Tucking Your Child Into Bed

It doesn't matter how old your children are; tucking them into bed or saying goodnight can be a real bonding time. It is usually a time when the child is relaxed and willing to share or talk about things.

I know on many occasions I have been in a rush to get my children into bed. I just wanted them to lie down so that I could get on with my projects, tasks, or even possibly - get to bed myself. When I do that - those are wasted times for both my children and me.

My heart truly loves taking a few extra minutes with them at bedtime. I often will lie down next to them and cuddle. My 8 year old uses this time to ask me every question under the sun.

"Do you like red or purple better?"

"Why do you like daddy?"

Things that I haven't even really taken the time to think through!

It's a great time to instill morals, values, and most of all to simply love my children. I like to hold them tightly, caress their faces and stroke their hair. For they will be older all too soon, and their bedroom door will be closed to me. I pray that these times I take with them now - will keep that door open to me in the future.

Bedtime can be a really rushed time. It can be a time to usher our children out of our sight. (By the way, I have found my children don't settle down as well when I do this but instead - when I take time with them at night, they feel more secure and readily go off to sleep!)

You can choose to enjoy the bedtime ritual with your children. Even if they are teens, sit on the edge of their bed and talk softly with them for a few minutes. Hug them and let them know you love them.

This is a valuable time of day. Slow down and enjoy it. Take in the moment. It is too easily overlooked.

A Family Gift For Christmas

As Christmas draws near, many families can struggle with the fact that they aren’t financially equipped to have a “Big” Christmas. Costs add up quickly when you buy multiple gifts for each individual person in your family – and – if you have a large family, well, the costs only get bigger.




If you can think “outside of the box” when it comes to your family and Christmas, the opportunities and ideas that present themselves to you can help ease the worries and stress that unnecessarily are placed upon your shoulders.



One idea that might really work is to have a family gift this Christmas. Instead of getting one another a bunch of individual gifts, decide on one larger family gift that will be a present to everyone. I know of a family one year who got a new flat screen television as their Christmas gift. That was their Christmas. It was a gift they all could use and appreciate but under normal circumstances wouldn’t have been able to get on top of all the other Christmas purchases. You could buy something else for your home or maybe purchase an outing that you would all enjoy such as concert tickets or a small road trip.



If you are going to do the family gift idea, you can still fill stockings to help round out your Christmas. So many inexpensive things can be found at dollar stores or even the “Dollar Spot” at Target. If you walk through a department store you can often find nice clearance items such as candles, stationary, notebooks, and t-shirts. Men always enjoy their favorite treats and small packages of “handy man” necessities are welcomed stocking stuffers.



In addition to cutting costs by purchasing one gift for your whole family, it also encourages family unity reminding everyone that “it’s not about me” but it’s about “us.” We are in this life together!



If you really feel strongly about getting something for your children, maybe just one small purchase per child would suffice. But if you go this route, try to keep the item to $10 or less. Certain Barbie Dolls, Pet Shop animals, movies, shirts, jewelry, beauty supplies, and so much more can be found in and under this price range.



I think if you try doing the “Family Gift” thing just one Christmas, you will be surprised at how well it works out for your family. There will be less stress from trying to run all over town buying multiple gifts, more time available to enjoy the holiday season, and hopefully less Christmas debt incurred. Christmas can truly be a day of enjoying and celebrating one another and the meaning of the season – instead of simply celebrating and focusing on “stuff.”

Ornament Sharing

Many, many families have the holiday tradition of giving their children a new ornament each year to hang on the tree. In our family, we even write our names and the year on it to remember whose is whose.


But I’ve heard of a fun “twist” to the idea of ornament sharing that I think is really neat. Instead of purchasing a new ornament, what you do is select one of your own Christmas ornaments that already hangs on your tree and send it to another relative requesting that they do the same for you. You can alternate relatives each year so that you eventually have a special ornament hanging on your tree from each one of your loved ones’ homes or you could draw names each year so that it varies from year to year as to whose ornament you receive.

The neat thing about sharing ornaments in this manner is that you are not spending anything extra to buy a new one, but sharing something from your heart with each other that will have special significance. You don’t have to send your most favorite and treasured one…. but you can still select one that you can part with that would represent something about you or your home to the other person.

This is a special way to share love with each other over the holiday season. Give it a try and see how much fun it can be as well as poignant.