Editors note: a version of this article originally appeared in December 2015. This version is updated for 2017.
I truly believe Christmas is, as the song says, “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year”. Truly! I loved it as a child, the anticipation of Christmas gifts, spending the night at my Grandma’s house on Christmas Eve, and all the time with cousins and the delicious FOOD! As I’ve gotten older, my love for Christmas has not waned a bit. I LOVE it, and I also love enjoying it with my kids. Their excitement and joy during the advent season is second to none. I also love all the extra teachable moments Christmas brings…many more opportunities to tell my kids what a miracle it is that God’s Son loved us enough to put on skin and soil his diapers like the rest of us. (Needless to say, Mary used cloth.)
And of course I love giving my kids good gifts. What mom doesn’t? It’s fun to see the wonder on their faces when they get something they really hoped for or never dreamed would be theirs. In our house we do the “4 gifts” rule: Something they want, something they need, something to wear, something to read. Each of the kids gets these, plus they pick out a present to give each other. And then of course they get gifts from grandparents and cousins, too. (We have a lot of cousins so the cousins in our family draw names.) Even with these gift “rules”, I still feel like my kids get a lot of stuff! And they’re always very happy on Christmas morning. But there are some things, some things my friends, that my kids will simply never see under the tree. And so, Rapson children, I am afraid I will have to burst your bubble, if you’ve got hope bubbling on any of these five things.
5 Things My Kids Aren’t Getting For Christmas
- Anything from Santa
Yeah, we don’t DO Santa. Neither my husband’s parents or my own ever tried it with us (we were both the youngest, and our older siblings had figured it out years before our time. By then I think our parents were just too tired to give it a go.), and as a result, neither of us have any magical Santa-related memories we are dying to pass down to our kids. Also, I’m not into giving my kids a magical childhood. Life isn’t magic, dudes. My kids have two parents who love them and love the Lord and I think that’s all the magic they need. I would love to say that the real reason we don’t do Santa is because he distracts from Jesus, because that would make me feel very spiritual and pious, but the real, REAL reason is…we just didn’t wanna. But, you know, I’m glad we didn’t because I believe Santa CAN distract from Jesus. I know this is a hot-button topic, so YOU DO YOU and I’LL DO ME and let’s just all be okay with that, deal? But, we don’t do Santa. So my kids aren’t getting any magical wishes fulfilled in that manner.
2. A surprise vacation
WE ARE HAVING SO MUCH FUN ON OUR SURPRISE VACATION!
Ugh! Would you people quit giving your kids plane tickets under the Christmas tree and whisking them off to Disney for Christmas vacation? Seriously! That’s a level of gifting that the Rapsons are probably never gonna be able to unlock. (No really, I think it’s awesome if you do that. Better than buying a Barbie Dream House that’s the size of your actual house. Just don’t tell MY KIDS, it makes me look bad.) Plus, once again…lazy parents…my husband and I have no desire to take our kids on a plane, ever, unless that plane is headed to HOGWARTS at Universal Studios where I want to go so badly. (Call me Universal, CALL ME!) But alas we’ve been spending the surprise vacation money on Christian school tuition. Sorry kiddos. But I’m sure you will thank me one day and ALL OF THIS is so “first world problem” that I have no doubt you’re gonna be A-OK. PLUS, I got you a giant candy cane filled with M&M’s in your stocking! ALL IS NOT LOST!
3. A Smartphone
My oldest is 13 and he will be 14 about 8 weeks after Christmas. My daughter just turned 11. I know that by this age a lot of kids now have smart phones. But, my kids can stop holding out hope for that iPhone (or if dad has his way, Android. I MARRIED AN ANDROID! WHAT THE HECK!??) There are two main reasons for this 1) I can’t afford to replace a device that cost triple digits when they inevitably break or lose it after having it for a week, and 2) HAVE YOU SEEN WHAT THE KIDS ARE DOING WITH THE SMARTPHONES THESE DAYS?? From bullying to sexting to stranger danger, I’m just all NOPE NOPE NOPE. Even good kids from Christian homes can stumble when they get this technology too young. It’s too much responsibility! Too many things can go wrong. THEIR FRONTAL LOBES AREN’T FULLY FORMED! Because of sexting and “sextortion,” my husband and I have decided we don’t even want our kids to have phones with a camera when the time comes. However, my teenager IS getting a dumb phone this year, because we are at the point where we need him to have one. But it will come with RULES about Mom and Dad always having access to his texts,etc. So far we have not located one without a camera, and we are still looking. If we have to get one with a camera, we have agreed that we will do something to it so that he cannot send pictures. As for receiving, we will be very diligent about going through his phone like it’s our JOB, BECAUSE IT IS OUR JOB.
4. A Pet
My poor children know they can never have a pet because their dad is severely allergic to cats and dogs. We need Daddy healthy and not asthmatic, so ix-nay on the et-pay. But lean in close, my little loves, and I will tell you a secret…I AM SO HAPPY WE HAVE THIS EXCUSE! I used to have cats (how we found out husband is allergic, whoops, he bought me a cat for our first anniversary) and I LOVED those cats SO MUCH. They slept with me, I babied them, I LOVED THEM.
