Private Christmas

This picture doesn't do it justice but as you can see, Santa goes a little crazy at Christmas in the Olson house.  Every year we say, wow--that's a lot and every year the pile under the tree grows.  I shudder to think of what we're going to have next year with an extra kid in the house.  Of course, as Ivy gets older, her gifts get smaller (though substantially more expensive...) so who knows.

But it was because of the mad rush of children and gifts that Nick and I invented what we call "Private Christmas".  We tried to hold the kids back--really we did.  We tried the whole, everyone wait patiently while each person opens one gift at a time and honestly, it's just torture for them.  They're SOOOOO excited.  I remember--I was too.  Plus, because we're here in PA without family, they get all of their gifts from everyone who is kind enough to ship presents to us all at once.  There's no visit to Grandma's house later or the cousins are coming over next week.  Nope--all of the magic happens all at once.  So, rather than try to slow them down, we basically gave in.  We have worked in a few points of gratitude and make sure that they take time to appreciate everything--it's not a gifting gorge fest by any means.  But we parents would like to take things slower.

So--what's Private Christmas?  We'll I'll tell you--it's Heavenly!  It's spectacular!  It's...private.  Just Nick and me.  We send the girls to the playroom with their new treasures and he and I enjoy a second (oh who are we kidding--by this time, it's at least a fourth) cup of coffee and open our gifts to each other one at a time...slowly so we can enjoy the other's reaction and, in some cases, tell the story that goes along with it. 

We've always tried to make our gifts to each other special--Nick rarely buys me something from my official "list" and his list is never up to par so I get to be creative.  Last year I got him one of those starry night posters...and an X-Box 1S.  But the ability to really watch as he opens it is something I'll treasure always.  He didn't ask for either one but I know he loves them both.  There's no rush during Private Christmas.  If you want to savor the gift or take it completely out of the box, go right ahead.  Need to pause for another cup of coffee?  Absolutely!  Want to take an extra picture?  By all means!  Now, it's usually well into the late morning by the time we get to Private Christmas but I definitely don't mind that at all. It's fun to watch the girls revel in their gifts.  It's fun not to try too hard to structure it because their little bodies are JUST TOO EXCITED to wait.  But I wouldn't trade Private Christmas for anything.

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