Conor and I have an open conversation about gifts and giving going almost all the time. I feel like we nailed it this year. The stockings had the perfect amount of things in them and nothing that's just gonna get tossed in a few days. And the other gift we gave them was a play kitchen. And that's it. And I know they feel loved. Holly knows the kitchen is from Momma and Papa and Greta has already gotten an amazing amount of play. It's so rewarding to have at least one child who loves toys. I feel really good about how this Christmas went. The girls get so many gifts from grandparents and aunts, that us giving them one big gift was perfect. Obviously we won't be giving them a play kitchen each year, but I like the idea of giving them one bigger, more expensive gift, or giving them each one individual gift of higher quality. We received so many thoughtful gifts this year. It was really lovely.
I loved opening gifts at our leisure with no time table, no expectations. Just relaxed family time. We opened toys and played with them as we went and got to enjoy each gift in the moment. It was a major win-win! The girls exchanged gifts too, which was adorable. Holly was so excited for Greta to open her gift, she even blurted out what it was as Greta was opening it. Fortunately Greta was oblivious!
Our second Christmas tradition we began this year was a souvenir from Santa Claus left by the milk and cookies. This year he left chocolate coins from other countries. I'm excited to get creative and maybe add a little learning (for me and the girls!) about Christmas traditions in other countries as I think of small treasures for Santa Claus to leave. This tradition was a happy accident and I'm so happy about it!
Our tree has come down, but I haven't taken the play kitchen out of our living room and put it in the girls' room yet. I'm enjoying their happy noise so much! When we came home from an outing yesterday, Greta exclaimed in a gleeful, excited voice, "my kitchen!"
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