigantic gifts throughout the years. Those ones I remember more easily. But I want Christmas to be special this year. I have 2 weeks to figure it out. How do I get more special than celebrating in Samara with my Mom and Ron? My first Christmas with my mother since... I think since 1989 when I was 19 years old. Before she moved to Costa Rica. Wow. Crazy.
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