My "Crazy" Christmas Idea (Part 2)

So almost a month went by... and i still hadn't clued the kids into my Crazy Christmas Idea.

Let's face it... I just didn't want to hear or see the disappointment in my kids eyes.

So the random conversations of "I know what I want for Christmas" kept coming up, so i knew it was time to rip off the bandaid and dash all the hopes and dreams of my children.

I hope you know I'm being sarcastic... but it still wasn't easy.

So I sat down with my girls (Sam was at a friends house for the day) and went into a short explanation about budgeting... or at least how we've had to tweak the budget for a few reasons. I explained how we didn't have the money to get things for Christmas and without me having to bring it up, Micah mentioned that we didn't really have the room either. I talked about how we still wanted to DO something, so we were going to give experiences or things to DO throughout the year.

here's what I walked away with from that conversation:

1. It was an excellent opportunity to correct or clarify a phrase I say quite often right now, "We don't have the money for it". In the kids eyes this meant we didnt have money for anything and that was causing a little bit of worry. so I clarified that we had plenty of money and we're able to take care of all the important and necessary things like our house and the other house and our vehicles and groceries and giving to missions in India and Ukraine, but that extra things had to wait and be planned out and saved for more than normal.

2. They weren't devastated. As a matter of fact over the next few days, the girls got busy making gifts. Just simple crafts and drawings for each other... but each wrapped with care and love and a heart of giving. Micah decided to crochet a couple gifts.

And that's all I have to say about that.