Christmas is over and now the clean up begins. Gifts must be put away, decorations must be put away, and all the weight you gained eating all the sweets must be lost.
But today, I want to ask about parenting children and teaching them the meaning of Christmas. My wife and I went to my parents house for Christmas Eve where there were 8 adults and 7 children. It became a Christmas gift mad house. Sometimes I think that I saw a body arise out of the chaos. There was gift wrapping paper flying everywhere as all the kids and most of the adults tore into their gifts without even looking at what they were getting, they just wanted the next gift.
The next morning as we were opening our family gifts at the hotel room, we asked our kids what was Christmas all about. In a resounding chorus (dolby digital surround sound) the both responded "TOYS." This would be OK if that was what we really believed, but for my wife and I, Christmas is not about the gifts, it is about the Birth of Christ and His gift to the world in the form of a Savior.
So the question is how do you teach young children the true meaning of Christmas without taking away all the fun of giving and receiving gifts?
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