Glad

The littles never cease to amaze me.  Since this is my third rodeo I am doing things differently.  And I made that choice to do so.  I get each child four presents for Christmas and then their Santa gift.  I've already talked about Santa so you know there is no over the top gift coming from that direction.  I'm not the only one that gives them gifts.  So this year they actually ended up with nine plus one from Santa.  Nine is still a pretty good number. 
So we opened gifts yesterday and they were happy with each and every one.  I was not too sure how the little man's fancy clothes from Mommy or the underwear from me were going to go over.  Both were exclaimed over.  And when we were done opening presents there were no whines wanting more.  There were no tantrums of not getting what they wanted.  It was so nice and I was so proud of them. 
Maybe the way I am doing it is right.  We spent time from Thanksgiving till Christmas doing Christmas things.....PIR, looking at lights in neighborhoods, baking cookies, etc.  Christmas Eve was just about being together.  When it comes down to it it is the togetherness that is the longest memories. 
And yes, it makes me sad when I see others who get spoiled during the season.  And I have to remind myself about how I am shaping values for a lifetime. I could go into debt and create these over the top Christmas scenes, but I can't make myself do it.  I no longer feel the need to compete with others.  And I have to remind myself sometimes when I get sad.  The littles aren't sad. 
When I asked the little woman what her favorite gift was she immediately told me the small gift of little pet shop animals from Daddy. So for her it really is about the connections to each other. Reaffirms my decisions to go for the experiences and a few small presents.