I realize this might be a tad late in the season to be addressing this but better late than never, right?

Here at the Runningamuck Household, we try to mix it up a bit.  Try to swim upstream.  Walk to the beat of a different drum.  Brace yourselves.  It’s a doosie…

We don’t do Christmas gifts.

Now before you wave me off as a Jehovah Witness, we’re NOT!  Hubby and I decided when Poppett was a baby that we wanted our Christmas to be all about Jesus.  Now, a lot of us have that intention but somehow in all the hustle and bustle of gift planning, purchasing, wrapping and giving, as much as we fight it – Jesus just doesn’t get the attention He deserves.  So our Christmas is purely a birthday party for Jesus.  We have a special breakfast, we read the Christmas story and we do fun family activities (board games, walks, crafts) during the day.  Then we put on a huge, scrumptious dinner for His party, wear party hats, sing happy birthday to Him and blow out candles on our birthday cupcakes.  For the first few years we did a birthday cake but then I wizened up.  Four munchkins all blowing out candles on the same cake is a recipe chock-full of spit and slobber… all over the cake that you are getting ready to chow down on.  Ummm, tasty!  So we switched to individual cupcakes… munchkin slobber averted.

But don’t start worrying that our children are deprived because they have no special morning of presents, we DO presents.  We celebrate the New Year with a morning of presents, much like the typical Christmas.  Celebrating New Years this way also provides a way for extended family members to still give gifts without landing us back where we started…with gifts at Christmas. 

I personally love our tradition.  Each year I strive to add something else to our Christmas day to make it even more special and to help us focus on our Lord’s birth and His love even more.  As the kids get older, we plan on devoting some of the time to the service of others.  Like taking dinners over to struggling families or visiting our homeless shelters with goodies to share or warm blankets to pass out.  The possibilities are endless and I look forward to a special project each year.  Maybe even letting one of the kids choose the outreach activity of their choice each year for the family to do together.

And a side bonus to gifts on New Years?  After Christmas sales. 

Ssshhhhhh! Ya didn’t hear it from me! =0) 

What special Christmas tradition does your family do?

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