Secret Santas

This year we each are playing Secret Santa to another person in our family. When I was growing up we did something similar with the ENTIRE extended family on Christmas Eve. I thought it would be so much fun to try it in our house this year. I'm the only one who knows who is who's "Santa". Which means I know Baby Girl is my Santa but I'm leaving that shopping trip to her and Daddy. As of today, so far so good, no one has squealed who's Santa they are. 

We really wanted to teach the kids more about giving and the love behind a GOOD Gift. It was clear our summer vacation had confused our children, they must have forgotten we aren't financially rich....not yet at least. The Christmas consumerism had invaded our house like an extraterrestrial takeover. There were advertisements for plastic toys made overseas everywhere. I was up to my ears in catalogs and Christmas lists as long as my arm. And all the talk about a jolly mystery man in a big red suit who supplies all the presents 'ANYWAY'. 

Now I thought they understood that money doesn't grow on trees and Santa is just a representation....'yeah, yeah Mom' *clears throat..."Christmas is all about the gift of Baby Jesus to the world" *in his best Easter speech voice. Now can I have these twenty six gifts I circled? SMH. 

We thought the best way for them to REALLY Get IT was to see the joy in one another's faces and know that THEY (Momme & Daddy, Family, friends etc) made those feelings of joy possible. To not ask for every toy in the catalog or on tv because the person who pulled their name from the hat may not be able to buy them EVERYTHING they think they want. 

As shoppers I think the older girls really SEE how the right present can make a person feel good. Can make a person look at things differently or have a renewed enthusiasm. They also saw how things begin to add up and learned a little lesson on "sales tax". When we shopped we shopped with purpose, to fulfill something within for the person they were playing Santa to. 

We'll start wrapping gifts this weekend and then we'll shop our local DollarTree & Learning store for stocking stuffers. I'm not quite sure how we're going to pull this off without everyone blabbing what they wrapped up while they were Santa. It's already taking poor five year old PacMan everything he has not to tell his arch nemesis and best-ist sister ever that he is her Santa...wait til he gets a load of her presents ....wha-ha-ha! 

I'm about to burst at the seams just thinking about their excitement. I can already feel the LOVE. This is going to be an AWESOME Christmas.