I'm making a list, and checking it twice.

Like the millions of other parents in the world, I'm getting caught up in the whole Christmas present shopping spirit. The toy makers and marketers are so good at what they do. My child needs ALL those toys! Well, not really but there is so much out there and I get so tempted to make his day (or half day) buy getting him lots of big ones.

But, I won't.

I'm not here to kill the excitement of Christmas. On the contrary, its my favorite time of the year and I want it to be his too. It wasn't that long ago that I was a child so I do know that a big part of Christmas was the anticipation of the presents. However, I also want him to like it for the Christmas carols, meals with family and friends and most importantly, the spirit of giving.

There is also the whole Santa Clause thing to uphold as well. I have decided to play along with the Santa story because its what most of the children Aaron's age know (and talk about in places like schools and Christmas concerts). But, Santa will be the one that brings the boring things like socks, erasers and pajamas. I haven't been using the threats of "you better be good or Santa won't come" so its my way of keeping Santa in the scene but not have such a big role. I actually read somewhere that some of the original Christmas presents were fruits. I wonder if a watermelon with a bow on it would generate any excitement - it is after all his favorite fruit.

What will I get him? Well, like I said in the title, I've made a list and I'm checking it twice (or twenty times). The more important question is, what do I help him give. He initially thought that we'd go out and buy things but I showed him that he didn't have enough money in his money box (gift from Santa last year). So, whoever doesn't have money will need to make their presents. Which only means that I'm going to be very busy and my fingers will probably be full of paint, glue and glitter. Maybe this will then become some of the happy memories that he'll make about Christmas time.

Ah....very busy times ahead. There are only 16 days left and I think I'm making things waaay too serious. Its all about having fun!