6 Things I Would Change About Christmas (If I could)

There are several things I would change about Christmas. Not Christmas now, but in the past when my children were young. I hope by sharing this that young parents will learn from my mistakes.

This Morning

This was one of the quietest Christmas’s we’ve had in years. Our kids are grown and gone. The kids and grandkids won’t be over until tonight. This morning it was just me and the husband and some Kenny G Christmas tunes playing in the background.

When our 5 kids were little Christmas morning meant chaos and mess, and I loved it but as I sat with my husband this morning reflecting on years gone by I have just enough wisdom to know there are things I would do differently if I could.

If I Could Re-do Christmas 

1. I would have made my kids watch the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” instead of all the Santa movies I took them to see over the years. Don’t get me wrong, I love Home Alone movies and we always watched Rudolph and Charlie Brown, but they can’t compare to Jimmy Sturt’s amazing performance in “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Of all the movies he ever made it was his favorite too. I love Jimmy Stuart and the movie, but I love it mostly because it always reminds me what is really in important in life.
2.  I would have read them the Bible Christmas story a lot more often than I did “The Night Before Christmas.”  We always read both at Christmas but there’s no doubt in my mind now which one I should have read more and which one I could have read less.
3. I would have worried less about what I couldn’t afford and spent more time being thankful for what I could. There were lean years when we could barely afford two or three little things for each child. It was hard to see all the latest toys and fads and not be able to buy them. Now I don’t even remember what they were.  Our children always had what they needed and most of what they wanted. I worried way too much.
4. I would have spent more time taking them to visit the nursing home and shut-ins and less time going to the mall to see Santa. I took our children occasionally to the nursing home and we we did things with our church, but I should have been a better example of doing for others throughout the year. Life goes so fast when you are working and raising a family we get caught up in our mental “to do” list of school, ballgames, doctor appointments, vacations, etc. We focus so much on our own families needs that we forget to reach out to those who need a helping hand. Life is slower now and I’m trying to do better, but I should have been a better example of sharing with others back then.
5. I should have taken my grandmother more places. She lived to be 89 and was healthy enough to travel well into her 80’s. She didn’t really want to travel and would have complained…but she would have gone and had fun and I regret that I was so busy with my children than I didn’t spend more time entertaining her.
6. I wish I had appreciated how hard my mother worked to make Christmas special for my brother and I when we were young. She put the magic in Christmas (and daddy paid for it and I appreciated that too). If you still have your parents, or even one of them, count your blessings. It’s never, ever the same after they are gone.

Things I Would Change About Christmas

I could probably think of a lot more, but I’ll stop. Every parent gets some things right and a some things wrong. I can’t change the past but I hope maybe by reading this my children and grandchildren will be a  bit wiser about things than I was.

There are so many things about life that when we are in the moment we think they are so very important….and we are wrong. 

Don’t believe me? Go find the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” and watch it again. Get out your Bible and read the real Christmas Story and then about the life Jesus led and what He did for all mankind.

It took me a very long time to learn what really matters. I hope you are smarter than I was.

And One More Thing Before I Go.

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