Having trouble getting into the Christmas spirit. (CC)

[Erica in PA]

This year I'm feeling pretty disconnected from the Christmas season, and I'm not sure why. I guess not having much time or money or energy to do many holiday-related things is part of it. But as a Christian, I do want this to be a special time. Does anyone have a Christmas-related devotional to recommend for me to read? A free online one would be wonderful, or something in book form that I might be able to get at our library.'

 

Aside from the spiritual, are you getting Christmas fun into your days, even while you're homeschooling? I feel like by the time we are done with school and daily housework, I'm so tired that I don't feel like doing anything else. Any simple, inexpensive things you've done with the kids to make it feel more like Christmas time?

[Starr]

We ask for groceries in paper bags to use for wrapping paper. We open them up and use poster paints and inexpensive stampers or cookie cutters and decorate. Some have even had pictures painted on them. It's cheap and fun and now a tradition. It sounds like you could use a school break. :) Read Christmas stories, write letters, Christmas lapbooks, memorize Christmas poetry or scripture. Bake some goodies for a someone who could use a little extra love... Don't forget your grammar. There are Christmas mad-libs. Relax and refocus. I'll say a Christmas prayer for you. How about an Advent wreath? Just a few brainstorms.

[Cindyg]

I'm just sympathizing with you. No advice. It really annoys me what this holiday has become. It's almost impossible for me to contemplate the spiritual aspect of it because I'm running around in circles trying to meet my obligations. :( Not saying somebody else couldn't do better; I'm just saying I have a hard time with it.

[FairProspects]

How about stringing popcorn or cranberries while watching a good holiday movie from the library? Or making a paper chain? We also like to make pomanders by pushing cloves into oranges (also a historical activity, so you can add in a history lesson if you so desire :)). You can eat them after a couple of weeks, or use them to freshen up your clothes in drawers. They last for a long time!

 

As for an online devotional, my favorite for advent is www.followingthestar.com.

 

Hoping you can find some peace and joy this holiday season!

[Happy]

Right there with ya...there's a lot of stress, both good and bad, in our home right now. Christmas just adds to the mix.

 

Here's what I'm doing:

 

Decorating. I'm not dragging everything out, but I'm getting my favorite Christmas decor items out. These things set the stage and recall happier seasons.

 

I made a list of ten things that make the season special to me....driving around looking at lights one night or watching 'White Christmas' with the family type stuff. Not worrying too much about stuff that didn't make the list. This was a blog post if you want to check it out. Blog addy in my sig.

 

I'm reading '25 Days, 26 Ways' by Ace Collins. It's okay. It is helping me focus. I might actually enjoy digging out my old Emilie Barnes Holiday book more.

 

I'm finishing up my shopping and getting things wrapped as soon as they come into the house. Feeling on top of things helps.

 

Cooking some comfort foods--soups in the crock pot, casseroles in the oven. I'm also allowing myself a break from weight loss plans. This is a stressful season during a stressful year, if a cup of hot chocolate and serving of apple crisp help, then so be it. I will eat as healthy as possible, but cut myself some slack.

 

Exercise. My problem is not only that it's Christmas, but that it's cold and gray outside. Fighting the seasonal depression with exercise and fresh air really helps.

[lynn]

I did not want to decorate this year AT ALL. I did manage to get a tree up with some new ornaments I purchased and just a couple from storage that the kids insisted on. I have 8 boxes of Christmas decorations sitting in my garage and none of it is being put out. I actually like that I decorated simpler. Now I am in the Christmas present shopping mood. My list is complete nad I plan to get all that finished tomorrow when dd is in school. I did purchase a balsam scented candle which is helping a bit.

[Faithr]

I always struggle with Christmas. If I had it my way we'd have a small, Christ-centered celebration. I hate the stress, the materialism, the commercialism which takes the birthday of my Redeemer and twists it into something frantic and forced and completely devoid of its original meaning. Ugh! I like Easter much better because it hasn't gotten so out of control. It seriously impacts the spiritual quality of Christmas for me. I've never learned to handle it well at all.

 

I try to make Advent a time of preparation for Christmas and then the actual Christmas season the time of celebration. As our pastor says, you don't have a birthday party before the birthday boy arrives! You wait for them and then celebrate! We have an Advent calendar, an Advent wreath and a Jesse Tree during Advent. I try not to put the Christmas tree up until close to Christmas. When I was growing up it was on Christmas Eve. I can't quite swing that with my situation now. We are planning to put up the tree and decorations on the 19th this year. Since we have a liturgical year it is perfectly acceptable to send a Christmas card during the Christmas season which lasts from Christmas Eve to mid Jan.

 

I guess I just muddle through every year. I know I'm supposed to be having 'fun' but it seldom seems to work that way! I just do the best I can and then if something Christmasy and impromptu emerges naturally than that is wonderful. Usually there is at least one thing that stands out. One year we went caroling with a big group of people. Another year we made a gingerbread house. Another year we went to New Year City! That was like going to a Christmas theme park! Another Christmas we saw a living nativity at another local church. Last year we went and saw one of our favorite Celtic music bands perform a Christmas concert (fantastic!), This year we are going to see a little cousin in a performance of The Nutcracker. I don't try to cram all this stuff into one season every year.

 

Of course we have to watch the Peanuts Christmas special and It's a Wonderful Life every year!

 

Today we are going shopping for the Giving Tree at our church. This has become an annual thing for my kids. We go out to Target and buy stuff for the homeless, the imprisoned, the elderly, the poor immigrant, etc all groups my church sponsors/works with. We eat lunch there. We listen to the cheesy Christmas music in the store. We talk about the true meaning of Christmas.

 

I always feel like I have to be counterculture during this time of year to hold on to a bit of sanity!

 

Anyway, I commiserate with your feelings! I don't think I've given you much advice, but I'll pray for you!

[momtoboys]

My kids love Christmas. I will be honest and say I feel torn about it.

 

Why?

 

Because, I love the fact that Christmas for me is a celebration of Christ's birth. I love remembering what He did for me (if I can focus on that alone--it's great). I love my children's excitement. I love all those parts of Christmas.

 

I hate worrying about how we're going to pay off the gifts we buy for our kids, our parents, our neices and nephews (because our budget is so tight, extra expenses make things difficult for us.) I hate worrying about how I'm going to have to work more (I work from home freelancing), which is hard on top of watching two boys and homeschooling.

 

I especially hate the whole family/relative drama of Christmas. I also have some not-pleasant Christmas memories. So those things are harder to deal with.

 

I am not a decorating/crafty person. So. . I keep things really simple. We put up a tree with lights and some homemade decorations. Our boys each have their own "little" Christmas tree they decorate.

 

Simply put (I've rambled here). . .if I can keep my eyes on Jesus being the reason for Christmas, and on helping others. . then it's all okay. If I let my thoughts wonder from that, it's not good.

[FriedClams]

We're trying to keep it simple here, too. Here are some things I've done that are making this much more fun and Christ-focused...

 

1. Like other posters we're limiting the number of decorations this year. We put up the tree, stockings and a few other gems. The rest is still packed (and someday in July when I am not feeling at all sentimental, will be culled out).

 

2. Our advent calendar - one verse from Luke 2 per day in order and 1 hersey's kiss or peppermint. Simple. The kids are loving it.

 

3. Advent wreath - simple. 5 candles (ours are green, red and the Christ candle is white - because we needed unscented and couldn't find them in purple and pink) around a plain cheap wreath from Walmart. We light them at night for dinner or after reading Jotham's Journey. This book is a GEM and we'll be using it for years to come. It's AWESOME.

 

4. Christmas music on. Cds we own (George Winston, December, ahhhh), or the radio. Soft, gentle music.

 

5. We sit and read in front of the fire and drink hot chocolate. The books are from the library. So it's really cheap and fun. I bought 1 nice cute jar of sprinkles and put on some spray whip and a few sprinkles and the kids think I am a White House chef!

 

6. We focus on making gifts for each other and others. Nothing fancy here - but we're all really into it.

 

7. We de-emphasize gifts here. No "wish lists" no visits to Santa and since we don't watch tv very much (or any with commercials) it's pretty easy to keep the kids centered on this one.

[Cranberry]

Advent is a time to prepare our hearts for Christ. Focus on that and everything else will step into place. When we do each little job for Christ, he multiplies it and makes it grander!

Wake up a few minutes earlier and spend some time in prayer to prepare your heart for whatever God wants you to hear from Him today.

 

Now I'm off to go follow my own advice! ;)

 

Also, you can check out my book blog in my sig line, I'm reviewing Advent and Christmas kids books, might give you some things to meditate on!

[Liza Q]

Any simple, inexpensive things you've done with the kids to make it feel more like Christmas time?

Celebrating Advent and singing Christmas Carols really makes a difference for me.

 

Yesterday I was horribly stressed out as, on top of our regular holiday stuff, it is my turn to host our extended family Christmas (about 40-45 people) and we have no room in our apartment so we are renting a place and catering and now one of my cousins doesn't like how we are handling the gift exchange and one of my aunts is unhappy with the menu and blah, blah blah you get the idea :glare:

 

Anyway. We have enough Advent/Jesse Tree stuff that each child gets to do one thing each night. My husband does this with them and he also read aloud to the younger ones from one of the Jotham books (Tabitha this year). While they were doing all that I was finishing up the kitchen clean-up. Although my oldest had to go study for her math final, the other children set up candles and hymnals on the table and we sang Christmas Carols together, like we do nearly every night during Advent. We all choose some and we end with Joy to the World, which was my Daniel's favorite. By the time we were done last night I felt relaxed and peaceful.... "Come, adore on bended knee, Christ the Lord, the newborn King" indeed!

 

Some other stuff.......We also watch some Christmas movies together and love finding new ones. This weekend it was Meet Me in St. Louis, which we all loved! We have a night dedicated to driving around the neighborhood and looking at the Christmas lights. Since we live in NYC we also have the fun of enjoying Rockefeller Center, Fifth Avenue and all the department store windows without spending anything. Holiday baking is exhausting but we dearly love eating certain treats that are only for the Christmas season. And we always make a big deal of St. Nicholas Day - little presents in their shoes and a special German Dinner - sauerbraten, potato balls, red cabbage, German Apple Cake, etc.

 

Basically, singing carols, Advent Calendars, food and going out at night to see the lights are the heart of the season for us! Of course there are presents, but they are not the focus of our season.

[lionfamily1999]

We just finished "A Christmas Carol." While not a devotional, I did find it moving and it has definitely refreshed my spirit :) Also, you might want to rent the new(ish) Nativity movie. It's really beautiful, imo.

 

:grouphug:

 

No tree here... no shopping... no presents... no money...

 

All we can afford is Christmas spirit this year :(

[gamommy]

No advice, just sympathy. I'm right there with you.

[....]

This sounds weird, but maybe go out in the evening and look at some Christmas lights?

 

I understand completely. We are living in a hotel right now, not putting up a tree, not buying Christmas presents until Jan (due to lack 'o funds), were just robbed last week horribly (they even took our wedding rings and my car keys) and we're 800 miles away from our church (where we always attend the Christmas Eve candlelight service/communion).

 

When it rains it pours... Sorry I couldn't be more uplifting - but you're not alone!!! :grouphug:

[Faithr]

Wow, Starrbuck, I'm so sorry for your situation. And the robbery on top of everything else! You will definitely be in my prayers today!

[Colleen in NS]

Aside from the spiritual, are you getting Christmas fun into your days, even while you're homeschooling? I feel like by the time we are done with school and daily housework, I'm so tired that I don't feel like doing anything else. Any simple, inexpensive things you've done with the kids to make it feel more like Christmas time?

 

No, I'm not, and I've decided that that's OK. We have an advent calendar that we start Dec. 1, and I'm crafting presents in my spare moments, but the other things will happen after we are done school (Dec. 18). We are getting a tree later this year, too, and I am sooooooo relieved. I can't be all things to all people anymore, but I *can* be free as of Dec. 19 to bake cookies, make a gingerbread house, play games, do puzzles, and put up a few decorations. Dd has been making little things in her free time, like a felt tree, paper chains, etc. and she is having fun just working at her own pace on things she enjoys. She shows me her inventions, and gets joy when I smile and express thanks to her - I let her hang things up wherever in the house she wants. That's good enough. It's also relaxing. Ds just looks forward to being done school and eating some yummy food on Christmas Eve, and that's good enough, too. Dh? is working and enjoying the non-stressed pace of this month. Me? I'm teaching and enjoying the non-stressed pace this month. And we like looking across the road at the neighbour's lights. :D

[....]

Yeah, not wanting to hijack a thread or anything...but they stole our wedding rings, the kids' baby jewelry (special for obvious reasons), all my car keys/house keys, the kids' social security cards and birth certificates, our 2 laptops and the titles to both our cars. :confused:

 

It was very scary. We had to leave where we were staying that day 'cuz we were afraid they were coming back that night to take our cars.

[Cindyg]

Starrbuck, so sorry!! What a nightmare! There was a home invasion in our neighborhood this week, and everybody is on edge. :( I hate mean people!

[Liz CA]

We ask for groceries in paper bags to use for wrapping paper. We open them up and use poster paints and inexpensive stampers or cookie cutters and decorate. Some have even had pictures painted on them. It's cheap and fun and now a tradition. It sounds like you could use a school break. :) Read Christmas stories, write letters, Christmas lapbooks, memorize Christmas poetry or scripture. Bake some goodies for a someone who could use a little extra love... Don't forget your grammar. There are Christmas mad-libs. Relax and refocus. I'll say a Christmas prayer for you. How about an Advent wreath? Just a few brainstorms.

 

Excellent advice!

Stop school and take a breather. You will have more energy in the new year to pick up again. Bake some simple cookies. If you have talents like singing, go to a nursing home and sing Christmas songs or have your dc read to elderly people who cannot read anymore.

Listen to your favorite Christmas songs.

Make nativity scene figures out of Sculpey. At our Michael's, they have Sculpey from smaller quantities to larger boxes. If you live somewhere where you cannot find it, Rainbow Resources used to carry it as well.

Some craft stores also have styrofoam balls you can color/glue together to make your own tree decorations.

I would just immerse myself and dc in the Christmas season.

Homemade gifts are another way to save money and they are so much more fun.