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My kids are now 14 & 14, obviously way too old for Santa. We've always had big celebrations for Christmas, the whole 9 yards, tree, decorations, food, presents, the whole bit.
We just moved into a much smaller home. while I would like to keep our traditions alive, I do want to gear them to their ages now.
In the process of moving we got rid of a lot of ornaments, our huge tree, etc. I still plan to decorate, but not on as large a scale. Also, I'm planning to buy most of our food this year, as opposed to cooking my "traditional" dishes. They weren't so special, just stuff I did over the years. I'm planning this year to buy some, make some, mainly because I have a much smaller kitchen.
This year I really want to try a turduken. Its a duck stuffed into a chicken stuffed into a goose stuffed into a turkey, or, maybe the order varies, depending. There's places around here that do it, you can also get a half order, with stuffing, sauces, side dishes, etc. New place, new traditions!
Also, scaling way back on the gifts. Both kids want to go skiing in CO this coming spring break, I thought to give them ski clothes, and the main gift, the tickets for the trip (its with a youth group), perhaps in their stockings. Ok, essentially, I'm getting off cheap, passing off the trip as a "Christmas", but whatever..........
We will probably go to a Christmas Eve service, spend the day eating turduken, maybe go to grandmas...........keep it low key.........
Ski clothes, ski tickets, equipment rentals and a little extra for the trip sound like a great present to me. I wouldn't think of that as a cheap gift. I'd probably get them a few fun inexpensive gifts as well so they have things to open (a book, music, lotion, jewelery, candy, Axe body spray )
Last edited by mrstewart; 09-27-2010 at 10:36 PM..
My parents have yet to scale down, were 16, 21, 22, 23. They still sign our presents as from santa, mainly because 2 of us have kids and as a joke lol.
I see nothing at all wrong in presenting plane tickets and ski clothes as a gift, even if the trip is months away and the kids know about it. So what? These aren't young children who expect Santa to fulfill their dreams. I would, however, let them know that the trip IS their Christmas gift. If they decide they don't want to go under those conditions, well, that's up to them. In my eyes it's a generous gift.
A few years ago when we were living in FL we gave one of our boys a very similar present. It was a surprise in his case, but he loved it. It was fun watching him opening all these winter clothes (not easy to find in Ft Lauderdale), and just being absolutely clueless as to why we bought them, until he found the plane ticket in his stocking. We had arranged for him to meet his best friend in VT for a week.
My kids are now 14 & 14, obviously way too old for Santa. We've always had big celebrations for Christmas, the whole 9 yards, tree, decorations, food, presents, the whole bit.
We just moved into a much smaller home. while I would like to keep our traditions alive, I do want to gear them to their ages now.
In the process of moving we got rid of a lot of ornaments, our huge tree, etc. I still plan to decorate, but not on as large a scale. Also, I'm planning to buy most of our food this year, as opposed to cooking my "traditional" dishes. They weren't so special, just stuff I did over the years. I'm planning this year to buy some, make some, mainly because I have a much smaller kitchen.
This year I really want to try a turduken. Its a duck stuffed into a chicken stuffed into a goose stuffed into a turkey, or, maybe the order varies, depending. There's places around here that do it, you can also get a half order, with stuffing, sauces, side dishes, etc. New place, new traditions!
Also, scaling way back on the gifts. Both kids want to go skiing in CO this coming spring break, I thought to give them ski clothes, and the main gift, the tickets for the trip (its with a youth group), perhaps in their stockings. Ok, essentially, I'm getting off cheap, passing off the trip as a "Christmas", but whatever..........
We will probably go to a Christmas Eve service, spend the day eating turduken, maybe go to grandmas...........keep it low key.........
I'm not ready to scale down. I'm not too old for Santa, why should my daughter be? Sure, she quit believing at a young age, but I always told her he's as real as you make him. There's something magical about believing. Take this year and watch "Polar Express" together. It's great for any age. My daughter is 14 1/2, and I still enjoy seeing her eyes light up in excitment over special presents. We love Christmas. It's not about it being a chore, it's about family time and celebrating together. We usually put up 3 trees (living room, family room & daughter's room), but may scale back on that due to two new rescue kittens in our house. If you don't like decorating, let your kids do it. Christmas Eve service is and will always be a tradition in our house followed by driving around looking at lights. My family lives for my home cooking. I'm not about to let them down. I love Christmas and I love giving more than I do receiving. Just think about what it means to others and that may get you more into the spirit. Right now we're getting ready to make our shoe boxes up for the children in Haiti through Operation Christmas. Once you see what Christmas means to others, you'll feel the warmth and love of the season.
Sure he is real....he hangs out at the cornor of park&elm drinking ripple and talking to someone invisible named bobo.
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