Family Focus and Fun

After titling two posts with 'family', I thought I'd go for the hat trick. Not only that, I have three words starting with 'f' in this title!

This post is a reminder to all parents to take time this holiday season to enjoy your family. I myself was reminded of this while watching 'The Rise of the Guardians' with the children a few months back. Here is a short YouTube clip showing the moment when Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy also realize that they focus so much of their respective holidays that they have forgotten to focus on the children. (If you don't want to watch the whole clip, skip to the 1:00 mark, and watch until the 1:30 mark.)

I've always wanted to make Christmas a special time for my children. I almost always made their gifts. We had our advent stockings and stories, we baked, we sang. But I also wanted to share Christmas with everyone else. I wanted to take part in every church event, friendly gathering, and family obligation, and I figured if we went as a family, I was still sharing Christmas with my kids. But what usually happened was that our family time became rushed, and I became frazzled. Cookies aren't as fun to make and decorate when you're in a hurry. Stories can't be savored when they're squeezed in between breakfast and getting out the door. And I have becoming increasingly aware these past months that though I am with my children almost all the time, I am rarely doing something with them. Simply being in the same room with another person doesn't count. (Can you imagine going out for dinner with your spouse or friend and sitting at different tables?) And every year, my children are growing older, whether I choose to savor it or not.

So this year, I intentionally ended the children's choir before Thanksgiving. I am carefully picking which events to attend and activities to take part in. And with the time I have between homeschooling and my few obligations, I want to laugh with my children. I want to play with them and watch the rain with them. I want to continue what I learned from my children last year (see 2012's post, 'Joy, Joy, Joy') and run with it. And yesterday was a perfect example: instead of going to a cookie exchange party with mostly strangers, I took the kids downtown to play in the snow (machine-made, of course) and then we were all in the Livermore Christmas parade together (which really means a lot of waiting with a little bit of walking… plenty of time to chat and sing carols).

I plan on posting a few Christmas quotes later, but otherwise, you may not hear much from me until the new year. And so I want to leave you with this:

May your Christmas be truly full of wonder, joy, and peace!

Note about the movie: If you are a parent who wants to avoid the secularism surrounding the sacred holidays of Christmas and Easter, I do not recommend this movie to you. Never once is Jesus mentioned. But it is a fun movie, and a good one to watch with your older (age seven and up) children and discuss afterwards ("Where does spring come from?" "Who brings true hope?") For a more thorough review, go to Plugged In.