I keep checking my blog site, hoping that someone has hacked it, and then written something witty and charming for me. I have been flat out with Christmas stuff to do. I am usually more organized during December. It seems like this time, Christmas came before I even had a chance to write a list of things to do. That's mostly okay.
A couple of weeks ago, I was feeling abnormally frantic about Christmas. I decided that our family should do a little service project to help us focus on what is actually important. There's no way we could do a sub for Santa or anything of that nature. So, we decided to do the 12 Days of Christmas for some people in our neighborhood. It's nothing fancy. We take them very little gifts. I imagined it would be really fun. The kids could drop the presents, ring the doorbell, and run, run, run. But the people we chose have a super steep driveway. And it has been pretty bad weather. Personally, I don't think it's "bad" weather, but it's not smart to send your little kids running just to watch them slip on ice and snow and fall on their faces. Plus, the people we chose are not home in the evenings. So, we carefully walk up to their house, put the treat on the doorstep, and casually walk away. It's still fun.
My point is, a couple of weeks ago, I made a list of 12 gifts we would take these people. I printed a list of scriptures to go with each gift. They go in a particular order and I can't change it around. Because I am both simple and crafty (in my own mind), most of the gifts were meant to be homemade. That means that almost everyday for the last 11 days, we have had a Christmas project that I cannot procrastinate or avoid. Today, we will make sugar cookies and frost them. Yesterday, it was a homemade candy nativity. The day before, gingerbread men. Last Saturday, I was supposed to take homemade bread. (I got my days mixed up in the 12 Days list. I meant to have the bread for Sunday.) I didn't have time on Saturday to breathe, let alone make bread. So, Chris came up with the brilliant idea of taking them some strawberry jam to go with their own bread. The jam is homemade, but it's been frozen for a while. We've made Christmas tree ornaments and a CD of carols. I'm so glad I have forced our family to do this 12 Days service project. As much as I would like a day off from a Christmas project, at least this year we'll have some memories. I actually have done something creative with my children!
If you are our neighbor, someone I visit teach, serve in primary with, or one of my children's friends or teachers, you are probably not getting a gift this year. The season just got away from me. But, one neighbor family is getting lots of gifts in your place. We love you all anyway. Merry Christmas!
2 comments:
In order to avoid any holiday stress, I have put my gifts in a hierarchy of importance. I figured Josh's work gifts needed to be done last week, so that's all I did. The problem is, I haven't done any neighbor gifts either. I figure I'll do the ones today that have to be done, and get to the rest by New Year's. Hopefully people recognize that ornaments can be used next year as well.
What a wonderful Christmas. You are creating some great memories for your family.
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