We want to give our children best to help them learn and grow. Educational toys and kids crafts are a great way to accomplish this goal while both you and your children have fun. Educational toys and crafts come in many different forms and will vary according to your child’s needs, age, and preferences. Sprinkling a combination of these nurturing play activities throughout your child’s daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly schedule are proven and time-tested to produce happy, healthy, confident children in a securely rooted family. What better way to spend a childhood than with parents who care, support, and love unconditionally…all through power of play!!!

Throughout this whole exercise, realize that whole purpose of putting up lights on outside of your house is to celebrate festivities, enrich your family’s enjoyment, and celebrate love of season. If your expectations of putting up Christmas lights detract from that, then it may not be worth doing.

A tradition I grew up with is that every year my parents wrote a family Christmas letter summarizing events of year. Often this was only yearly contact they had with old friends. What a wonderful tradition!

However, several years season got a little too busy. Other events and commitments took priority. Sometimes their annual Christmas letter became a New Year’s or Valentine’s Day letter. (I think I even recall an Easter letter.) That’s okay--I’ve only done Christmas letters perhaps half of years my husband and I have been married. I need to re-evaluate that as a priority, as I certainly enjoy receiving them from others..

A friend let me borrow a wonderful book called Unplug Christmas Machine by Jo Robinson and Jean Coppock Staeheli. It was published in 1982 and I don’t know if it is still in print, but it is a wonderful book with much insight as to how to put love back into season. These two women have conducted many workshops and seminars along this line before writing book. Through their research they discovered that four most important things children really want for Christmas are (no it’s not Game Boy Advance, or Bratz Dolls):

1. Relaxed and loving time with family 2. Realistic expectations about gifts 3. An evenly paced holiday season 4. Strong family traditions

The whole reason we want to give our children gifts at Christmas is to show them that they are loved and wanted. This can sometimes be self-defeating when we stress ourselves with so many expectations that we as parents end up being grouchy and depressed! And we spend so much time trying to accomplish every item on our “to do” list that we even spend less time than normal with our family.

I think that is why family Christmas traditions are so beloved and important. It is family time that can be remembered, counted on and carried on year after year to bring comfort and security.

This year re-examine what Christmas is and what you want it to be to you and your family.