It is Christmas morning and the kids awake to lots of gifts from loved ones. It is an extremely special time, but do you ever feel like the meaning behind each gift sometimes gets lost in the mad dash? That the love behind each present that was carefully chosen for your child is not getting fully absorbed and appreciated?
 

We want our children to be aware of the special love behind each individual gift that family and friends give to them. We wondered how it is possible when after opening one gift they are in a rush to see what is in the next box. Well, it is pretty hard. Gifts are an amazing, magical thing for a child, and who can blame them for being super excited to open the next present right away?
 

The problem is that the special love behind each gift often gets overlooked. Does the child even really know who the gift they are opening is from? It is a tough thing to accomplish when they receive all their gifts at once.
 

We love tradition, but despite that we are doing things a bit differently and I hope this will add to the simple and special theme we are going for. Instead of having one day of fun we are going to spread the joy and open gifts for several days.
 

Christmas morning the kids will open the gifts from us, but instead of having gifts given to them by other loved ones getting lost and the love behind them not fully appreciated we are going to try having the kids open presents from extended family and friends on the days surrounding Christmas.
 

My hope in doing this is that it will give us the opportunity to talk with them about who sent them each special package, and how much that person loves them. It will give them an opportunity to enjoy the gift picked out for them for a while before diving into the next. For example Christmas Eve day the kids will open their gift from one set of Grandparents, and the day after Christmas they will open the gift from another one while skyping that special moment. How fortunate we are to have Skype to connect with loved ones close in our heart but far in distance.
 

We want our children to know just how special they are to the people in their lives and for them to have a chance to soak that love in. Christmas morning can be overwhelming for young children and the thought that truly counts can get lost when it is too big.
 

Celebrating brings lots of joy and this year we are really excited to try something new and prolong that joy allowing time for letting the love and thought behind each gift fully in. The thought and love is something the children will remember long after the gift is forgotten. Making Christmas simple and special can be done in many ways. One way is by scaling back each day and simplifying it to make each moment of giving more special.
 

Do you have family traditions surrounding gift opening? Please share what makes it special for you and your family.